The authorities of kyiv reported this Wednesday that a “NASA satellite” fell on the capital of Ukraineafter a powerful flash sparked a wave of speculation on social media.
“Around 10:00 p.m. (at 4:00 p.m. in Argentina) on April 19, a bright flash of an aerial object was observed in the Kiev sky,” declared the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Popko, on Telegram.
“According to preliminary information, the phenomenon was the result of a NASA satellite falling to Earth,” he added, quoted by the AFP agency.
The united states space agency announced last Monday that an old 700-pound satellite would cross the atmosphere again sometime this Wednesday. NASA said it expected most of it to burn out, though it conceded that “some components” could “survive.”
An old NASA satellite
The risk of these fragments harming an individual is low, approximately one in 2,467, NASA said. He RHESSI Satellite, used to observe solar flares, it was put into orbit in 2002 and decommissioned in 2018he added.
An AFP journalist in kyiv saw a spark in the sky over the capital, but it was not followed by any sound.
Popko specified that after the flash the anti-aircraft alarm was activated, although “the air defense was not working.” The Ukrainian Air Force also claimed shortly after that the flash was “related to a satellite/meteorite crash.”
The air force added, however, that it was still necessary to clarify the episode. Social media was abuzz with speculation and memes after the afterglow, and the Air Force asked not to use its official emblem for humorous purposes.
Source: Ambito
