Flashes over Kyiv’s sky weren’t NASA’s satellite tv for pc

A number of theories surfaced when the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was illuminated on Wednesday evening with a shiny flash throughout the sky.

A shiny flash of sunshine over Kyiv’s sky on Wednesday evening triggered a fast air alert and generated a number of speculations.

In line with Serhiy Popko, the top of Kyiv’s army administration, the “shiny glow” of an aerial object was seen over the sky at round 10 p.m.

In line with preliminary information from the top of the Kyiv Metropolis Navy Administration, it was attributable to a NASA satellite tv for pc crashing to Earth.

The Ukrainian air drive, chargeable for taking down drones and missiles fired by Russia, speculated that it might need been a meteorite.

Nonetheless, regardless of a number of theories, the air drive was assured that it was not attributable to a Russian air assault, a scenario that had occurred a number of instances for the reason that invasion final yr.

An air raid alert was activated, and fast air sirens had been heard late within the evening after the flashes had been seen. Nonetheless, air defence was not in operation.

NASA’s Response

America area company had introduced earlier {that a} retired 300 kg satellite tv for pc was going to re-enter the Earth’s environment on Wednesday.

The Reuven Ramaty Excessive Vitality Photo voltaic Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) plane was used to watch photo voltaic flares was launched into low Earth orbit in 2002 and was decommissioned in 2018 due to communication issues, in line with NASA.

Many individuals in Kyiv had been of the view that it was this satellite tv for pc re-entering the environment that prompted the intense flashes of sunshine throughout the sky.

Nonetheless, Rob Margetta from NASA’s Workplace of Communications knowledgeable that the satellite tv for pc was nonetheless in orbit when the flashes appeared throughout the sky in Kyiv. The satellite tv for pc was set to re-enter the Earth’s environment throughout the evening.

NASA had mentioned in a press release on Monday that they anticipated a lot of the Reuven Ramaty Excessive Vitality Photo voltaic Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft to dissipate when it will enter the environment; nonetheless, some elements had been anticipated to fall to Earth.

NASA had additionally knowledgeable us that the danger of anybody getting damage by the items that will fall into the earth was very low—roughly one in 2,467.

NASA and the Pentagon had been additionally repeatedly monitoring the re-entry of the satellite tv for pc and updating the predictions.

NASA mentioned that there should have been some confusion after this announcement was made, and therefore, folks speculated that it was the RHESSI satellite tv for pc.

Individuals’s response

4 quick clips had been posted to a Telegram channel by a journalist and blogger, Anatolii Sharii. It confirmed sudden, shiny flashes of sunshine throughout the sky. These flashes illuminated Kyiv’s evening sky on Wednesday.

In one of many clips that was posted, a flaming object was seen hurtling in direction of the bottom.

Memes about unidentified flying objects and aliens quickly flooded the social media platforms after these movies surfaced.

Individuals had been requested to not use the official Air Power symbols to create memes concerning unidentified flying objects for folks to take pleasure in.

Only a few minutes earlier than this request was posted, the presidential advisor, Andriy Yermak, had posted an emoji of an ufo