Video: Mysterious Streaks Of Light Spotted In Night Sky Over California Explained.
On Friday night, mysterious streaks of light illuminated the night sky in California’s Sacramento area, catching the attention of many witnesses.
The surprising sight was captured in videos and images, which were widely shared on social media.
Even the official page of King Kong Brewing Company took to Instagram to post a video of the strange sighting, which was also witnessed by St. Patrick’s Day revelers.
According to The Independent, the lights were also visible as far north as Oregon before disappearing.
However, the mystery was quickly solved by astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
He explained on Twitter that the lights were actually caused by space junk burning up as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. The debris, identified as an Inter-orbit Communications System – Exposed Facility (ICS-EF) Japanese communications package, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) by Space Shuttle in 2009. After orbiting the Earth for three years, it became space junk in 2020 and finally reentered the Earth’s atmosphere over California on Friday night.
Mr. McDowell further revealed that the debris was about 40 miles high and traveling at thousands of miles per hour, creating a “spectacular light show in the sky.”
The US Space Force also confirmed the re-entry path over California for the Inter-Orbit Communication System. It’s fascinating to see how advancements in space technology can lead to such awe-inspiring phenomena in our skies.
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