Author: Chris Barrus

So in the end it appears that the Weird Giant Spiral of Norway was merely a failed launch attempt of Russia’s beleaguered Bulava ICBM, but for awhile there was some good solid confusion.

I didn’t believe it was anything other than a failed booster stage venting off gas or fuel, but I can only imagine just how amazing it must have looked. Here in Southern California we occasionally see similar strange formations from launches out of Vandenberg AFB but most of those launches are, er, successful so we really only get the corkscrew tail instead of an ominous blue spiral. I hope some higher res versions of this morning’s photos make it out.

I can’t be the only person that immediately thought of Uzumaki – a Japanese horror manga and movie about a remote town that increasingly obsesses over spirals to the point of hysteria and eventual doom.