A mysterious object falls from the sky over the Midwest, leaving thousands stunned by the display

Mysterious objects were seen falling from the sky and disintegrating into various states, leaving thousands stunned by the cosmic spectacle.

Streaks of glowing lights appeared over parts of Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, leading people to wonder if it was a possible fireball or part of a series of meteor showers.

Dozens of people reported the phenomenon around 9:00 PM ET, saying the lights shot across the sky for up to 60 seconds before disappearing.

Witnesses captured and revealed the show what appeared to be a red and orange meteor shower that shone brightly as it split into several parts before slowly darkening and disappearing from the night sky.

A Texas resident reported that it “first looked like it was going straight up into the sky and then went right over our heads and we could see it falling apart as it flew right over us.”

Another person in the Lone Star State described it as “by far the brightest meteor event I have ever seen.”

However, astronomer and orbital debris expert Jonathan McDowell confirmed that the light show was caused by a SpaceX Starlink satellite disintegrating as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

People in Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Texas speculated whether the lights in the night sky (pictured) were caused by fireworks

SpaceX has thousands of Starlink satellites orbiting Earth to provide internet access to remote areas around the world. This year, 98 will be launched in mid-October.

At the end of their mission, Internet satellites are designed to reenter the atmosphere to prevent Earth’s orbit from becoming cluttered with space debris.

McDowell told Space.com that these satellites “dominate” the junk in Earth’s atmosphere, adding that “there’s a Starlink return almost every day now, sometimes several.”

The satellite reentered over Washington state and continued southeast before disappearing over northern Texas.

One Oklahoma resident described the satellite as a “bright fireball moving southeast, moving slowly and looking like it’s split into three parts,” while another called it “the coolest thing I’ve seen.”

Some people speculated that the satellite was part of a series of three meteor showers – the Leonids and the Southern and Northern Taurids – that reached peak activity this month.

The number of Starlink satellites re-entering the atmosphere has increased dramatically over the past five years, from between 50 and 100 per year to around 300 per year.

“We are seeing a similar increase in satellite numbers as hundreds of Starlink satellites begin to fail,” McDowell said. Space.com.

The satellite flew into Washington state and flew southeast across the US before dying out over North Texas

Researchers have discovered that burning satellites in the atmosphere could destroy the ozone layer. Pictured: The Starlink satellite burns up as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere

Although satellites burning up upon re-entering the atmosphere have become standard practice, researchers have wondered whether the metal particles could destroy the ozone over time.

This is because the satellites are so large and burn up slowly, releasing aerosol particles smaller than one micrometer.

A 2023 study found that satellite re-entry has already begun to change the composition of the stratosphere.

A NASA WB-57 aircraft found 500,000 individual aerosol particles containing twenty different elements, including lithium, aluminum, copper and lead.

Of all the elements found, aluminum was the most concerning because it could react with hydrogen chloride – a pre-existing component in the stratosphere – causing it to split apart and destroy the ozone.

Pierre Lionnet, director of ASD Eurospace, a trade association for the space industry, said this Science.org that the number of satellites returning to Earth does matter.

SpaceX is responsible for more than 6,000 satellites in orbit and the company has already applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch an additional 30,000 satellites into low Earth orbit.

Because of the mass volume of Starlink satellites, Lionnet said, “You have to wonder if (SpaceX) will create a major problem in 30 years.”