SpaceX mission causes unknown light over Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Residents of Fort St. John may have witnessed an unknown light in the sky on Tuesday night, May 5th.

Residents in Fort St. John took to social media on the night of May 5th, 2026, to share photos and videos of a blur of light in the sky, with different theories arising about what caused the display.

Brett Gladman, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of British Columbia (UBC), said the unknown light was caused by fuel from a SpaceX mission. 

“I and my colleague, Aaron Boley, identify this as being caused by a maneuver of the SpaceX Rideshare mission 2026-100,” he said in a statement to Energeticcity.ca. 

On May 5th, 2026, SpaceX said it launched 24 Starlink satellites from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. 

According to Gladman, fine droplets of released fuel reflect large amounts of sunlight. 

Residents in other areas of B.C., including Charlie Lake and Tumbler Ridge, also reported seeing the light on Tuesday night. 

Gladman said he received a video of the light from Vanderhoof, B.C. 

More communications satellites being placed in orbit results in a ‘huge’ increase in satellites in low Earth orbit becoming visible in twilight, according to Gladman.  

Gladman also said this launch would add more satellites and that it would continue. 

SpaceX is expected to launch 24 more Starlink satellites on May 10th, 2026, from California