WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA – Numerous locals took to social media in Walnut Creek, California, to report a spooky sight: a strange, perfectly aligned set of lights up in the sky on an otherwise dark weekend night.
So what’s the explanation for this strange phenomenon? Is an alien invasion upon us?
It turns out that the line of lights so many people saw in the sky has a much more innocent, terrestrial cause.
The perfectly aligned set of new “stars” over Walnut Creek came from the launch of a constellation of Starlink satellites. Starlink, which is owned by Tesla founder Elon Musk, provides internet service via satellite.
To increase the speed of the service, Starlink satellites fly low to the ground. There are also a lot of them—thousands in the sky as of 2025.
When new ones are launched, they briefly align in a light-reflective pattern, looking like a series of dots or errant stars up in the sky.
Eventually, they orient themselves so they no longer reflect light toward Earth. But for a few brief moments—like in the evening this week—they’re clearly visible, and more than a little spooky.
The launch behind the lights
- Mission: Starlink 15-7
- Launch site: Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB (Santa Barbara County)
- Liftoff: 10:13 a.m. PDT, June 28 — only 48 hours before Sunday’s sighting.
- Payload: 26 “V2 Mini” internet-relay satellites. spaceflightnow.com
Because the booster lifted off from the California coast, the train’s first dusk passes were ideally placed for Bay Area observers. Expect the lights to grow dimmer night-by-night as the satellites space out and their orientation changes.
