Fireball seen over several states was not a meteor, experts say. But what caused it?
A fireball was seen hurtling over Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona early Thursday, April 27, and videos show it exploded into multiple pieces before vanishing in the dark.
The American Meteor Society says 37 people have filed witness reports, including six who recorded video.
Most assumed it was a meteor, but it was actually human-made space trash, the society has revealed.
“This event was not a natural fireball but rather an uncontrolled space debris reentry from the SpaceX Endurance 2 mission launched Oct 5, 2022,” the society reported.
The section of the Dragon Endurance 2 was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was projected to cross over eight central US states (from Michigan to Arizona) before crashing.
Among the witness accounts were people reporting it looked “bigger than a regular meteor” and was visible for an extended period, leading some to suspect it might be an aircraft or done. “The majority of fireballs only last (a) few seconds,” the society reports.
Multiple witnesses noted the object was red and made no sound as it fell.
Nearly half the reports came just before 3 a.m. from Colorado, with many living in the Denver area.
“Until the meteor fragmented I thought it was a low flying plane with landing lights full on, although smoke trail was visible and it was oscillating slightly,” a witness in Perry Park, Colorado, reported.
“This was the brightest and longest and most exciting fireball ... with hundreds of fragments and some trail with smoke glowing red at the end,” a woman in Montrose, Colorado wrote.
“It looked like a firework exploding downward across the western sky but I’ve seen plenty of fireworks and this wasn’t one,” a witness in Castle Rock, Colorado, said. “I’ve never seen nor heard of a red meteor either.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Fireball seen over several states was not a meteor, experts say. But what caused it?."