Incident: 22 January 2026, around 08:00 Norwegian local time. A Trondheim camera recording and reports across Norway were described by Norsk meteornettverk the same day.
The network received enquiries about a luminous phenomenon visible over a large part of Norway that morning. Its explanation was a Falcon 9 rocket launched from California. The source is useful because it connects the enquiries with the organisation’s own camera record, rather than only repeating social-media speculation.
The operator’s account
In Steinar Midtskogen’s dated post, the network said one of its Trondheim cameras showed a separation and material spreading around the rocket in the vacuum of space. It identified the mission as a Starlink deployment into polar orbit and supplied a linked video.
The public text is short. It does not provide a detailed witness questionnaire, measured range or complete technical camera analysis. UKPX has read that account; it has not independently examined the original camera video or treated the description as a measurement of an unidentified object’s speed.
Launch chronology
The linked launch report by Will Robinson-Smith identifies Starlink 17-30 and a Vandenberg liftoff at 05:47:29 UTC, corresponding to 06:47 in Norway. Its California date is 21 January because of the timezone difference; the Norwegian observation belongs to the morning of 22 January.
That report describes the deployment of twenty-five satellites. One update line carries a conflicting date, so the useful comparison is the stated liftoff instant and local-time conversion rather than a claim that every timestamp in the article agrees.
What the case establishes
The meteor network’s identification is a rocket-related light phenomenon. The launch chronology is compatible with that account, but UKPX has not independently computed a trajectory above Trondheim. The network’s own visual description remains the source for what its camera recorded.
This episode is separate from the Twilight rocket-cloud event seen eleven days earlier. Keeping the dates and missions distinct avoids either duplicating one event or combining unrelated launches merely because both involved Falcon 9. The map marks Trondheim broadly; it does not expose an equipment site or plot a rocket position.
Location and source record
Approximate public Trondheim city reference for the meteor-network recording locality. Not the camera’s exact position, rocket altitude or trajectory. Coordinates follow the checked geographical reference.
UKPX reference added 6 November 2026. Incident year: 2026. UKPX reviewed the linked source account. Any additional review limits are described above. Browse Historical Cases · More UFO / UAP / USO references.