People across South Australia, including in the Adelaide Hills and Murraylands, were left stunned last night after a bright ball of fire streaked across the sky.
Sightings were reported from locations including Mount Barker, Lobethal, Hahndorf and Tailem Bend around 10.12pm, with many describing a slow-moving object glowing green and rainbow colours as it travelled across the horizon and landed near Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula.
The spectacle quickly sparked discussion online, with residents sharing their surprise and excitement at witnessing the rare sight.
“You’re all going to think I’ve lost the plot but did anyone else just see the ball of fire that flew across the sky? Approx 10.12pm. I’m in Lobethal and it went in the direction of Adelaide city,” Ana-Maria Tolcvay wrote on the Adelaide Hills Chat Facebook community group.
“Yep, it was huge and green – just caught it before it went below the horizon in Mt Barker…I couldn’t quite believe my eyes!,” said Maura Neeson.
“YESS!! Im in tailem bend. I literally said to my partner who I was on the phone to at the time, what the heck did I just see! I’ve never seen anything like it,” Rhiannon Fletcher said.
The phenomenon has been identified as a scheduled rocket body deorbit. This occurs when space hardware reaches the end of its operational life and re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, where it is intentionally destroyed by intense frictional heat.
Satellite and rocket re-entries often appear as bright, slow-moving fireballs or streaks of light, particularly from low-orbit objects, and are frequently mistaken for meteors or other unexplained aerial phenomena.
