A spectacular display of lights streaming across the night sky across the northwestern U.S. was perhaps the culmination of a SpaceX mission going back into the atmosphere, the U.S. said. National Weather Service (NWS).
“While we await further confirmation of the details, this is the unofficial information we have so far. The most widely reported items in the air were the debris from 2nd Falcon 9 rocket level, “NWS Seattle tweeted.
If the angle is too small, there is a risk that they will spray the atmosphere like a stone on water. On the other hand, meteors can reach the top of the atmosphere at speeds faster than 45,000 mph. Plus, the angle of impact can be quite steep … which can quickly burn the object.
– NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 26, 2021
Videos posted on social media showed a thick collection of glossy dots with flaming trails of light moving slowly across the skies before shaking off, with users speculating that it may be it’s a meteor shower or even, with a joke, an alien attack.
Local media reported a multi-view just after 9pm local time, with videos posted online from Washington and Oregon states.
NWS Seattle said the scene would be more likely to be caused by space debris than a meteor or something similar as the latter would move much faster, a decision backed by a number of hydrologists named by the local media.
Jonathan McDowell of Harvard Astrophysics Center also identified the Falcon 9 rocket level as the source of the fire-like display.
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“The second phase of Falcon 9 since the launch of Mar 4 Starlink failed deorbit firing and is now re-entering after 22 days in orbit,” he tweeted, noting reference to a rocket launched on March 4 to carry 60 Starlink internet relay satellites into orbit.
Deorbit firing fires spacecraft missiles to slow down the vehicle and start its descent, according to the NASA website.
McDowell tweeted that while we could “predict that this rocket platform would re-enter today”, the speed at which it traveled meant that it is difficult to determine where he would have been seen.
There were no reports of damage, with NWS Seattle saying no impact on the ground was expected.