Meteor shower or space debris? Experts weigh in as blazing streaks light up

A mysterious blaze of light cutting through the night sky on Saturday caught the attention of hundreds of stargazers in Maharashtra, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, leading to panic and intrigue.

Minutes after the sightings, two metallic objects – a large ring, and a spherical object – were found in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, officials said on Sunday.

While initially, those who sighted the celestial event described it as a “meteor shower,” experts said it was more likely the part of a Chinese rocket launched in February 2021 and that was re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

“I believe this is the re-entry of a Chinese rocket stage, the third stage of the Chang Zheng 3B serial number Y77 which was launched in Feb 2021 – it was expected to re-enter in the next hour or so and the track is a good match,” said Jonathan McDowell, astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

An Isro scientist, who asked not to be named, said they believe it was most likely the Chinese CZ-3B as the timing and placement appeared to match predictions made by United States Space Command. “The timings and placement make more sense that the object visible over India was the Chang Zheng 3B,” the official said