Photo: Screenshot of a video footage capturing the glowing object streaking across the night sky on July 14, 2026

A glowing object streaking across the night sky over Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday night left many residents and tourists amazed, with some asking online, "Is this a UFO? How did it change shape?"

The spectacle, which appeared around 10:50 pm on Tuesday, was captured by people in multiple locations across Xinjiang including Urumqi, Altay Prefecture and Fuyun county, according to a recent report by the local media outlet Xinjiang Daily.

Videos circulating online showed a bright moving object with a long luminous trail behind it. As it traveled across the sky, the object appeared to change shape - first resembling a giant glowing umbrella before gradually turning into a spiral pattern.

"We were about to head up the mountain when we suddenly noticed something very bright in the sky. There was a glowing 'tail' spreading behind it, and it kept getting larger," a Fuyun resident surnamed Ake, who filmed the scene, told the Xinjiang Daily on Wednesday. "We were so curious that we stopped the car and recorded a video."

Tourist Xiaoya, who witnessed the phenomenon at Kanas scenic area in Burqin county, said the sight was "incredible."

"The sky was still bright at that time. The object changed its shape as it moved, from an umbrella-like form to a spiral one. There were also two loud sounds in the middle of the process. It was amazing," she told the Xinjiang Daily.

The entire display lasted for about a minute, according to photographer Yang Lipeng, who captured the full process in Gangou township of Urumqi county. Based on the object's appearance, Yang suggested it was likely a rocket cloud.

The explanation was later confirmed by experts from the Gaoyazi Observatory in Urumqi's Dabancheng district and aerospace photographers, according to the Xinjiang Daily.

Staff members at the observatory said that based on the shape of the cloud, as well as the time and direction in which it appeared, the phenomenon was caused by a rocket cloud left by Russia's Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket as it passed over Xinjiang.

According to the Russian TASS News Agency, a Russian Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-29 crewed spacecraft and three crew members of the 75th long-term expedition lifted off from the Baikonur spaceport toward the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a live broadcast on Tuesday.

The rocket's flight path, which was nearly due east, brought it over northern Xinjiang, while the region was located near the boundary between daylight and night, allowing sunlight to illuminate the large amount of water vapor produced by the rocket's exhaust, creating the striking umbrella-shaped cloud effect, the Xinjiang Daily report explained, citing another aerospace photographer Zhou Quan.

"When the rocket's second and third stages separated, the second stage released residual propellant during its disposal process. The released fuel expanded in a spiral pattern, which created the glowing spiral-shaped object seen by people on the ground," Zhou explained.

What appeared to be a mysterious object from outer space was therefore a rare celestial display created by a spacecraft launch - a combination of rocket technology, atmospheric conditions and Xinjiang's unique lighting conditions.

Global Times