“So last night I headed into the country to play around with my new DSLR. As around 21:22 (14/04/2015; Outside Bristol, UK) I saw one of the strangest sights I have ever seen whilst stargazing. There were three bright lights in a straight line moving across the sky like an Iridium flare/ISS. I immediately looked through binoculars and it obviously was not a plane. I then very quickly spun my camera around on the tripod (hence why the start of the exposure is wobbly) and captured a 30 second exposure. The bright one in the middle was easily as bright as the ISS (which I had watched pass over about 40 mins prior). The lights either side were about half the brightness. You can see from the picture that they fade out towards the end of the exposure (exactly like an Iridium Flare). However, I have never seen an Iridium flare last for so long. Can you help identify this very strange phenomenon? The three lights were in a perfect line. It was potentially one of the most interesting astronomy things I have seen with the naked eye. I know it obviously was some sort of satellite flare, but it did get the adrenaline pumping. I feel lucky to have captured this on film. Any ideas/ answers will be much appreciated.”

Lee just happened to be in the right place at the right time to see the rocket ascend. He told the Daily Dot that astronomy is a long-time passion of his. “For the last year I have just been taking photos through my telescope with my smartphone, and was able to get some pretty good shots,” he said in an email. He said recently purchased a better camera to get wide-angle shots.

“I was so excited to find out today that I had taken a picture of rocket, which was flying over my head... incredible really,” Lee said. He wasn’t sure if he would have ever found out what the object was without Reddit’s help. He was so thrilled that he even wrote a celebratory poem:

“Last night I unknowingly took an incredibly fluky photo...

It's of the SpaceX 'dragon' flying over UK skies;

It was heading up to the ISS with scientific supplies.

At the time I had absolutely no idea what I was seeing,

Knowing it was a rocket improves my mental well-being.

This is just one of the reasons I love astronomy;

I headed out for star trails and a rocket flew ovver-me!”