Fireball lights up sky in South America: Experts reveal what it really is

meteor shower
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A magnificent fireball was seen in the skies of South America on Saturday, giving rise to speculations among scientists as well as the common public about what it was. Recent reports state that the flaming object hurtling through the sky was nothing but a broken piece of a satellite.

The Peruvian Air Force confirmed that the satellite debris entered the earth's orbit on Saturday as was seen in the sky, as reported by Metro.co.uk.

After finding parts of an aerospace satellite near Andean community in southeast Peru, localites informed the Peruvian Air Force. Officials reacted immediately on the matter and released images of the space debris before conspiracy theorists could attribute it to aliens.

Experts say that the earth's atmosphere houses debris and litter from the numerous satellites, equipment and commercial satellite flights that have been sent to space in the last 60 years of exploration of the universe.

Meteorologists have confirmed that the burning object seen in the sky was not a meteor. In fact, no meteorites are expected to fall in that particular area during this time. The object was instead a part of an old satellite or other man-made space litter.

Space debri
The object that fell from the sky in Peru Screengrab from YouTube

According to meteorologist Alejandro Fonesca from the Universidade Federal do Acre, debris from space objects catch fire when they enter the earth's atmosphere as they come under intense friction. Hence, it is but natural that it was seen as a glowing orb hurtling through the sky, not unlike a shooting star.

In the year 2016, the United States Strategic Command stated that they have tracked about 17,852 artificial objects in the orbit of the earth. This includes 1,419 operational satellites. Parts and litter from these structures often come apart and fall to the earth.

Sometimes, these occurrences are construed by conspiracy theorists as UFO sightings. However, this time the authorities have made it clear with their statement and images that it was nothing but garbage from space.

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