A Fiery Spectacle Over the Southeastern United States Leaves Observers Puzzled
A spectacular fireball lit up the night sky over the southeastern United States on Saturday, leaving many observers puzzled and unsure what they were witnessing. The phenomenon was initially mistaken for the annual Ursid meteor shower, but astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics confirmed that it was actually the uncontrolled reentry of a Chinese satellite, GaoJing 1-02.
The satellite, a commercial imaging spacecraft operated by Beijing-based Space View, reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 10:08 p.m. CST above New Orleans before traveling north over Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. McDowell clarified that the satellite had been inactive since January 2023 and its reentry was uncontrolled, though its descent was predicted within a two-hour window.
The Ursid meteor shower, which peaked on the night of December 21-22, is caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by Comet 8P/Tuttle. However, the satellite reentry was a separate event that was not related to the meteor shower.
Social media was filled with posts showing the burning objects in the sky, with users unsure what they were witnessing. The American Meteor Society received 120 reports of a “fireball” in the sky over several southeastern states on Saturday night.
As humans launch more satellites into space, reentries are becoming more commonly observed. In November, observers saw a SpaceX satellite make a fiery return to Earth over Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma.
The reentry of the Chinese satellite over the U.S. is a reminder of China’s recent growth into a global power in space, a development tracked in a recent Newsweek investigation.
