{"id":255160,"date":"2026-04-07T04:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255160\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T04:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:40:21","slug":"explosion-in-fresno-strange-cloud-like-figure-in-sky-leaves-people-confused-heres-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255160\/","title":{"rendered":"Explosion in Fresno? Strange \u2018cloud like\u2019 figure in sky leaves people confused; here’s what happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno residents were worried about a possible explosion in the California<\/a> city after a mysterious \u2018cloud like figure\u2019 was seen in the sky on Monday. However, this was not due to any blast but rather a rocket launch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AA strange white smoke like matter was seen in Fresno skies, prompting questions. (Facebook\/Kris Kuyper)<\/p>\n

Though the situation became clear eventually, many posted visuals of the sky wondering what was going on. \u201cMysterious cloud like figure appears in sky! Spectators claim it was a NASA<\/a> rocket. What do you think?,\u201d one asked on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Several such videos were posted on the Fresno Reddit forum as well. \u201cStarlink Launch April 6 pt 2,\u201d one person wrote, sharing photos.<\/p>\n

Another added a video, saying \u201cStarlink Vandenberg SFB Launch, April 6.\u201d The person added \u201cFantastic time for a launch, it ended up looking amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to this a person had wondered what was exactly in the sky. \u201cWhat\u2019s in the sky? Anyone see this in the sky toward the south? Any ideas what it is?,\u201d they asked sharing a photo where a white wisp was visible.<\/p>\n

While people online began to understand that the smoke was related to a rocket launch, many wondered why it was visible from Fresno specifically on Monday, given the large distance from the launch site.<\/p>\n

Also Read | Why was there a 40-minute blackout in NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission? Explained<\/a><\/p>\n

Kris Kuyper, with the national weather desk at local channel KMPH Fox 26 posted an explanation for the same.<\/p>\n

Why Fresno saw smoke from rocket launch?<\/p>\n

Kuyper explained that the rocket launch was visible due to a couple of factors \u2013 the size of the rocket and the timing of the launch. He reasoned that this was why many of the launches were not as visible from Fresno but this one was.<\/p>\n

\u201cRocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base Monday evening was VERY visible from Fresno! Why was this one so visible, but others are not? 2 reasons,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The reported added, \u201c1. It has to be a bigger rocket. Tonight\u2019s was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Not huge like the NASA Artemis, but big enough. 2. Main reason is the TIME. For Fresno to be able to see a launch from that far away, it has to launch close to sunset, so our skies are getting dark, but the setting sun to the west (where Vandenberg SFB is\u2026 to our south west) can still light up the exhaust trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, those who saw the incident shared their experiences. One person wrote<\/a> on Reddit \u201cIt started like a rocket but moving upward but then there was a puff of smoke and it looked like pieces were falling.\u201d Another added<\/a> \u201cSaw it from Clovis.\u201d Clovis is about 197 miles away from the launch site. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno residents were worried about a possible explosion in the California city after a mysterious \u2018cloud like figure\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,113032,113029,113033,114,113,113030,113031,113034],"class_list":{"0":"post-255160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-california-sky-white-cloud","10":"tag-fresno-explosion","11":"tag-fresno-explosion-today-what-happened","12":"tag-fresno-headlines","13":"tag-fresno-news","14":"tag-fresno-rocket-launch-video","15":"tag-fresno-space-x-rocket-launch","16":"tag-fresno-spacex-falcon-9-launch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}