📅 Overview
In May 2026, a viral video captured a bright green meteor streaking past the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, followed by a glowing object rising in the sky — sparking widespread "UFO sighting" speculation. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb analyzed the footage and concluded it was a satellite glint (sunlight reflecting off a satellite).
🎨 findlatlng.org AI illustration (fal.ai FLUX 1.1 Pro Ultra)
🔍 Details
- Location: Mayon Volcano, Philippines (2.5 km altitude)
- Local time: ~22:30
- Event: Green meteor passed above the volcano, which had been erupting for ~140 days
- 'UFO' light: A glowing object rising smoothly behind the volcano right after the meteor
🛂 Avi Loeb Analysis (Harvard, Medium)
- The light moved in a straight trajectory — consistent with satellite orbits
- ~15,000 active satellites orbit Earth; ~100 visible across the sky per minute
- At Mayon's 2.5 km altitude, atmospheric attenuation is reduced → satellites appear brighter
- Conclusion: A rare but explainable coincidence — a meteor and a sunlight-glinting satellite happening within seconds
🤔 Why It Matters
- Demonstrates that the majority of viral "UAP" videos are mundane phenomena
- Independent of the 2026 PURSUE official releases — a model case of SNS viral → scientific debunking
- Loeb's analysis was published as a Medium article: "The Mysterious Rising Light After a Meteor Strike Near a Volcano in the Philippines is Not Aliens"
📺 Significance
- Educational example of UAP vs. misidentified phenomena
- Spread UAP-verification methodology awareness in Southeast Asia
- Visual appeal of volcano + meteor + UFO drove hundreds of millions of views in days