Written by Reananda Hidayat PermonoCompleted Master of Science - MS, Petroleum Geology from Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Eighteen witness reports have been filed when multiple streaks of fire were spotted soaring across the Florida night sky on March 23.
The phenomenon occurred late Thursday and some people suspected it might be an aircraft on fire.
Meanwhile, other witnesses assumed those were meteors known as fireballs.
But the American Meteor Society confirms that’s not the case.
The society says it could be the KZ-1A rocket launched from China on March 22.
Previously, the American Meteor Society suspected those were the Starlink satellites launched from Florida, but it issued a clarification days later.
Some videos show a streak of fire that appeared around 10:30 pm and looked like a fire raining from the sky.
Later, experts say the fire streaks were moving north across the middle of Florida.
A witness wrote at first a large ball with a thick trail appeared, then it looked like fireworks.
Another witness said it appeared like was something breaking up in the atmosphere.
Interestingly, someone reported a “rushing sound like a blast through the wind.”
The American Meteor Society explains it receives around 20,000 fireball reports each year.
Technically, fireballs are “very bright meteors” and those that are exploded are called bolides.
Fireballs enter the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 160,000 mph with various colors of flame (orange, red, blue).