Mysterious fireballs seen streaking across California sky
Skygazers in California witnessed fiery objects streaking across the sky early Tuesday. CREDIT: Reuters
Skygazers in California were left stunned early Tuesday when they witnessed a series of bright fiery lights streaking across the clear night sky.
Video shows the mysterious golden objects shooting across the sky in a straight line at around 1:30 a.m. in Moreno Valley, which is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.
"What the hell!," one puzzled onlooker in the video can be heard saying.
"Oh it’s a meteor shower, yeah, look at that s---, what the hell."
A series of bright fiery lights were seen streaking across the night sky in California on Tuesday, puzzling onlookers who suspected it may have been a meteor shower. (@Joeys_Vibe via Spectee via Reuters)
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Many people on social media suspected it was debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch the previous evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which carried 22 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Others opined it may be from the Chinese Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module rocket that was predicted to re-enter near Los Angeles at 1:45 a.m. local time.
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At the end of the 45-second clip, the fiery shower appears to dissipate and die off.
Fox News Digital reached out to Space X and NASA for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
The FAA says it had no reports of unusual aircraft activity in that area.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and satellite tracker, told Space.com he believes the debris was from the Chinese orbital module that launched three astronauts to the nation's Tiangong space station in November 2022.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flies above the Pacific Ocean carrying a payload of 22 Starlink internet satellites into space on April 1. Many people speculated that the fiery shower was debris from this launch. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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It is not designed to come back to Earth safely at the end of its mission with astronauts re-entering via the Shenzhou reentry module.
The space website discounted the theory of the fireballs coming from the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, noting that its hardware lands safely after launch and is reused, although the rocket's upper stage is disposable.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launche at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)