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A large flaming object illuminated the sky over Melbourne, Australia, last night and is believed to be debris from a Russian rocket that was used to launch a satellite into space. Videos captured by residents show a bright fireball moving slowly across the night sky and breaking up midair. Experts, including Professor Alan Duffy from Swinburne University and Dr. Gail Iles from RMIT University, suggest that the object is most likely space junk rather than a meteor or comet.

According to Dr. Gail Iles, the sighting coincided with the Perseid meteor shower, but it is more probable that the object is a piece of a rocket. The United States’ National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency website issued a navigational warning for space debris tracking over the western South Pacific Ocean. The debris was expected to pass directly over Australia and then likely end up in the ocean. The Russian satellite was launched on Monday night, and the sighting in Melbourne was likely the second-stage rockets returning to Earth.

Dr. Iles explains that the second stage of the Soyuz rocket is about seven meters tall, but by the time it re-enters the atmosphere and reaches the ocean, it would have significantly reduced in size. The controlled re-entry of the space debris allowed Victorians to witness the event for an extended period. The loud bang some witnesses heard was a sonic boom caused by the object traveling faster than the speed of sound.

Reports of sounds coming from the fireball were considered extraordinary, and Professor Duffy mentioned that typically, when space junk re-enters the atmosphere, planes in the area are put on hold to avoid a midair collision.

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