NORAD: 'Meteor' really a rocket

My Fox Colorado (31) ^ | Thursday, 04 Jan 2007

[Sopater]

Watch Spectacular Video from the Sky

NORAD: 'Meteor' really a rocket

Last Edited: Thursday, 04 Jan 2007, 11:14 AM MST

Created: Thursday, 04 Jan 2007, 7:20 AM MST

DENVER

 -- 

SkyFox captured incredible video of a Russian rocket body bursting into flames as it crashed to earth over North America.

NORAD has confirmed that the light show was caused by the re-entry of a spent russian science rocket or "space junk" in layman's terms.

SkyFOX pilot Rob Marshall and photojournalist Josh White captured the event at about 6:15 a.m. Mountain Standard Time while they were flying over Denver.

Click on the thumbnail at the right to watch this spectacular video.

Descriptions range from an "unreal bright light" to a "spectacular fireworks display."

Those are just a few of the comments from people who witnessed a light show in the skies over Colorado early Thursday, a light show that the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the United States Northern Command -- better known as NORAD and NORTHCOM says was a Russian Rocket.

Experts at the Air Force Space Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, say it was a Russian SL-4 rocket body that re-entered the atmosphere over Colorado and Wyoming.

The rocket was used to carry a French astronomy satellite called COROT into space on December 27, 2006.

NORAD has a report that a piece of the rocket landed in Riverton, Wyoming near Highway 28 at about 6:13 a.m. Thursday.

No damage has been reported and the debris is not believed to be hazardous.

Calls started pouring in to law enforcement authorities and FOX 31 News around 6:15 a-m, as thousands of people witnessed streaks of light racing across the sky from north to south.

Residents of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming reported seeing the light. A FOX 31 viewer in New Mexico reported that by the end of the video, when only 3 or 4 lights remained, the object was passing directly over  Kirtland, New Mexico (Four Corners).

[r9etb]

Sadly, I was driving eastward at this very moment, and thus the fireball was behind me. I never saw it.

[Sopater]

Video on website...

[PCBMan]

Cool! One morning in 1979, just before sunrise, I saw something really big fall from the sky. It was football shaped but falling sidelong, glowing blue and green, with a tail of golden sparks. It vanished suddenly. Many others in my area saw it too. I've always wondered if it was a piece of manmade space junk.

[mad puppy]

I was just finishing my breakfast and about to run out the door. Had I been 10 minutes earlier.....rats.

[Rick.Donaldson]

I was driving the WRONG way AGAIN! lol

[American Quilter]

I heard about this on my way to work, but was too late to see it--rats!

[Pontiac]

thousands of people witnessed streaks of light racing across the sky from north to south.

This is a major clue. Most meteors travel from West to East. If your object was traveling from another direction it possibly could be space junk.

[BallyBill]

Seeing the video, it reminds me of the Shuttle breakup over Texas.

[Strategerist]

Most meteors travel from West to East.

Meteors travel in a wide variety of apparent directions.

The best clue something is space junk rather than a meteor is the slow speed of the space junk - reentering stuff is "only" traveling 17,500 mph - meteors are typically many times faster - the Leonids, for example, enter the atmosphere at 160,000 mph.

[PCBMan]

It was traveling westward. I just heard a report on the radio of the news crew describing the colors. Looks like what I saw that morning. I don't think it was traveling as fast as the usual meteor, also. It was very big!