A perplexing and slow-moving fireball illuminated the evening sky from California to Texas last week, and its identity remains unknown.
Rebecca Woods’ home camera in San Marco, near San Diego, captured footage of the dazzling ball of light gradually traversing the sky, followed by a luminous tail. Woods initially thought it might be a Starlink launch due to the trajectory, but no launches were scheduled.
The American Meteor Society received 34 reports of the fireball sighting on July 25 from California, Mexico, and Texas.Videos and photos on the organisation’s website depict the blazing white ball slowly moving across the sky.
Rebecca Woods’ home camera in San Marco, near San Diego, captured footage of the dazzling ball of light gradually traversing the sky, followed by a luminous tail. Woods initially thought it might be a Starlink launch due to the trajectory, but no launches were scheduled.
The American Meteor Society received 34 reports of the fireball sighting on July 25 from California, Mexico, and Texas.Videos and photos on the organisation’s website depict the blazing white ball slowly moving across the sky.
Eric Sandquist, a professor and chair of San Diego State’s Astronomy Department, believes the object was Japanese space debris. “The object appears to be the same one in this news story from Mexico. It is believed to be a Japanese booster rocket from a launch in 2010,” he told NBC 7.
The fireball’s west-to-east trajectory supports the idea that it was an orbiting object re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, and its slow speed suggests it was not a meteor.
A witness from New Mexico reported seeing the object breaking apart. San Diego police confirmed that the spectacle was not related to Comic Con, which took place in the city last weekend.
Source : Times of India
