2009 Norwegian spiral anomaly

Map of Norway in which the light was observed in the red (Trøndelag) and blue (Northern Norway)

The Norwegian spiral anomaly of 2009[1] (Norwegian: det spiralformede lysmønsteret, "the spiral-form light pattern", det spiralformede lysfenomenet, "the spiral-form light phenomenon")[2] was a light phenomenon that appeared in the night sky over Norway in the morning of 9 December 2009.[3] It was visible from, and photographed from, northern Norway and Sweden. The spiral consisted of a blue beam of light with a greyish spiral emanating from one end of it. The light could be seen in all of Trøndelag to the south (the two red counties on the map to the right) and all across the three northern counties which compose Northern Norway,[4] as well as from Northern Sweden[1] and it lasted for 10 minutes.[4] According to sources, it looked like a blue light coming from behind a mountain, stopping in mid-air, and starting to spiral outwards.[5] A similar, though less spectacular event had also occurred in Norway the month before.[6] Both events had visual features of failed flights of Russian RSM-56 Bulava SLBMs,[7][8] and the Russian Defence Ministry said shortly after that such an event had taken place on 9 December.[9]

  1. ^ a b Linder, Alexander (9 December 2009). "Märkligt ljussken över Kiruna" [Strange lightning over Kiruna]. Norrländska Socialdemokraten (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Russisk rakettsmell synlig i hele Nord-Norge". aftenposten.no.
  3. ^ "Norway Spiral". spellconsulting.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  4. ^ a b Haugdal, Marthe; Andersen, Ingunn; Bleikelia, Mats; Enerstvedt, Vidar (9 December 2009). "Vet ikke hva den mystiske kjempespiralen er" [Unknown what the mysterious giant spiral is]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Strange light in Norwegian sky sparks mystery". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  6. ^ Andreas Grimsæth (3 November 2009). "Mystisk lys var russisk rakett" [Mystical light was Russian rocket] (in Norwegian). yr.no. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Strange 'Norway spiral' likely an out-of-control missile". New Scientist. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  8. ^ "Norway spiral: A rocket scientist explains the mystery". The Christian Science Monitor. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference moskowitz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).