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Videos: Starlink satellites over Montana

starlink summary.jpg
Posted at 10:31 AM, May 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-27 13:36:16-04

GREAT FALLS — Several people shared videos with KRTV of a string of lights in the skies over Montana on Wednesday night. The videos were shot in Great Falls and near Choteau, and appear to be a chain of Starlink satellites.

The website FindStarlink.com confirms that the satellites were above our area at the time the videos were shot, and noted that visibility of the satellites at the time was "bright."

The website also notes that "the satellites move really fast, and travel the entire world in 90 minutes. Every 90 minutes, they return to the same point (but a little further away). That's why sometimes you can see them again within 2 hours of a previous sighting."

This is far from the first time people have reported seeing unusual lights over Montana. In December 2019, people in and around Browning, Rocky Boy, and Lodgepole shared photos that showed a row of bright lights in the sky, and people in other areas of Montana reported seeing them, too. It happened again in December 2020, and just a few days ago, people again reported seeing strange lights in the sky over Montana.

Hundreds of Starlink satellites have been launched over the last several months; they provide high-speed internet to customers who sign up for service, using small satellite dishes usually mounted on roof-tops. Click here to read more about it.