The truth about the mystery rocket in the sky over Plymouth

Amateur photographer Paul Bullen reckons he holds the answer behind the 'weather rocket' everyone's been talking about

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Miles O'LearySenior Content Editor

20:51, 9 FEB 2019
Updated20:55, 9 FEB 2019

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It's a cool moment that has captured Plymouth's interest and imagination - but now we reckon we've uncovered the truth behind the 'rocket' which shot across the sky last week.

Many wondered whether they had witnessed a weather phenomena after a plume of orange smoke burst up into the sky on a stunning wintry evening.

Helen Hart got minds racing when she captured what looked like a natural 'rocket' over Ugborough looking west towards Plymouth last Monday.

She was pretty confident that it wasn't an aeroplane going straight up.

But an amateur photographer who was out taking snaps of the Mewstone in all its glory that same evening spotted the very same thing - and says he's almost 100 per cent sure it was an aircraft.

Plympton man Paul Bullen has released a set of images which he says show the plane soaring up before turning left beyond the picturesque island.

"I could tell it was a plane from when I was taking pictures - it was still in the frame five minutes later," he explained.

The mystery 'rocket' in the sky near the Mewstone, which is actually a very cool image of an aeroplane says photographer Paul Bullen (Image: Paul Bullen)

"It looked like a strange phenomenon because of the way it looked like it was going right up into the air - and then turned left.

"For a while i thought it was a strange phenomenon but I could see it was a plane - I was taking multiple pictures and you can see when it's in and out of frame."

Paul says he caught the magical moment on camera whilst perched down on the beach at Wembury last Monday, at about 5.15pm, before the high tide.

"It was quite a sight, to be honest," he said.

There it is again - shooting left past the beautiful Mewstone (Image: Paul Bullen)

"I managed to capture the plane moments after it shot up, going left of the Mewstone."

Last week, Plymouth Live sent the original pictures taken by Helen to the Met Office, who confirmed it was a contrail - the formation you see in the sky once a plane shoots by.

"These photos are stunning but nothing unusual is happening," an expert said. "Despite the way it looks it is a plane flying towards the photographer."

What are contrails or condensation trails?

Information from metoffice.gov.uk

Contrails are long thin lines of cloud, usually seen behind an aircraft.

Aeroplane jet engines produce water vapour as a bi-product of burning fuel. Above 20,000 feet, the air surrounding the aircraft is well below freezing so it cools down the water vapour coming out of the back of the engines. This causes the water vapour to condense rapidly, and then freeze. Tiny particles from the engine, known as condensation nuclei, act as a starting point for condensation to take place, leaving thin trails of ice crystals behind the aeroplane's engines.

What happens next depends on how dry or how humid the air is. If the air is very dry, the ice crystals will sublime (change phase directly from solid to gas) and become invisible. If the air is humid, the water droplets or ice crystals will stay where they are, often spreading out, leaving a fluffy trail where the aircraft has passed. Trails may last for many hours leaving the sky criss-crossed with lines, and mixing with cirrus cloud.

Contrails are not large enough to cause any weather on the ground. We tend to observe them in empty skies in high pressure situations when there are very few other clouds around.