What is that light in the sky?
Most likely a satellite, a planet, a bright star or an aircraft. Tell this form when, where and which way you looked, and it checks the real positions of the space station, Starlink, the planets and the brightest stars for that moment.
Describe what you saw.
Five answers. Nothing you enter leaves this device: the positions are worked out in your browser.
Waiting for an observation.
Opens the report builder with these answers filled in. They pass through this browser only.
No match in public data
If nothing above fits, it is not in the data this tool can check. That alone does not make it anything stranger. Here is what to do next.
- Record it wide. Zoom out so a roofline, tree or horizon stays in the frame, and hold the phone steady.
- Note the exact time, the direction you faced, how high it was and how long it lasted.
- Write it down before you talk it over with anyone, then report it.
The dome is your sky seen from below: overhead in the middle, the horizon at the edge. The shaded wedge is where you looked. Numbers match the list; a thin line joins a number to its object when two sit close together.
Why most lights have an ordinary answer.
The official record points the same way every year. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) reported in its fiscal 2025 report that every case it resolved had a conventional cause. Its 2024 report named the usual ones, balloons, birds, drones, satellites and aircraft, and said it increasingly resolves cases to the Starlink satellite constellation.
None of that means every light is solved. It means the ordinary answers are common enough that they should be ruled out first, with real positions rather than guesses. That is the job of the form above.
Telling them apart.
Satellites and the space station
A satellite shines only when sunlight reaches it while you stand in darkness, so most sightings come in the hours after sunset and before sunrise. NASA describes the International Space Station as looking like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except that it has no flashing lights and does not change direction.
Starlink trains
In the days after a launch, a fresh batch of Starlink satellites travels close together and crosses the sky as a line of lights. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Popular Science that these trains really unsettle people who have never seen one. The batch spreads out over the following weeks.
Planets and bright stars
NASA calls Venus the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. Low in the west after sunset or in the east before dawn, it can seem to hover, and haze near the horizon makes it flicker and change color. Jupiter and the brightest stars, such as Sirius, do the same at a lesser scale. They never move across the sky in a few minutes; they keep pace with the stars.
Aircraft and drones
US rules require aircraft flying at night to show lighted position lights, and to keep anti-collision lights on when they are fitted. That is the red and green pair and the regular strobe. Small drones flying at night must carry an anti-collision light visible for at least 3 statute miles. A drone can hover and turn sharply; a satellite cannot.
Meteors and launch plumes
A streak gone in a second or two is a meteor. The International Meteor Organization publishes a yearly calendar of showers, and the tool names any that were active on your date in 2026. A rocket launch at twilight can light up its own exhaust high in the sunlight, which spreads into a glowing fan or jellyfish shape. Launch sites publish their schedules, so a plume can be checked against the date.
How the tool decides.
Satellite positions come from CelesTrak’s public orbital data, refreshed at most every two hours, and run through satellite.js, the standard SGP4 model. The Sun, Moon and planets come from Astronomy Engine. For every object the tool asks three questions for the time you gave, plus or minus ten minutes: was it above your horizon, was it bright enough for that sky, and was it where you looked. Satellites also have to be sunlit while you were in darkness. A pass is judged on its best visible moment in that window, and the result also gives the time and height where it was highest.
Aircraft, drones, meteors, lanterns and launches are not in any data the tool can reach, so they are ranked only from what you said it did, and the result says so. Matches are given in words (strong, possible, weak), never as a percentage, because the inputs are human estimates. Satellite positions are best within a few days of the data date; for older sightings the tool says when it cannot place them.
Sources.
- AARO, FY2025 Consolidated Annual Report on UAP (published July 21, 2026).
- Department of Defense, FY2024 Consolidated Annual Report on UAP (November 14, 2024), as reported by The Debrief.
- NASA, Spot the Station.
- NASA Science, Venus facts.
- Popular Science, You didn’t see a UFO. It was probably one of these things (September 10, 2023).
- 14 CFR 91.209, Aircraft lights, and 14 CFR 107.29, Operation at night.
- International Meteor Organization, Meteor Shower Calendar 2026, edited by Jürgen Rendtel.
- CelesTrak, GP element sets and usage policy. Libraries: satellite.js and Astronomy Engine, both MIT licensed.
Questions about lights in the sky.
Is it a satellite or a plane?
A satellite is one steady light that glides across in a few minutes without blinking or turning. A plane usually blinks or strobes and often shows a red and a green light. If it blinked, start with aircraft; if it was steady and silent, run the form with “steady and moving” and it will check the satellites overhead.
What is the bright light in the west after sunset?
Most often Venus, and sometimes Jupiter. Both look like a very bright star that hangs in one place and can flicker near the horizon. Pick the west and “very bright, not moving” above, and the tool will tell you which planet was there that night.
What was the line of lights moving across the sky?
Most often a batch of Starlink satellites in the days after a launch, while they still fly low and close together. The tool checks the Starlink satellites launched in the last 30 days and lists a train when three or more from one launch were sunlit above your horizon within ten minutes of your time. It can still miss one: fresh batches change orbit fast, so matches are best within a few days of the satellite data date, and the brightness of a young train is an estimate.
Does this send my location anywhere?
No. The page downloads public orbital data and two calculation libraries, then does every calculation in your browser. Your location, time and answers are never sent, stored or logged. A link you copy carries your location only if you tick the box to include it, and Log this sighting hands your answers to the report builder inside this browser tab.
What if nothing matches?
Then it is not in the public data this tool can check, which is not the same as unexplained. Record it wide, note the time and direction, and read how to report a sighting.
Why is there no live flight data?
This version does not pull live aircraft positions, so planes and drones are judged from what you describe. A public flight-tracking site can confirm whether a plane was overhead at that minute.
You checked the sky. Now find your job.
If the light ever turns out to be something else, the first minute goes to whoever already knows their role. Ten questions find yours.