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'Mysterious object falls from skies over the Midwest leaving thousands baffled by the display
[Daily Mail, where America get its news] Mysterious objects were spotted falling from the sky and breaking apart over several states, leaving thousands baffled by the cosmic display. Streaks of glowing lights appeared over parts of Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, leaving people questioned were a possible fireball or part of a series of meteor showers. Dozens of people reported the phenomenon at about 9pm ET, saying the lights streaked through the sky for up to 60 seconds before disappearing.Witnesses captured the show, revealing what appeared to be a red and orange meteor shower shining bright as it broke up into several parts before it slowly dimmed and disappeared from the night sky. A Texas resident reported that it 'first seemed like it was going straight up toward the sky then went directly over our head and we could see it breaking up as it traveled directly over us.'
However, astronomer and orbital debris expert Jonathan McDowell confirmed the light show was caused by a SpaceX Starlink satellite breaking up as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX has thousands of its Starlink satellites orbiting Earth to provide internet access to remote areas around the world, launching 98 this year as of mid-October. At the end of their mission, internet satellites are designed to re-enter the atmosphere to avoid cluttering Earth's orbit with space debris. McDowell told Space.com that these satellites 'are dominating' the clutter in Earth's atmosphere, adding that 'there is now a Starlink reentry almost every day, sometimes multiple.' The satellite re-entered over Washington state and continued southeast before disappearing over northern Texas. An Oklahoma resident described the satellite as a 'bright fire ball heading southeast, slow moving, looked like it split into 3 parts,' while another called it 'the coolest thing I've seen.' Some people speculated that the satellite was part of a series of three meteor showers - the Leonids and Southern and Northern Taurids - that reached peak activity this month. The number of Starlink satellites that have reentered the atmosphere has drastically increased over the last fiver years, jumping from between 50 and 100 per year to around 300 annually. 'We are seeing a similar increase in the number of satellites now that hundreds of Starlink satellites are starting to come down,' McDowell told Space.com. Posted by: Skidmark 2024-11-13 |
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