Late Wednesday night, a strangely bright light flashed over the skies above Kyiv, Ukraine. This has led to much speculation and confusion.
Bright Light Flash
Something happened in Kyiv sky tonight. The whole city is at a loss, what it was. UFO? pic.twitter.com/DAic7QHae2
— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) April 19, 2023
As per Reuters, the strange aerial object descended from the sky at around 10:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) last Wednesday. This prompted them to relay alerts across Kyiv and nearby regions.
The alarm fostered confusion and speculation regarding what happened. This mystery remained unanswered until the following day.
Was It a Meteor, Alien, or Satellite?
Futurism reports that initially, authorities suspected that it could be the RHESSI satellite of NASA. The RHESSI was set to descend back to earth after orbiting for over two decades.
However, the agency confirmed that it could not have been RHESSI since the craft was still orbiting by the time the bright light flashed. RHESSI was also not close to Ukraine at all.
The BBC also adds that the Air Force of Ukraine ruled out the possibility of the bright light being a Russian air attack, which is something that they have become familiar with since the invasion. The Military Administration relayed via Telegram that, after they verified and clarified, they were unable to confirm the possibility of an enemy air strike with missiles, Reuters added.
Though Kyiv has been hit by drones and missiles from Russia, which have forced civilians to take shelter underground, it seemed that officials and residents still "enjoyed speculating" that this bright light could not have had any relation to the war, per Reuters.
As per Aljazeera, some Ukrainians also joked about the light being a "new chapter in the war" or an alien invasion of some sort. Andriy Yermak, who heads the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, also jokingly posted a UFO emoji.
Now, with all these possibilities ruled out, what exactly was this bright light? The BBC notes that the bright flash could have resulted from a meteor's entrance towards the atmosphere of the earth. It could have entered at blazing speeds.
The flash was so remarkably strong that it was even observed across Belarus. For this reason, the space agency in Ukraine believed that the light may have been a descending cosmic entity.
Meteor Descending
NASA notes that, when meteoroids make their entry towards the atmosphere of the earth at remarkable speeds, they burn up and are then referred to as meteors. When it survives the atmospheric trip and touches the surface, it is then called a meteorite.
All of these are linked to light flashes or "shooting stars" that can be seen blazing through the skies.
As per Live Science, experts think that there are fewer than 10,000 meteorites that hit the earth's waters and land.
RELATED ARTICLE: Meteor Crash 3.48 Billion Years Ago: Scientists May Have Found the Earliest Evidence for a Meteorite Impact
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