ID this UFO

[CurtEgerer]

What the heck did I see last night in south Florida? I didn't have my phone or camera with me. This thing was flying horizontally, very bright and large about 8:00PM. I watched it for a minute or 2. I don't expect aliens , just something I never saw before. Does this shape look familiar to anyone? It was a bright dot with a very large semi-circular 'contrail' like this:

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Starship 11?

[oldE]

Looks like a rocket launch to me.

[masraum]

Yep. Launch

"SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from LC 40 on the last of a three launch contract with Amazon for Project Kuiper. KF-03 delivered 24 satellites into low earth orbit. As seen from Port Canaveral."

[Seahawk]

Cousin Itt as Superman?

[Arizona_928]

Chem trails

[Tobra]

I was thinking big guy in a mumu with a tiny head.

Guy who played Cousin It was also a number of characters on HR Puf'n Stuff

[NY65912]

Head scratcher

[pwd72s]

Can't identify it? That's why they are called UFO's....unidentified.

[Tidybuoy]

big nipple (just one)

[70SATMan]

Looks like a stage separation to me.

[CurtEgerer]

Hmmm, it was going the 'wrong way' for a rocket launch. It was heading northeast (toward Cape Canaveral). No arc to the flight at all. Completely horizontal, relatively low in the sky. We do have a military bombing range nearby but I doubt it had anything to do with that and it was flying toward it. Alien theory gaining traction ....

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by masraum

Yep. Launch

"SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from LC 40 on the last of a three launch contract with Amazon for Project Kuiper. KF-03 delivered 24 satellites into low earth orbit. As seen from Port Canaveral."

This was nearly 2 hours before the launch (and heading toward the Cape on a flat horizontal trajectory).

[CurtEgerer]

So here's a pic of a stage separation. I've seen many of these. What I saw last night looked very similar except a horizontal trajectory and a shorter, more semi-circular contrail. The time and direction are wrong for the SpaceX launch last night.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

This was nearly 2 hours before the launch (and heading toward the Cape on a flat horizontal trajectory).

Hmm, interesting. Surely there's a lot of eyes on the sky in a large area around the Cape anywhere near a launch.

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

So here's a pic of a stage separation. I've seen many of these. What I saw last night looked very similar except a horizontal trajectory and a shorter, more semi-circular contrail. The time and direction are wrong for the SpaceX launch last night.

Right, that's what I was thinking, what you had drawn was similar to what I've seen via videos.

THere was a SpaceX launch in Texas last night that included deployment of Starlink satellite simulators. Maybe what you saw was part of that. I believe the starlink orbits are polar, so your "headed northeast" might fit.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-11

On Monday, October 13, 2025, at 6:23 p.m. CT, Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas on its eleventh flight test. This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy.

The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down.

After completing a full-duration ascent burn, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. During flight, Starship successfully deployed eight Starlink simulators and executed the third in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating a critical capability for future deorbit burns.

Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather extensive data on the performance of its heatshield as it was intentionally stressed to test the limits of the vehicle’s capabilities. In the final minutes of flight, Starship performed a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean, successfully executing a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown.

Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy, with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

[masraum]

The launch last night.

[CurtEgerer]

That Texas flight makes a little more sense. This is the path I saw. Of course, it's nearly impossible to judge distance. It seemed fairly close/large to me, but could very well have been out in the Atlantic a ways.