Fireball crossing western sky was debris from Russian rocket

At around 2am Irish time people in the states of California, Nevada and Arizona began to post on social media about a mysterious, fast moving light in the sky.

Others wondered if it was a meteor breaking up on re-entry or space debris from a satellite.

“Big big #fireball moved in the sky very slow with a #streak over Ventura”.

Shortly after 6 p.m. PST, a bright light was spotted streaking above the city.

“The good ole’ Russians”.

A USA strategic command spokesperson said it’s most likely the result of a Russian rocket body booster re-entering the atmosphere. “Additional questions about the rocket body should be directed to Russian authorities, particularly Roscosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency)”.

The joint space operation center in the Vandenberg base tracks and identifies man-made objects. And there’s a lot more space debris circling Earth than you might expect.

It was not immediately clear what the light was, or if it was connected to the Ursids meteor shower. But astronomers quickly pointed out that the Geminid meteor shower was expected to end on December 17 after peaking on December 13.