ARKANSAS, USA — A mysterious string of lights can be seen shooting across the sky in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas from time to time. What are they, really?
Short answer: It's a satellite. (Not aliens).
But there's a reason we're seeing these specific satellites: They're low-orbit satellites from a company called Starlink that uses them to bring broadband internet to customers.
In Sept. 2023, 5NEWS Chief Meteorologist Matt Standridge said the satellites were viewable just after sunset, but the lights were even brighter the day after.
According to Starlink's website, what makes their satellites different could be related to the reason we can see them so much in our skies: There's more of them.
"Most satellite internet services come from single geostationary satellites that orbit the planet at 35,786 km," the Starlink website says. "Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that orbit the planet much closer to Earth, at about 550km, and cover the entire globe."
There's even a website that shows where the satellites will travel: findstarlink.com.
For a more global, big-picture approach, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has a satellite map that brings it down to specifics, including latitude, longitude, and paths of the "bright lights."
