Odd looking orbs in Oklahoma

[annemarie_ok]

Hey all, just wanted to share a video I captured a few months back of some orbs/lights in the sky that I wasn't able to identify, I've seen them quite a few times now. I was wondering if I could get your insights.

This was filmed on March 29, 2026 at 10:40:51 PM CST (iPhone metadata video start time) in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facing northwest. Let me know! Thanks in advance.

 

[Ann K]

Hey all, just wanted to share a video I captured a few months back of some orbs/lights in the sky that I wasn't able to identify, I've seen them quite a few times now. I was wondering if I could get your insights.

This was filmed on March 29, 2026 at 10:40:51 PM CST (iPhone metadata video start time) in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facing northwest. Let me know! Thanks in advance.

Facing northwest from Broken Arrow, you're facing toward Tulsa international airport. Planes are the most likely source of the lights.

 

[sandergrauze]

Those looks like starlink race track flares. At dusk, your particularly likely to catch them. However, I can't remember if you see them to the east or west when the sun sets.

The time stamp you gave puts you just past astronomical twilight which I believe is about right to see these.

 

[NoParty]

Hey all, just wanted to share a video I captured a few months back of some orbs/lights in the sky that I wasn't able to identify, I've seen them quite a few times now. I was wondering if I could get your insights.

This was filmed on March 29, 2026 at 10:40:51 PM CST (iPhone metadata video start time) in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facing northwest. Let me know! Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure, but I was pretty impressed that you gave us so much key info, in your very first post! Hope we can solve it for you...

 

[sandergrauze]

Facing northwest from Broken Arrow, you're facing toward Tulsa international airport. Planes are the most likely source of the lights.

Tulsa only has about 100 flights per day. I'm not sure thier throughput is high enough to sustain that level of activity.

 

[JMartJr]

Look up some vids of Starlink flares, this sure looks like that... one caution, a lot of vids of these satellites flaring that get posted online are sped up considerably.

(Don't feel bad if you decide this is what you saw, for not recognizing them at once. It took a lot of folks smarter than I am some timeto figure out the first ones when they started getting reported...)

 

[Giddierone]

Not quite sure how to sync this with the video (yet) but it appears looking NW at that date/time from Broken Arrow is looking directly at a group of satellites flaring. (needs some refinement obvs).

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=18302/Broken Arrow NW 29 March 2026/20260725_223722.js

 

[Eburacum]

However, I can't remember if you see them to the east or west when the sun sets.

Starlink flares are visible directly above the Sun after sunset, so would be in the west (or, in the mid-summer period, the northwest, as here).
This is one of the clearest videos of Starlink flares I've seen; well done!

 

[Giddierone]

Not quite sure why but I haven't matched these positions in sitrec just yet. I wonder if the bottom light is an aircraft, since it moves faster than the other two.

 

[Giddierone]

Not quite sure why but I haven't matched these positions in sitrec just yet. I wonder if the bottom light is an aircraft, since it moves faster than the other two.
View attachment 92337 View attachment 92339

Having watched @Mick West's Sitrec tutorials (https://www.metabunk.org/threads/sitrec-tutorial-videos.14736/post-365646) I wonder if the lack of precise alignment is due to the location only being approximate. I set the camera for roughly the middle of the Broken Arrow area - but does it need to be precise to the real camera location in order to line up the exact flaring satellites?

Also, is there a way to show the ID numbers of the satellites that pass by the flare region as you scroll through the time?

and, do we think the one visible star above the satellite dish is Almach?

 

[Mick West]

Having watched @Mick West's Sitrec tutorials (https://www.metabunk.org/threads/sitrec-tutorial-videos.14736/post-365646) I wonder if the lack of precise alignment is due to the location only being approximate. I set the camera for roughly the middle of the Broken Arrow area - but does it need to be precise to the real camera location in order to line up the exact flaring satellites?

You can experiment with this by hodling down "C" and moving the camera in the main view. City-wide motion won't make much difference to which satellites flare. It makes a small difference in the position of the satellites relative to the stars. It makes a huge difference in the position of the planes.

Also, is there a way to show the ID numbers of the satellites that pass by the flare region as you scroll through the time?

There are other factors where flaring might not be accurate - the satellites are not guaranteed to be perfectly aligned with the ground, so don't always flare on demand. Then there are the other satellites, some of which might have similar flares, but I'm only testing Starlink. This might be increasingly inaccurate as more satellites are launched that have a similar configuration (like the Chinese SpaceSail)