Patagonia light and Popocatépetl webcam "rising silhouettes", 2 Nov 2026: Kinetica-2 upper stage

[SkyAugur]

In plain terms: a Chinese rocket's upper stage, about 50 minutes after launch, was still in sunlight high up while the ground was dark, and the glowing cloud around it looks like leftover fuel being vented. Argentina saw it first, then a Mexican volcano webcam about 20 minutes later.

Launch time, from China Daily:

The 53-meter-tall rocket lifted off at 8:15 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center

8:15 Beijing time on 3 Nov is 00:15 UTC, which was still the evening of 2 Nov in Argentina (21:15) and Mexico (18:15). https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/642157

Using the CelesTrak orbit for the stage (NORAD 101282), the chart above shows:

• From El Calafate it rises in the SSW at 22:03 local time, stays low in the west, and sets in the NW at 22:14. That matches the reports from Santa Cruz and Chubut of a light sinking toward the northwest around 22:00.
• From the Tlamacas webcam, which looks south at Popocatépetl, it is due south and climbing at 19:24-19:25 local time, the clock shown on the clip. It then enters Earth's shadow almost overhead at about 19:28, which is why it disappears.

Webcam clip (Webcams de México). Glowing, comet-like clouds rise from behind the volcano, and the on-screen clock reads 2026-11-02 CST 19:24 to 19:25. A reply under the post (@dell_dann) notes it went "de sur a norte" (south to north).


Argentine press (MDZ, 13 Nov) on the main theory at the time:

apuntó al reingreso en la atmósfera de restos de un cohete chino CZ-2C

(It pointed to re-entry of debris from a Chinese CZ-2C rocket.) The Aerospace Corp re-entry list has nothing near 01:00 UTC on 3 Nov, and this object climbed across the Mexican sky rather than falling. https://www.mdzol.com/estilo/2026/1...-argentina-y-uruguay-que-se-sabe-1995099.html

EDIT: added source quotes and a plain-English summary, per the link policy. The conclusion is unchanged.

 

[JMartJr]

Nice. Ull add just as a side not for the future, often videos of a light flying around or even 8nto a volcano are drones, trying to get amazing footage.


Source: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/UnvpHeAV4kY#bottom-sheet

 

[SkyAugur]

Good tip, thanks. I don't think it fits this one, though. The clouds spread out and glow the way a vent does, they show up right when and where the stage's orbit puts it (due south of the camera at 19:24), and they vanish when it enters Earth's shadow. The same thing was also seen from Patagonia about 20 minutes earlier, thousands of km away.

 

[JMartJr]

Good tip, thanks. I don't think it fits this one, though. Th

I agree, just mentioning it for the next "UFO at a Volcano" video , I've seen a number of them that appeared to be drones. This one I agree is a launch.