Internet Puzzled by "Jellyfish" UFO Video

Why is it moving so smoothly? Jellyfish and Chandelier A video of what has since been dubbed a "jellyfish" UFO is making the rounds online. The footage , shared by journalist Jeremy Corbell earlier this week, shows a mysterious object that appears to have dangling tendrils, and which appears to smoothly float over the roofs of a military base in Iraq.

According to Corbell, the UFO footage dates back to October 2018. Naturally, the online UFO community had a field day, speculating what the object could be. Two days later, Corbell followed up with a different image of a "chandelier" UFO, which was also reportedly filmed over the Persian Gulf.

The Pentagon has yet to weigh in on the footage, but the video comes after interest in "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAPs) has steadily grown , with members of Congress even receiving a classified briefing earlier this month. Ultimately, despite plenty of speculation, we have yet to hear anything close to a confirmed report of extraterrestrials coming to visit us .

And as you'd expect, there's already evidence that the latest video has a much more mundane explanation. Ghost Story This week, Marine officer Michael Cincoski opened up to NewsNation about the footage, telling the outlet that the "jellyfish" was actually nicknamed the "spaghetti monster" when it was collected, and that sightings started at the end of 2017, not 2018.

According to Cincoski, the footage was taken from an aerostat, a big balloon observatory that was floating over the base to detect any incoming threats. "Toward the end, it seemingly continued off into the distance," he told NewsNation , but refuted Corbell's claims that it ever dropped "into the lake or shoot into the sky." "It ended up being the ghost story of the base," Cincoski added.

Critics, however, say both the "jellyfish" and "chandelier" had much simpler explanations than some outlandish alien theories would suggest. "The 'Chandelier' UFO appears to be a diffraction artifact," tweeted writer and noted UFO debunker Mick West. "Basically, a glare from a very bright/hot source, like a missile rocket/engine." And the jellyfish was likely "two different balloon like entities" moving about 12 kilometers apart , West added, that appear to be moving at the same speed as the wind — a strong clue that instead of an alien visitor, it's just a balloon.

More on UFOs: Congress Receiving Mysterious Classified Briefing About UFOs.