What could a bright flashing light hovering over Kyiv possibly be? That’s what many of Kyiv’s residents are asking after a bright flash of light hovered over the capital around 10 p.m. local time, last night.
Kyiv officials later suspected it was a NASA satellite falling to Earth, but it was later confirmed by the U.S. space agency told BBC News it was still in orbit.
The footage was widely shared on social media, showing what seemed to be a flaming object crashing to the ground. According to Newsweek, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration told Telegram that the incident sparked an air raid alert to make sure there were no deaths after debris was seen falling to the ground.
Tweet shared by @vicktop55:
A flood in Kyiv, a meteorite in Kyiv, there is still not enough earthquake for a complete set. Hour "X" for Kyiv is approaching. https://t.co/YXeVcwlDiw pic.twitter.com/6tiH1eQIr8
— Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) April 20, 2023
Tweet shared by @AJEnglish:
Watch the moment a mystery object lit up the sky as it fell towards the ground in the Ukrainian capital.
Officials in Kyiv said it was likely a decommissioned NASA satellite, but the space agency said the satellite in question is still in orbit 👇 pic.twitter.com/aBfUMiEjBn
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 20, 2023
The RHESSI satellite, which was used to observe solar flares, was launched into low Earth orbit in 2002 and decommissioned in 2018, according to NASA. The space agency announced that the 300kg (660lb) satellite was set to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday.
Despite this, NASA’s Rob Margetta told BBC that the satellite was still in orbit at the time the flash was observed and was due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere during the night. Satellite-tracking website Satflare also indicated that RHESSI was nowhere near Ukraine at the time.
There has been much speculation on Ukrainian social media about what caused the flash, with many users jokingly suggesting it was caused by aliens.
However, air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV that the flash had also been seen over neighboring Belarus to the north. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s space agency said it was probably related to a cosmic body entering the dense layers of the atmosphere.
Kyiv officials have said that it is up to experts to establish what caused the alert, but what is most important is the city’s security.
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