Riddle of the Arctic roll solved as Russia admits 'one of our missiles misfired'



As a missile launch it was an embarrassing failure.

But as an impromptu firework display, it was spectacular.

The mystery of the blue light display that lit up Norway's sky on Wednesday morning appeared to have been solved yesterday, after Russia admitted to a missile test in the area, having initially denied it.

See video showing part of the light display, and a simulation showing how the display may have been created below...

Strange spiral: Residents in northern Norway were stunned by the lightsho, caused by a failed Russian missile

The jinxed Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile failed at the third stage after being test-fired from a submarine in the White Sea, Russia's military said.

Norwegians were baffled when a blue light soared up close to the country's Arctic region, formed a giant spiral and shot a green-blue beam from its centre.

Russia did not confirm that its test launch was behind the lights but it appears increasingly likely.

The Bulava has had nine failed launches in 13 tests, prompting calls for it to be scrapped.

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A still from Doug Ellison's computer simulation shows how the spirals may have been created by a missile tumbling through the air and leaking fuel. A video of the simulation is below



In theory, it has a range of 5,000 miles and could carry ten nuclear weapons bound for separate targets. However, the test would not have carried any warheads and would have been harmless.

Yesterday new video also emerged showing a simulation of what would happen if such a missile were to fail - video that bore an uncanny resemblance to the light display seen in the Norwegian sky.

The video, a 3-D simulation of what may have occurred to produce the light display, was put together by a British engineer named Doug Ellison. Ellison runs the forum unmannedspaceflight.com.

The answer to the mystery: Left, the light display in Norway; and right, part of the computer simulation



On YouTube, Ellison, who is an animator and multimedia producer for a medical firm in Leicester, described the video as 'a set of rendered views using 3DS Max to produce a coarse simulation of what may have occurred to produce the beautiful formation in the sky over Norway'.

'Once I saw the photos, and knowing a fair amount about space flight, the cause of the beautiful pattern seemed quite obvious to me,' he told the MailOnline.

'Trying to explain it in layman's terms is quite hard, so I used some basic animation tools to try and emulate the effect.



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'I bolted two virtual particle emitters onto a small box - spun the box, then moved it at speed and low and behold, the spiral pattern, and the trail behind, both emerged as a result.



'The people in northern Norway are lucky to have been in the right place, at the right time!'

The mystery began when a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain in the north of the country. It stopped mid-air, then began to move in circles. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky.



Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its centre - lasting for ten to 12 minutes before disappearing completely.



Onlookers describing it as 'like a big fireball that went around, with a great light around it' and 'a shooting star that spun around and around'.

What could it be? Astronomers say the spectacle did not appear to be connected to the Northern Lights

Sighting: A similar spiral appeared over China last year



The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm.

Totto Eriksen, from Tromsø, told VG Nett: 'It spun and exploded in the sky,'

He spotted the lights as he walked his daughter Amalie to school.



He said: 'We saw it from the Inner Harbor in Tromsø. It was absolutely fantastic.



'It almost looked like a rocket that spun around and around and then went diagonally down the heavens.



'It looked like the moon was coming over the mountain, but then came something completely different.'



The lights appeared to be unconnected with the aurora borealis, or northern lights, the natural magnetic phenomena that can often be viewed in that part of the world.

Celebrity astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard said he had never seen anything like the lights.



He said: 'My first thought was that it was a fireball meteor, but it has lasted far too long.

'It may have been a missile in Russia, but I can not guarantee that it is the answer.'



Air traffic control in Tromsō claimed the light show lasted 'far too long to be an astronomical phenomenon'.



A similar spiral was seen over China last year, with a blue-ish coloured pattern appearing in the skies.

