Streaking fireball seen across NW skies apparently rocket stage burning up
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A wide, colorful streak of pulsing lights seen shooting across the Pacific Northwest sky just before 9 p.m. Thursday apparently was the descending, burning-up second stage of a rocket that launched Starlink satellites earlier this month.
We have been getting a number of calls about this! This looks like what we have seen in all of your videos. Not official, but this fits the bill. https://t.co/UX3SMtYwP0
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) March 26, 2021
Astronomer Johnathon McDowell said the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage, from a March 4 Starlink satellites launch, "failed to make a deorbit burn and is now reentering after 22 days in orbit."
Kristin Collins, who lives at the Tetherow Resort in northwest Bend, was sitting on the couch and said she looked through the window of a front door when she saw the streak of colorful lights moving slowly across the sky.
"I was turning around yelling for my husband, standing there with a dog in the street, thinking, 'Have I watched too many sci-fi movies?' It lasted forever, like 25 seconds?
Jeff Stoltenburg said he saw what appeared to be "a HUGE, multiple streaking, sparkling meteor" from his home off Lower Bridge. "It was unreal."
Noah Rischitelli said he was out snowmobiling with his girlfriend on their weekly "star hunt" night ride when they saw the mesmerizing site "from Sparks Lake, under the full moon."
"It was wild!" he said. "Being up in the mountains, away from city light pollution, it was absolutely spectacular. Watched the entire thing from start to finish and saw it ravel across the entire sky. I was so mesmerized, I couldn't take out my phone to capture. Amazing for sure!"
According to The Associated Press, there were no reports of damage or other impacts on the ground.
The Seattle Times reports the rocket delivered Starlink satellites, built in Redmond, Washington, into orbit earlier this week. SpaceX says the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth and landed as planned on its ocean-going barge off the coast of Florida.
