CONSPIRACY theorists are going wild over a strange group of lights spotted drifting past the International Space Station.
In footage shared widely online on Tuesday, the cluster of dozens of glowing orbs lazily drifts past the orbiting space lab.
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The video was captured on a live camera strapped to the station that broadcasts footage of its inky black surroundings 24 hours a day.
It was clipped by Reddit user tyrannosnorlax, who promptly shared it to the social media site – where it has garnered thousands of views.
“Can someone please explain what I just saw on the ISS YouTube live feed?” the curious Redditor asked on the forum.
The footage sparked claims of an alien sighting from a handful of excited commenters.
“Just a whole fleet of aliens…nothing to see here folks,” one user joked.
Another said: “Holy f***ing s**t. I have watched a ton of these live feed captures over the years and not one has something like this been seen. Is that really a f***ing fleet of UFOs?!?!?”
What is the ISS?
Here’s what you need to know about the International Space Station…
- The International Space Station, often abbreviated to ISS, is a large space craft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go up there to complete scientific missions
- Many countries worked together to build it and they work together to use it
- It is made up of many pieces, which astronauts had to send up individually on rockets and put together from 1998 to 2000
- Ever since the year 2000, people have lived on the ISS
- Nasa uses the station to learn about living and working in space
- It is approximately 250 miles above Earth and orbits around the planet just like a satellite
- Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, lots of science labs and a big bay window for viewing Earth
Other replies suggested that the UFO could be fragments of space junk, or lights shining from a city on Earth below.
As it turns out, the objects are likely the result of human activity.
According to commenter AlphazeroOnetwo (among several others), they’re probably emanating from fleets of squid fishing boats.
The vessels use very bright artificial lights to attract their catch – and they’ve caught out alien-hunters in the past.
Nasa explained the phenomenon in a blog posted published in 2013 alongside a photo of lights snapped by an astronaut n board the ISS.
“The fisherman are likely luring Todarodes pacificus – a species known as the Japanese flying squid – to the surface with bright xenon bulbs,” reads the post.
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Science facts
Want to know more about the weird and wonderful world of science? From space and astronomy to the human body, we have you covered…
Humans are ‘likely to find intelligent life in the universe’ says former NASA astronaut after Pentagon’s UFO report
In other news, Sir Richard Branson made history over the weekend after successfully reaching space in his commercial Virgin Galactic spaceplane.
The billionaire described his landmark spaceflight as “extreme in every way” and a “dream come true” in an exclusive chat with The Sun.
Aliens may have dropped life-detecting sensors onto Earth, according to a Harvard University professor.
And, China launched three astronauts into orbit to continue building its own space station.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
