A flash in the sky over Kiev on Wednesday sparked confusion about its source, which the city administration first attributed to a downed NASA satellite, before the US space agency claimed it had not yet entered the atmosphere at that time.
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“Around 10 pm (1900 GMT), the glow of an aerial object was observed in the sky of Kiev,” said the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Sergey Popko, on Telegram.
He added, “According to preliminary information, this phenomenon is the result of a NASA satellite falling to Earth.”
Soon after, the Ukrainian Air Force also claimed that the flash was “related to a satellite/meteor fall”, while stating that this has yet to be clarified.
And the US space agency announced earlier in the week that the Resi satellite, which weighs about 300 kilograms, will return to the atmosphere at an unspecified time on Wednesday.
But in a statement to AFP, NASA said its Resi satellite had not yet entered the atmosphere at the time of the observed flash of light over Kiev.
The Pentagon projected that Reese “will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere around 8:50 p.m. Wednesday (00:50 GMT Thursday) with a window of more or less one hour,” NASA said Wednesday.
The agency also said, “No other NASA satellites entered the atmosphere earlier today (Wednesday).”
An AFP journalist saw a flash in the sky, which was not followed by a sound.
Mr. Popko stressed that the air alert had been activated, explaining that “the air defense did not come into effect.”
The force added, “Social media enjoys posting UFO memes, but please don’t use the official Air Force logo to make memes.”
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