Meteor or Space Junk? Mysterious Light Illuminates Southern California Sky

LOS ANGELES, CA -- People all across Southern California witnessed a mysterious light streak across the sky tonight and depending on you ask the explanation could be a meteor shower or space junk reentering the atmosphere and burning up.

Dr. Ed Krupp, the director of the Griffith Observatory, told ABC7 the light was part of the Delta Aquarids Meteor shower which is expected to peak tonight and Thursday night. And due to the radiant point being low, it was possible that this was part of the shower.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Utah tweeted, "The object in question was not a meteor but rather a piece of space junk."

And Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics tweeted, "Observation reports from Utah indicate the second stage from the first Chang Zheng 7 rocket, launched June 25."

City News Service