Several theories surfaced when the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was illuminated on Wednesday night with a bright flash across the sky.
A bright flash of light over Kyiv’s sky on Wednesday night triggered a rapid air alert and generated several speculations.
According to Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, the “bright glow” of an aerial object was seen over the sky at around 10 p.m.
According to preliminary data from the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, it was caused by a NASA satellite crashing to Earth.
The Ukrainian air force, responsible for taking down drones and missiles fired by Russia, speculated that it might have been a meteorite.
However, despite several theories, the air force was confident that it was not caused by a Russian air attack, a situation that had happened several times since the invasion last year.
An air raid alert was activated, and rapid air sirens were heard late in the night after the flashes were seen. However, air defence was not in operation.
NASA’s Response
The United States space agency had announced earlier that a retired 300 kg satellite was going to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday.
The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) aircraft was used to observe solar flares was launched into low Earth orbit in 2002 and was decommissioned in 2018 because of communication problems, according to NASA.
Many people in Kyiv were of the view that it was this satellite re-entering the atmosphere that caused the bright flashes of light across the sky.
However, Rob Margetta from NASA’s Office of Communications informed that the satellite was still in orbit when the flashes appeared across the sky in Kyiv. The satellite was set to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere during the night.
NASA had said in a statement on Monday that they expected most of the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft to burn up when it would enter the atmosphere; however, some parts were expected to fall to Earth.
NASA had also informed us that the risk of anyone getting hurt by the pieces that would fall into the earth was very low—approximately one in 2,467.
NASA and the Pentagon were also continuously monitoring the re-entry of the satellite and updating the predictions.
NASA said that there must have been some confusion after this announcement was made, and hence, people speculated that it was the RHESSI satellite.
People’s reaction
Four short clips were posted to a Telegram channel by a journalist and blogger, Anatolii Sharii. It showed sudden, bright flashes of light across the sky. These flashes illuminated Kyiv’s night sky on Wednesday.
In one of the clips that was posted, a flaming object was seen hurtling towards the ground.
Memes about unidentified flying objects and aliens soon flooded the social media platforms after these videos surfaced.
People were requested not to use the official Air Force symbols to create memes regarding unidentified flying objects for people to enjoy.
Just a few minutes before this request was posted, the presidential advisor, Andriy Yermak, had posted an emoji of an unidentified flying object
