On the night of Thursday, March 25, a series of shiny objects were seen in the sky in the northwestern United States. According to the American press, it was the debris of a SpaceX rocket that should have fallen south of Australia.
Dazzling lights lit up the skies over the northwestern United States on Thursday, March 25. But according to The Seattle Times, it was not a series of shooting stars or meteors crossing the sky “At idle”,
On Twitter, the local office of the National Weather Service reported that these “Shiny objects” was burning debris from the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket falling back into Earth’s atmosphere.
Krissy Allori, who was lying by a campfire on an Oregon beach, explained to Washington Post having suddenly seen “A ball of fire” light up the night sky on Thursday:
It was weird, because meteors cross the sky very quickly and then they disappear. But this one went very low and very slowly. ”
“It was really spectacular”, added Allori, 42, who posted on Twitter a video of the observed phenomenon:
According to the daily newspaper in the capital, testimonies have multiplied on social networks, the phenomenon having been observed from Seattle (Washington State) to Portland (Oregon). But in reality, it was the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. “Which burned harmlessly on falling back into the atmosphere”, also observe The Washington Post.
A procedure that “apparently failed”
The newspaper quotes in particular Jonathan McDowell, astronomer from Harvard University, who explained that the rocket was supposed “Decelerate and go out without fanfare” over the sea, South Australia. A procedure that “Apparently failed”.
According to McDowell, the Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX, a company run by Elon Musk, are known for their ability to safely land a first-stage booster after launching into space. But the second stage of these rockets is still designed to fall back to Earth, consuming itself.
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