Updated

Updated · Science@NASA · Aug 19

Flight Data Identifies Object Crossing Spain’s Eclipsed Sun as Airplane Contrail at 20:28

Updated

Updated · Science@NASA · Aug 19

Flight Data Identifies Object Crossing Spain’s Eclipsed Sun as Airplane Contrail at 20:28

Q: How did a surge in special eclipse-viewing flights inadvertently create the very illusion that fooled skywatchers in Spain?

The illusion was likely made possible by unusually heavy eclipse-related air traffic. For the Aug. 12, 2026 total solar eclipse, airlines, private charters and research teams added special viewing flights over Spain and nearby airspace, putting more aircraft at high altitude along sightlines where people were filming the Sun. That mattered because contrails can catch and reflect low-angle sunlight, especially late in the day and during a partial eclipse, when the Sun is dimmed but still bright enough to backlight a thin streak. In Spain, the eclipse occurred in the evening near sunset, a setup that made a contrail crossing the solar disk look sharp, luminous and meteor-like on video. The timing also primed observers to misread what they saw. The Perseid meteor shower was peaking the same week and is known for bright, fast streaks, so a bright line near the eclipsed Sun naturally suggested a meteor. But astronomers found the object’s path, scale and brightness did not fit a meteor burning in the atmosphere. Its appearance matched reflected sunlight from an aircraft trail. When researchers checked the time, location, solar position and flight records, the “cosmic streak” lined up with an airplane route. In short, the rush of special eclipse flights increased the odds that a normal contrail would pass through eclipse footage and masquerade as a celestial event.

3 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Aug 19

A 24-frames-per-second video shot in Spain at 20:28 local time on Aug. 12 captured an object crossing a partially eclipsed Sun, and investigators identified it as an airplane contrail.
Flight-database checks against the exact location, time and sky position resolved the mystery after the object initially appeared unusual enough to invite comparison with a Perseids meteor.
The meteor idea weakened because the track spanned a smaller angle than the Sun’s 0.5-degree disk, and the brightness did not continue far beyond the solar edge as a burning meteor likely would.
The sighting came during the Perseids peak, when Earth was crossing the comet debris stream tied to the shower’s radiant in Perseus, making the false lead plausible.