Satellite flares occur when sunlight reflects off the flat, highly polished surfaces of orbiting satellites or space debris, producing sudden, intense flashes of light visible from the ground. Classic Iridium satellites were especially notorious for this, capable of briefly outshining Venus before fading — a phenomenon EarthSky and the MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory both cite as a well-known source of UFO misidentifications.
The problem has grown with the rise of SpaceX's Starlink constellation. Research covered by The Debrief found that under certain conditions, Starlink satellites produce "extreme flaring," making them appear exceptionally bright and triggering UAP reports from airline pilots and ground observers alike. Popular Mechanics reported that with over 5,500 Starlink satellites in orbit using varied deployment strategies, a long string of confusion events has followed. A UNILAD analysis of a UFO report even named Elon Musk's Starlink system as an increasingly common source of mistaken sightings.
Science News noted that computer simulations of the sky helped researchers pinpoint Starlink satellites as the source of mystery lights in multiple cases. Satellite flares are one of several mundane explanations for UFO sightings — alongside weather balloons, drones, and atmospheric phenomena — but they are consistently named by credible science and astronomy outlets as a standard entry on the list.