Glowing Objects in Sacramento Sky Likely 'Space Debris,' Astronomer Says

Several glowing objects were spotted streaking across the night sky over Sacramento, California, on Friday, March 17, video shows.

Jeff Watters said he captured this video of the bright objects moving across the Sacramento sky at 9:31 pm, local time. “Almost looked like a bunch of slow shooting stars or some strange lights,” Watters wrote on Twitter.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said the bright lights were likely caused by a “Japanese inter-orbit communications system” that had burnt up during re entry to the atmosphere. Small debris may have reached the Yosemite area, local news reported. Credit: Jeff Watters via Storyful

Video transcript

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