The lights sighted over parts of the Philippines on the evening of 11 April 2026, at around 7:40PM PhST, are highly likely due to the passage of the Jielong-3 rocket launched by the People’s Republic of China from the South China Sea at approximately 7:32 PM PhST. 

The phenomenon is commonly called a “space jellyfish”, which occurs when a rocket’s exhaust plume, released at high altitudes, is directly illuminated by sunlight while observers on the ground remain in darkness. The expanding plume fans out in the thin upper atmosphere and scatters sunlight, creating a luminous, jellyfish-like glow visible over wide areas during twilight conditions.