After a long day, I decided to unwind with a small pot of tea in my backyard facing north in Saskatoon, SK. Around 9:30 PM, as twilight gave way to night, my eyes caught a peculiar star-like point of light approximately 35 to 40 degrees above the northern horizon. It flashed periodically, puzzling me—maybe a satellite catching the sun or an aircraft’s navigation lights. But then the flashes repeated exactly in the same place over the span of thirty minutes.
Curiosity gripped me as I scanned the sky. No planes or satellites seemed to match this odd pattern, and no stars appeared where the flashes were occurring. By 10 PM, more stars revealed themselves, yet the area remained blank except for this mysterious twinkle.
Suddenly, the light transformed. Instead of a simple flash, a dazzling sparkle erupted—a bright, thin cylindrical or dumbbell-shaped glow composed of two sparkling points connected by a fine line, shining briefly like sparklers on a birthday cake. The phenomenon lasted only a fraction of a second but was unmistakably clear and profoundly unsettling.
I lingered, hoping to catch another glimpse, but the sky remained silent. Feeling a chill, I packed away my tea and headed indoors. This light was likely very high in the sky, but I wonder if anyone farther north might have witnessed this enigmatic spectacle from a different vantage point.
This experience remains a haunting memory—a reminder that the night sky sometimes hides mysteries that flicker just beyond our understanding.