Moving lights in Siwa sky (Egypt), for more than a year, almost everyday

[maxim.zavads]

TL;DR: One to five yellow/white lights have been appearing almost nightly for over a year near Siwa Oasis, Egypt. They float, accelerate, reverse direction, and fade in/out between 10:00 PM and 3:00 AM. Observed by myself and a hobby astronomer. Data, angular speeds, and bearings detailed below.

Location & Timeline

• Location 1: Near the Siwa Oasis Lake (where a hobby astronomer and his friend recorded videos in February 2025).
• Location 2: Siwa Oasis Luna Camp (where I conducted observations between May 24–26, 2026). This is roughly 5 km from the lake.
• Environment: Desert oasis with excellent visibility and zero cloud cover (the Milky Way is clearly visible).
• Timing: The lights consistently appear starting around 10:00 PM and last until at least 3:00 AM. I checked at 5:00 AM once, and the sky was empty.

The Data (Bearings & Movement)[/H2]
Using a bubble level app, a timer, and finger-width measurements, I tracked the path of the objects over consecutive nights. The trajectory is highly consistent day-to-day:

• 10:00 PM: 310∘ (NW)
• 12:00 AM: 330∘ (NNW)
• 1:20 AM: 4∘ (N)
• 2:00 AM: 20∘ (NNE)
• 2:30 AM: 20∘ (NNE)

Flight Characteristics:

• Elevation: Very low on the horizon, ranging from 1∘ to 9∘.
• Movement: Mostly left-to-right (towards the North). They are highly erratic: stopping to float, accelerating rapidly, making sharp turns, or completely reversing direction.
• Velocity: Angular velocity ranges from 0∘/s (stationary) up to at least 0.375∘/s.
• Count: Anywhere from 1 to 5 dots simultaneously. One might appear first, followed sporadically by others.

Appearance & Luminosity

• Color: Yellow and white lights. At their peak brightness, they flicker and appear distinctly yellow.
• Luminosity: Ranging from the size of a small star up to the brightness of Jupiter.
• Brightness Comparison: Around midnight at a 6∘ elevation angle, one dot was as bright or brighter than Antares, and significantly brighter than any star in the nearby Cassiopeia constellation.
• Behavior: The lights gradually fade in and out. Each light lasts anywhere from 10 seconds to 1.5 minutes. Note: The fading behavior does not correlate with their physical movement.

What do you think these could be? Given the low elevation angle (1∘–9∘) and the proximity to the Libyan border/desert military zones, could this be a specific type of drone activity, atmospheric refraction, or something else?

Please help me debunk this!
(transcribed and cleaned up by AI from my voice recording)

 

[Mick West]

They look like Starlink horizon flares.

They float, accelerate, reverse direction, and fade in/out between

Do you have video of them accelerating or reversing direction? That's a common illusion with SHFs, but the video always shows straight lines at constant speed.

 

[Ann K]

@maxim.zavads
Two other possibilities come to mind.

(1) You're near an active military engagement. I hear a distant rumble of something that may be the sound of firing, so that's an avenue to explore.

(2) These lights all seem to begin in the same location. I can see nothing on the horizon in this nighttime video, but is there a hill/mountain in that direction? If so, bright lights of nightly sessions of road building (or possibly mining) might be responsible, or perhaps it is the motion of military vehicles going over a pass.

 

[Dave51c]

The trajectory is highly consistent day-to-day:

• 10:00 PM: 310∘ (NW)
• 12:00 AM: 330∘ (NNW)
• 1:20 AM: 4∘ (N)
• 2:00 AM: 20∘ (NNE)
• 2:30 AM: 20∘ (NNE)

Do any of these match the reciprocal of prevailing winds in your location at that time?

proximity to the Libyan border/desert military zones

Which makes me wonder from the above if there is a temporary landing strip in that area with two runways/landing areas offset by approx. 50 degrees. Drone training exercise?

Do you have an exact lat/lon of your observation location, that would be very helpful.

Are the lights on the horizon and to the right as seen in video 1 a feature in or around Siwa city? If so, could you estimate a range/bearing to those lights from your observations.

Thanks.

 

[jumbobob]

Could you indicate yours and the objects position roughly?

There is an airport directly north of Siwa Oasis

 

[jarlrmai]

Just looks like Starlink to me, sharing the full metadata video could show it either way.

 

[JMartJr]

Do any of these match the reciprocal of prevailing winds in your location at that time?

Winds in Siwa, Egypt:

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Siwa Oasis varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the north for 3.9 weeks, from March 14 to April 10 and for 7.0 months, from April 30 to November 30, with a peak percentage of 74% on July 9. The wind is most often from the east for 2.9 weeks, from April 10 to April 30, with a peak percentage of 36% on April 29. The wind is most often from the west for 3.5 months, from November 30 to March 14, with a peak percentage of 42% on January 1

Text and images from" https://weatherspark.com/y/91744/Average-Weather-in-Siwa-Oasis-Egypt-Year-Round#google_vignette