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SpaceX launch spawns "jellyfish" cloud in sky before sunrise

The glowing cloud appeared over the East Coast as SpaceX launched toward the International Space Station, and families filmed it from their yards; it was exhaust, not a sea creature.

On air: Kenji Moonfield on Late Night BBN
Published 11:01 PM ET, Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Watch the segment

Interviews“It's a no-refund jellyfish, Kenji. Is it still available? Asking for a friend with a laminated chart.”Wendell Gaspard▶ Full · 1:30SpaceX Jellyfish Cloud: The Man Who Allegedly Sold a SunriseInterviews · Oct 13

At a glance

First reported by ABC News: “WATCH: SpaceX launch spawns "jellyfish" cloud in sky before sunrise”.
Covered on BBN on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 11:01 PM ET on Late Night BBN, by Kenji Moonfield.
Topics: SpaceX.

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

ABC NewsWATCH: SpaceX launch spawns "jellyfish" cloud in sky before sunrise

What BBN said about it

Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentEast Coast families woke up before sunrise to a glowing jellyfish in the sky after a SpaceX launch to the space station.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOur guest is inmate forty-oh-four-seventeen, Wendell Gaspard, a self-taught cloud expert. Wendell, what are we looking at?
Wendell GaspardKenji, that's a rocket plume catching the first sunlight high up, while the ground is still dark. Pure light, no magic.
Wendell GaspardFor the record, a cumulus is something I once sold a man in Tampa.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSold. A cloud. To a man in Tampa.
Wendell GaspardAllegedly, and only the viewing rights.
Wendell GaspardAnyway, the jellyfish shape comes from the exhaust spreading out in thin air, which is why it has those lovely trailing tentacles.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo it's exhaust that looks beautiful. Is that why people were filming it from their driveways in their pajamas?
Wendell GaspardPeople will stand in a cold driveway for anything glowing. I learned that the hard way. Allegedly.
Wendell GaspardFor the record, a cirrus, forty dollars a week, the dentist loved it.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA dentist paid forty dollars a week for a cirrus cloud? Wendell, is that why you're in there?
Wendell GaspardI'm in here for a paperwork misunderstanding about a sunrise. He said it was cloudy. I said that's the product.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentI'll ask again. Did you sell the dentist the sunrise?
Wendell GaspardFor the record, a sunrise, Tuesday, east-facing, six forty-one. He still gets it. Nobody can prove it didn't happen.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo this jellyfish is basically the first free sky anyone's gotten from you.
Wendell GaspardIt's a no-refund jellyfish, Kenji. Is it still available? Asking for a friend with a laminated chart.