Cluster of "UFOs" spotted in night sky after powerful quake in Türkiye

The cluster of gold-simmering so-called UFOs sparked widespread curiosity after they were spotted in the night sky above following a 5.6-magnitude earthquake.

The tremor was recorded about 25 miles from Turhal, about 481 miles east of Türkiye's largest city Istanbul, at about 6:10 pm on April 18. While the quake had a shallow depth of six miles, it was widely felt in the region.

The video was widely shared on Instagram on May 1, per Mirror.

Locals were left stunned when a swarm of bright lights shimmered in the night sky later that night. In one recording, dozens of bright lights could be seen shooting across the night sky as a couple discussed what it could be.

While some people had otherworldly explanations, others were more grounded in what they believed the lights were.

One local commented: "They're either souls or angels." Another said: "They are seagulls flying over a light source, nothing mysterious about this." Ethan wrote: "There are some natural phenomena that produce lights in the sky around fault lines, especially after earthquakes."

UFOs, also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) are observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena. Last year, NASA chief Dr Thomas Zurbuchen said UAPs do exist but insisted they could be China using "unfriendly advanced" technology.

Zurbuchen made the revelation following instances of Chinese spy balloons being discovered flying above the US. According to the Pentagon, a Chinese spy balloon shot off the coast of South Carolina was part of a large-scale surveillance operation.