[imagesource: Twitter / @tWeatherSA]
The SpaceX Starlink satellites have fooled more than a few people into thinking they’ve seen a UFO.
I’ve had a sighting myself, and until logic kicks in and you realise what you’re looking at, the temptation is there to make the leap.
Last night, Gauteng residents filmed spectacular footage of what many presumed to be a meteor shower, although that’s likely not the case.
South African Astronomical Observatory astronomer Daniel Cunnama first said it was likely a shooting star (bolide) when asked last night.
This via The Citizen:
“From what I can see, it is not a meteor shower. A meteor shower occurs when you have a whole lot of meteors over a course of a night or a few days,” he was quoted as saying.
“The way a meteor shower happens is when one would go out at night and you would see a shooting star every minute or two and that is not what we are experiencing here, it was a single object.”
However, as more information came to light, he had a change of heart:
Update on the “meteor”, it looks like it was most likely the upper stage of the Chinese Yuanzheng-1S rocket being deorbited.
Apologies for the incorrect assumption and thanks to @planet4589 for solving the puzzle! https://t.co/YQdNJk16pq
— Daniel Cunnama (@DanielCunnama) August 25, 2021
That was backed up by US astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, as you can see above.
Alright, let’s go with that explanation and get down to the really fun bit.
Those who captured the object streaking through the sky could scarcely believe what they were looking at:
A massive meteor-like object just passed over Pretoria. Holy shit.
Just took this footage from my house.
Never seen anything like it. pic.twitter.com/JFHd3qkOac
— Conscious Caracal
(@ConCaracal) August 24, 2021
Crazy meteor shower over Pretoria a moment ago.
Captured by @supercarsofsa in Waterkloof
pic.twitter.com/zip6WxnVQv
— Zero2Turbo.com (@Zero2Turbo) August 24, 2021
SPACE: Insane footage of #Meteors as seen over parts of Gauteng on Tuesday evening |
Kevin Mavikane pic.twitter.com/ZnzRcBeHRY
— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) August 24, 2021
This is hands down the best of the lot.
I’m sure you can stomach a little graphic language:
There were even some sightings as far north as Bulawayo:
What looks like a meteor just fell over Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
https://t.co/03zDeZgoGP pic.twitter.com/zVRuFgPHFi
— Big Nuz X (@KingBillius) August 24, 2021
At this stage, it’s not known if or where the object ended up landing, with Cunnuma saying that it’s likely this is currently being investigated.
[source:citizen]
