Did you see a strange cloud on the East Coast?

Did you see a strange cloud on the East Coast?

On Tuesday morning, October 13, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from Florida, sending a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. This was a resupply mission, launching just before dawn. As the spacecraft headed upward through Earth’s atmosphere, it left behind a trail of exhaust. That trail expanded and was high enough to be sunlit by the approaching dawn. Observers often describe this phenomenon as the jellyfish effect.

We can see the jellyfish effect for the same reason we can see satellites orbiting Earth before sunrise and after sunset. The sun’s rays are still reaching the highest portions of our atmosphere, lighting the objects there, whether that be a satellite or water vapor.

Observers could see the jellyfish phenomenon from up to 800 miles away.

Early Tuesday morning NASA sent up a resupply mission for the ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. As the spacecraft blasted into orbit, it left behind a cloud of exhaust that caught the first rays of the morning sunlight and created what's called the "jellyfish effect." pic.twitter.com/VFt4tZONbv

— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) October 13, 2026

Bottom line: Many people up before sunrise on Tuesday morning saw a strange cloud. It was the plume from a SpaceX rocket headed for the space station.

Read more: The three stages of twilight

The post Did you see a strange cloud on the East Coast? first appeared on EarthSky.