Glowing rocket plume forms a jellyfish-shaped cloud over Shandong, China

On October 23, 2026, in Shandong, China, @Mù'ěrsī shared an amusing video of a rocket flying across the sky at night. In the video, the author stands on an agricultural farm watching as the Chinese rocket travels across the sky. As it continues ascending, its glowing exhaust trail expands and spreads out, forming a large, cloud-like shape. Moments later, the illuminated plume takes on the appearance of a giant jellyfish, with its glowing trail spreading across the dark sky as the rocket continues toward space. According to reports, the unusual sight was associated with the October 23 launch of a Long March-6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, which successfully carried the Yaogan-50 03 satellite into its planned orbit. The glowing formation, widely described as a “space jellyfish” or “rocket cloud,” resulted from sunlight illuminating the rocket's exhaust plume at high altitude while the sky below was already dark. The phenomenon was also observed across several parts of China, including Shandong, Shanxi, and Beijing.