Russian missile failure lights up Norway’s sky

MOSCOW — The failure of a new Russian intercontinental ballistic missile during testing was the cause of spectacular spiraling blue lights in the skies over northern Norway, analysts said Thursday.

Russia’s defense ministry said a Bulava missile was launched Wednesday by a submarine submerged in the White Sea and its third stage suffered an unspecified failure.

Photographs and amateur video footage of the bluish-white light in the Norwegian skies have been circulating on the Internet since Wednesday and spawning speculation of UFOs.

The botched launch was the twelfth test of the Bulava and its eighth failure, which deals another blow to Kremlin’s hopes that the sea-based weapon would become a cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal.