Unidentified flying objects (UFOs), fireworks, or even Transformers? Moving lights in the sky over California seen in a video circulating on social media showing last week were really caused by something less exciting, according to an expert.
Streaks of light travelling in a slight arc across the night sky on March 17 can be seen in the video, with the person filming asking “What is that?” over the sounds of St Patrick’s Day revellers laughing.
Another person can be heard jokingly remarking “I don’t wanna die!” as the video ends.
The video was posted on beer brewery King Cong Brewing Company’s Instagram account.
“Crazy Fireworks,” read the caption. “This flew over the brewery tonight. What do you guys think? #UFO”
Mr Jaime Hernandez, the person who filmed the video, told the Associated Press (AP) that the spectacle was over in about 40 seconds.
“Mainly, we were in shock, but amazed that we got to witness it,” Mr Hernandez said.
“None of us had ever seen anything like it.”
Some comments of the Instagram video – jokingly or not – said that it could have been UFOs, falling satellites, or even Transformers. However, others suggested the lights could have been space junk.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell told The New York Times that this was likely the case.
Dr McDowell, who works at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that he is confident that the streaks of light were caused by the re-entry of flaming space debris into Earth’s atmosphere.
“What you’re seeing is some actually very small objects releasing a lot of energy, very high up, travelling extremely fast,” he said.
Dr McDowell said the debris streaking across the sky at more than 27,000kmh were flaming chunks of communications equipment, jettisoned from the International Space Station in February 2020.
He added that pieces likely landed somewhere around Yosemite National Park, California.
According to Dr McDowell, such equipment re-enters Earth’s atmosphere every few weeks and has been doing so for the past 50 years.
“They don’t happen very often over any one given place, so it’s always new to the people who see it,” he told the New York Times.
“For me, it’s just another Tuesday.”
In June 2022, long shiny trails in the night sky over Spain amazed onlookers as remnants of a Chinese space rocket re-entered the atmosphere.
The spectacle could also be observed in Portugal, with similar videos from other places posted on Twitter evoking from users a torrent of guesses – including meteors, alien spaceships and falling satellites – but ultimately the rocket explanation convinced those in doubt.
