A jellyfish-shaped object filmed near a major military base in Anchorage, Alaska, has prompted speculation online. Sean Kirkpatrick, the Pentagon’s former lead investigator of unidentified aerial phenomena, said the footage may have a more ordinary explanation.
The video, recorded June 15, shows a dark object seemingly hovering near a mountainside and a rainbow. Several long strands hang from it, shifting and waving as the object appears to move first left, then back to the right.
Sara Jane Osborn filmed the sighting and shared the video on Facebook the next day. “It looks like a friggin alien. I don’t like it,” she says in the clip, adding a moment later, “It’s moving very weirdly.”
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson said it was aware of the video but had no further information. The base did not say whether military personnel or equipment had detected the object, or whether it entered restricted airspace.
Kirkpatrick cautioned that a social media video is not enough to establish what an aerial object is. He said the footage appears compressed and, if it is genuine, cannot provide reliable data for analysis. He also noted that videos can be fabricated.
The clip does not clearly show the object’s size, altitude, distance or precise movement. Still, Kirkpatrick said its motion reminded him of “a kite with streamers, particularly the waves.”
Weather records show west winds of 16 mph at 9:55 p.m. on June 15 and west-southwest winds of 15 mph at 10:55 p.m. The sighting was reportedly filmed around 10:15 p.m. Those readings do not prove the object was a kite or show how it was moving, since the camera’s direction and the object’s location are unclear.
The late-evening brightness is not unusual for Anchorage in June, when daylight can last well into the evening near the summer solstice.
Kirkpatrick said a fuller assessment would require local research into weather conditions and possible celebrations or gatherings, along with video from another angle that could help confirm what was in the sky.
