SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Many people from the Bay Area all the way to Utah are wondering what was that mysterious bright light streaking through the sky Wednesday night.
Onlookers took to social media to post pictures and videos of the unknown object that was spotted at around 9 p.m. Everyone was asking the same questions: What was is? Was it a meteor? A shooting star? UFO?
At first, there were only theories as to what it might be. But one theory, that has now been confirmed by the U.S. Strategic Command, basically calls it “space junk.”
“It’s from a Chinese rocket, called the Chang Zheng 7 rocket that launched on June 25,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Havard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The Chinese CZ-7 rocket body, which was the size of a school bus, re-entered earth’s atmosphere at 9:36 p.m. Pacific time, according to Capt. Nicholas Mercurio, a spokesman for the Joint Functional Component Command for Space.
The JFCC is part of the U.S. Strategic Command to help defend America and its allies from attack.
Given the size of the rocket body, some pieces of it may have survived re-entry but it’s unlikely it posed any threat to people, Mercurio said.
In the video above, Capt. Nick Mercurio from the Vandenburg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara explains more about the object.
Observation reports from Utah indicate the second stage from the first Chang Zheng 7 rocket, launched Jun 25, reentered at 0440 UTC
– Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) July 28, 2016
U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn tells The Associated Press the Chinese CZ-7 rocket re-entered the atmosphere around 11:36 p.m. Central time. That’s about the same time social media lit up with reports from Nevada, Utah and California of a small fireball streaking across the sky.
Confirmed by @SpaceTrackOrg @JointSpaceOps that the CZ-7 rocket, object 41628, reentered 0436 UTC over 119W 37N heading E over Nevada, Utah
– Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) July 28, 2016
The rocket stage reentering over the western US tonight was from the first launch of the CZ-7, one of China’s new generation of rockets
– Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) July 28, 2016
Ziegenhorn wouldn’t say if the rocket ever posed danger to people on the ground. She says the command often sees re-entries.
More than 16,000 man-made objects in orbit around the earth are tracked by the JFCC, but it stops tracking them once they re-enter the atmosphere. The only way defense officials would know where a piece of the rocket body hit the ground is if someone brought a piece of it to them.
Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center staff astronomer Ben Burress said there were no reports of any injuries or damage.
Mercurio said U.S. officials confirmed that the light was the body of the Chinese rocket, despite initial claims that it was a meteor.The U.S. tracks the some 16,000 man-made objects in orbit because
The U.S. tracks the some 16,000 man-made objects in orbit because “space is so valuable,” Mercurio said.About 1,300 satellites orbit the earth and the rest is considered
About 1,300 satellites orbit the earth and the rest is considered junk, according to Mercurio.Residents can get predictions of objects re-entering the earth’s
Residents can get predictions of objects re-entering the earth’s atmosphere for free at www.space-track.org.