Videos of unidentified explosions in the atmosphere have circulated on social media in Egypt, confusing citizens and sparking widespread controversy amid the ongoing shelling between Israel and Iran.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, signs appeared in the sky of what appeared to be missile trails, as well as mysterious explosions in the sky following a night of Iranian missile strikes on Israel. This prompted citizens to question the nature of these explosions and the signs in the sky revealed by daylight.
These signs and lights appeared in areas far from the border with Israel, such as Cairo and Giza, while a number of residents of Upper Egypt reported seeing lights from mysterious explosions.
After posting photos of strange signs in the sky, a blogger asked: "Strange signs and luminous objects are now in the Egyptian sky. Residents of Cairo and some governorates are hearing a light explosion in the airspace. There are indications that this is the result of ballistic missiles launched between Israel and Iran."
One page posted a video of similar signs in the sky, asking: "What is this strange phenomenon in the sky of Matariya (east of Cairo)? Does anyone have an explanation?"
In an attempt to explain the matter, some bloggers have suggested that these markings represent the trajectories of ballistic missiles launched by Iran toward Israel, or interceptor missiles. These markings begin to appear at sunrise or sunset, given their location high in the atmosphere or outside it. They can be seen from areas far from where they actually landed, given the greater distance in the atmosphere.
Another blogger, Mohamed Nour, said on Facebook: "The images appearing in the Egyptian sky are the result of missiles penetrating the atmosphere. These are the trajectories of missiles flying at very high altitudes outside the atmosphere, and the images show the gaseous and light effects of the missiles."
He continued: "At sunrise or sunset, these paths appear clearly, even if the distance is great. These images are over Israel, but they appear here because of the missiles' height in the atmosphere. The talk that the missiles penetrated Egyptian airspace or that Egyptian air defenses were engaged is incorrect," he said.
