TYLER (February 27, 2013)—Fireballs that streaked over East Texas before dawn Wednesday were likely pieces of a rocket booster that launched a Chinese satellite into orbit, a scientist says.
Shanyn Beason of Beckville, about 25 miles southeast of Longview, told KLTV-TV of Tyler that she saw multicolored streaks of light shooting southeast to northwest over her head just after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told The Associated Press that a Chinese CZ-4B rocket booster had been in a decaying orbit after lifting a satellite into orbit on May 10.
It was expected to re-enter the atmosphere about the time as Beason saw the streaks of light, and McDowell says it's highly likely they were fragments from the Chinese booster.
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