On Saturday, the people of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were amazed to see a bright streak of light cutting through the sky in what appeared to be meteor showers.
According to footage released by ANI, a thick flash of light appeared over the skies of Nagpur in Maharashtra and Jhabua, Barwani districts in Madhya Pradesh. The sightings are being speculated as an unusual event of a meteor shower.
Netizens from Ahmedabad also said a bright streak of light was seen in the sky.
Meteors often referred to as “shooting stars”, are rocky objects that enter the earth’s atmosphere at a tremendous speed, between 30 and 60 km per second. This high-speed journey produces a shower of light streaks called a meteor shower.
However, some experts believe that it might not be a meteor shower but the re-entry of a rocket.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said that the sightings over Maharashtra could be the “re-entry of a Chinese rocket stage” that was launched in February 2021.
“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 reenter in the next hour or so and the track is a good match,” McDowell, who is an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, said.
Another scientist Suresh Chopade, president of Skywatch group, said the rare event could be related to a satellite. Chopade did not rule out the possibility of a meteor shower, however, he added that the colours indicated that “a metallic thing” has accompanied it while coming towards earth.
“It seems like a satellite of some nation might have fallen accidentally or may have been caused to fall intentionally. It does not seem like a meteor shower or fireball,” Chopade said.