The rocket launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during the afternoon hours, but it was already dark across Europe when it lifted off. As it zoomed across the sky to reach space, it produced a mesmerizing blue spiral that left many Europeans scratching their heads.

A giant whirlpool of light, known as a "SpaceX spiral," was recently spotted swirling across the night sky over Europe as a Falcon 9 rocket prepared to reenter Earth's atmosphere after deploying top-secret cargo.

Germany-based Isar Aerospace attempted to launch the first orbital rocket from European soil on Sunday morning (March 30). The company's Spectrum rocket lifted off from Europe's Andøya Spaceport in Norway, but suffered an anomaly 18 seconds into the flight.

A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe late Monday was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists.

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A strange swirl in the sky seen over much of Britain and Europe this week wasn’t the result of alien activity but rather a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The UK’s Met Office, which monitors weather conditions in Britain, announced that the striking vision seen overhead was not a cause for concern but the result of a rocket launch.

"What we find is we learn a lot more when we get it in the crew's hands," Submarine Forces Commander Vice Adm. Gaucher said.

SpaceX successfully launched Fram2, the first crewed mission to orbit Earth's poles, on Monday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The historic mission is carrying four civilians from four countries.