Pax Arcana
Late on Sunday evening, people from Maryland to North Carolina reported a fiery streak overhead that illuminated the sky, then disappeared, followed by at least one large explosion.
But don’t worry, everybody — it wasn’t a meteor or anything scary like that. Just a discarded Russian rocket, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory:
Geoff Chester, an astronomer with the observatory, said the projected reentry path of the booster for a Soyuz rocket matched up with the timing and location of eyewitness reports from Hampton Roads.
“The final orbit for this thing took it smack over you guys when all the fun was happening,” Chester said.
I’m glad someone thinks that being confronted with fiery Russian junk is “fun.” I’m guessing Geoff Chester was never invited backstage at the Bolshoi Ballet like I was. Trust me, you do not want to see Vladimir the contortionist’s version of Uncle Vanya.
Rocket trash? Meteor? Explosion cause may never be known [PilotOnline]
