Starlink satellites pass over Utah, creating bright line across the sky

SALT LAKE CITY — SpaceX’s Starlink satellites once again caused many Utahns to wonder if an alien invasion was finally happening Sunday evening.

Patrick Wiggins, NASA’s solar system ambassador to Utah, confirmed to KSL TV that the lights in the sky were indeed from a recent launch of satellites for Starlink, a commercial internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“It’s satellite-based, which means you can be in the middle of nowhere and still get high speed, low latency, internet service,” Wiggins explained.

This wasn’t the first time these satellites flew over Utah’s skies, with the earliest report in May 2021.

Wiggins suggests looking at a couple of websites that track these satellites before you prepare for meeting aliens.

“This is not terribly unusual. I am not trying to be a wet blanket, but it’s been going on for some time,” Wiggins said. “So, I am a little surprised people haven’t heard about this.”

But, he acknowledges that people might be on edge after repeated reports of unidentified objects being shot down, including the Chinese sky balloon earlier in February.

“SpaceX are doing their thing. Putting up more satellites,” Wiggins said.