Culture
RSSCulture in Alaska is the arts, museums, festivals and community celebrations that shape daily life across the state. It covers heritage months, public art, Alaska Native art forms, disability pride events and museum programs in cities from Juneau to Kodiak.
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Original Video by Sara Jane Osborn · Photo source
Anchorage's viral "jellyfish UFO" was filmed in June, and it may be a kite
A tentacled "jellyfish UFO" that floated through international news this week was filmed five months ago in East Anchorage, and kite fliers who have reviewed it online think it's something more down to earth: a kite.
Sara Jane Osborn posted the 57-second video to Facebook just after 10 pm on June 15. "WHAT IS IT?!!" she wrote. Osborn has said she was photographing a rainbow when she spotted it. The post has since drawn about 168,000 views.
Nearly five months later, on Nov. 3, a UFO-focused Instagram account, Unknown Phenomena, reposted it with its own headline and branding. The caption said AI detection software reportedly hadn't flagged the clip, asked followers for theories and promoted a UFO e-book giveaway and paid content.
Within a week, the clip was in the Daily Mail, on NewsNation and on Indian news sites including NDTV and Hindustan Times, often framed around its direction toward Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Alaska News reviewed Osborn’s video frame by frame, along with airport weather records and the sun’s position that evening.
Osborn's caption said downtown, but the building that appears at the end of the clip, the state's Geologic Materials Center, puts her in East Anchorage near the old Northway Mall.
In the video, the object hangs right in the rainbow, against the mountainside. A rainbow always appears opposite the sun. Just after 10 pm in mid-June, the sun was low in the northwest, so a rainbow would have stretched across the eastern and southern sky, according to Alaska News calculations of the sun's position.
That means Osborn was facing southeast, past Russian Jack Springs Park toward the Chugach Mountains, and away from the base's airfield and main post to the north. Her line of sight does cross JBER land in the foothills, about 4 to 6 miles out.
What the video can't show is how far away the object was. Seen against the mountain, it looks like it's hovering near the slope. But no ridge or tree line ever passes in front of it. It could be anywhere along the line from the camera to the mountainside, about 6.5 miles away.
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Wolf at the Door
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About Culture
Culture in Alaska takes in the arts, museums, libraries, festivals and community celebrations across the state. It includes Alaska Native art forms such as Bering Strait ivory carving and Chilkat weaving, along with theater, public art and murals.
Museums and historical societies in places such as Juneau, Kodiak and Seward keep exhibits and local histories, often with grant support, and libraries run programs for readers of all ages. Local governments recognize heritage months such as Filipino American History Month and Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, and communities hold festivals, races and disability pride celebrations. Artists draw grants from the Rasmuson Foundation and the state arts council, and Fish and Game hosts wildlife storytelling nights.
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