“Satellite flares are a commonly cited explanation for UFO sightings.”

Today we know that short flashes of light are often solar reflections from flat, highly reflective objects in orbit around the Earth, such as satellites and space debris. The explanation Villarroel and Bruehl focus on most in their papers is that these transients are UAP of some kind, with their study connecting the nuclear tests to sightings, which have been reported in the vicinity of nuclear sites for decades.

And according to the report, Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system is an increasingly common source of confusion, as people mistake chains of satellites for UFOs.

New research reveals that under certain conditions, SpaceX's Starlink satellites can produce 'extreme flaring,' making them appear exceedingly bright and creating unnecessary aviation risk and confusion for observers on the ground. These findings, detailed in a preprint paper published on arXiv, suggest that the dazzling reflections produced by Starlinks can confuse airline pilots, leading to increased reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). In one instance, they were reported as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena by pilots on two commercial aircraft.

With over 5,500 Starlink satellites in orbit that are using “many deployment and orbital evolution strategies,” the physicists say, they have led to a long string of confusions among the astronomical community and for commercial aviators.

Computer simulations of the sky helped pinpoint Starlink internet satellites as the source of the mystery lights (bottom left). ... And while no alien technology has been linked to UAPs, human tech has, including weather balloons, satellites, drones, airborne trash and military aircraft.

More than 70 years ago, astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California photographed several star-like flashes that appeared and vanished within an hour — years before the first satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched into orbit. This suggests that not all unexplained aerial phenomena can be attributed to satellite flares.

Thousands of people across the world have reported unidentified objects in the night sky, many under the impression that they have witnessed a visiting alien spacecraft. But the truth is that the vast majority of UFO sightings have Earthly origins – optical illusions and rare weather among them.

Residents in northern Montana reported a string of strange lights dotting the sky. What looked like UFOs from an alien invasion has turned out to be another consequence of SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation.

Some satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope, sometimes reflect sunlight in an optimum way for a brief time, causing a bright flash or flare. Iridium satellites, which provide cellular communications to remote areas, formerly had reflective antennas that produced very intense flashes as bright as -8 magnitude!

You may have seen an Iridium Flare, essentially the reflection of a low-orbit Iridium satellite, originally used to provide satellite mobile communications. The reflections can be surprisingly bright.

Occasionally one sees the Sun reflected off a flat mirror-like surface (solar panels for example) and the brightness can be higher. I have seen the Hubble Space Telescope at magnitude -4, probably from a reflection off the solar panels.

Astronomers are are more likely to recognize what they are actually seeing, and a UFO quickly becomes an IFO (identified object). An astronomer is more likely to be acquainted with the optical atmospheric phenomena that uninformed observers mistake for flying saucers. For instance, there are frequent sightings of iridium flares (satellites that flare up brightly), regular satellites, sun dogs, moon dogs, parhelia, sun pillars, halos, glories, devil clouds, and St. Elmo's Fire.

Mick West, an author who has investigated UAP claims and related theories of possible alien life on earth, says the term UAP is a broad-ranging term to describe objects in the sky, but cautions against conflating their presence with alien spacecraft. He suggests that people are often too quick to jump from “I saw some lights in the sky” to “Aliens!”

Satellite flares, particularly from Iridium satellites and other reflective spacecraft, have been systematically documented as a major source of UFO misidentifications in astronomical literature since the 1990s. Professional astronomers and observatories routinely use predictive software to distinguish satellite flares from genuine astronomical phenomena.

Satellite flaring is an optical phenomenon which occurs when sunlight reflects off a satellite's surfaces, such as antennas or solar panels. This brief animation shows how the effects of satellite flaring can be misinterpreted as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

ufologists themselves acknowledge that well over 95% of sightings have a mundane explanation.

Although the exact source of the objects remains unconfirmed, US officials suggest that the majority of sightings were most likely caused by – you guessed it – civilian-operated drones.

Experts have suggested explanations ranging from satellite flares, reflections of Starlink arrays, and drones, but such theories falter in the face of eyewitness descriptions of their abrupt movements, rapid accelerations, and persistent patterns in specific regions.