An unknown space object entered the Earth's atmosphere over India

The blazing streak of light that cut through the night sky caught observers in some areas of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh by surprise, as they assumed that this unusual phenomenon was a meteor shower. Photos and videos of this phenomenon appeared on social networks on Saturday evening.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell called the event observed over Maharashtra a possible "entry into the atmosphere of a Chinese rocket stage", which was launched in February 2021.

"I believe that this is the entry into the atmosphere of the stage of the Chinese rocket, the third stage of the Chang Zheng 3B rocket with serial number Y77, which was launched in February 2021 - it was expected that it would enter the atmosphere in the next hour or so, and the track matches well," wrote McDowell, an astronomer from the Center for Astrophysics.

Suresh Chopade, president of the Skywatch group, Nagpur, said that the rare event was observed by several people in Maharashtra, and it looks like it is connected to a satellite.

"It seems that the satellite of some state could have fallen accidentally or was deliberately taken out of orbit. It doesn't look like a meteor shower or a fireball," Chopade said.

He did not rule out the possibility of a meteor shower, but added that the colors indicate that a "metal thing" accompanied the satellite as it approached the Earth.