A VIDEO of a possible sighting of the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket over Weardale has caused some debate.

Stargazers and skywatchers in Stanhope may have been treated with a glimpse of the historic SpaceX mission.

The Falcon9 rocket blasted off from Florida at around 8.15pm UK time on Saturday carrying the Dragon Capsule. According to some sources it would have been visible in the UK 15 minutes after launch on its 19-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

The video was shot by Scott Beverley near Stanhope on Saturday at 9.35pm on the day of the launch . He said: “It was a truly surreal moment to be able to capture, I never thought I was going to see it to be honest.”

The Northern Echo: A close-up from the video shot by Scott Beverley in WeardaleA close-up from the video shot by Scott Beverley in Weardale

However not everyone is convinced it is the Falcon9.

The launch is historic as it sees a joint effort between NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme to launch American astronauts to the ISS from American soil. Since NASA’s Space Shuttle programme was scrapped in the 2000s, NASA has had to rely on Russia to get its astronauts into space. SpaceX is famous for its focus on re-using the rockets which fly back down to Earth after launch.

Weardale photographer, Gary Lintern, who analysed the video said: "It's certainly not a natural object like a meteor, because they move much more quickly, leave a different-shaped trail and are rarely visible in daylight. The Falcon 9 will have been visible over the UK at 9:37pm and 10:15pm on Saturday."

But some remain sceptical.

One of the sceptics of the video is David Hughes, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, who said: "I'm convinced that the video is real and that the object in the video is a humble jet aircraft with a contrail, which has caught the setting sun. The track of the Dragon vehicle on Saturday would have taken it south of Ireland but I think the curvature of the Earth would stop you seeing anything.

“It’s most likely a civilian aircraft moving south-to-north. Could be a military jet or one of the support companies. Cobham Air Services have been performing some work for the RAF. Normally they work out at sea and are obscured by clouds but the recent clear weather has highlighted some of their operations.”

Do you think the video shows SpaceX or is it something else? Is it a plane, is it a rocket, is it a meteor? 

What do you think?