Mysterious, meteor-like flashes appear across the Utah sky

The long, bright flashes appear to be the result of a Chinese rocket coming into Earth's atmosphere

Strange, bright lights appeared across the US sky last night – and it’s not clear why.

Though many suggested that the streaking, glowing sight was the result of a meteor shower, shooting stars or even aliens, it seems that the strange phenomenon could actually have been something even more unexpected.

The burning orange lights appear to have been the result of a Chinese rocket making its way into the atmosphere above the Utah sky, according to astronomers.

Most of the people posting images and videos of the sight presumed that it was a meteor. That made sense since North America is expected to be able to see the Delta Aquarids meteor shower this week, with the brightest lights being visible before the weekend.

But Jonathan McDowell, who is an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that the fireball appeared to be made up of debris from a Chinese rocket. The lights came as the second stage of the Chang Zheng 7 rocket burnt up as it made its way into Earth’s atmosphere, he said.

Those calculations were made by tracking the rocket using tracking data, which showed that it was over Utah at the time that the lights were spotted.

That rocket was launched into space towards the end of May. It was carrying a capsule that was recovered, but the debris appears to be made up of the other parts of the rocket that were launched at the same time.