A scientist says fireballs that streaked over the East Texas skies before dawn were likely pieces of a rocket booster that launched a Chinese satellite into orbit.
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 tells 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.
Copyright The Associated Press
