20/04/2023, 14:20 Blinding flash over Kyiv was probably meteorite, says Ukraine space agency - BBC News

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Watch: Mystery white flash lights up skies over Kyiv

By George Wright
BBC News

A mysterious flash which lit up skies over Ukraine's capital on Wednesday

night generated much speculation.

Officials in Kyiv initially suspected it was a Nasa satellite falling to Earth but
the US space agency told the BBC it was still in orbit.

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20/04/2023, 14:20 Blinding flash over Kyiv was probably meteorite, says Ukraine space agency - BBC News

Ukrainian space officials said later the flash had probably come from a
meteorite entering the atmosphere.

The air force was confident it was not a Russian air attack - an event all too
familiar since the invasion last year.

The bright glow was observed in the sky over the capital around 22:00 (19:00
GMT).

An air raid alert was activated but "air defence was not in operation", the head
of Kyiv's military administration, Serhiy Popko, said on Telegram.

Mr Popko suggested it was caused by a Nasa space satellite falling to Earth,

referring to a retired 300kg (660lb) spacecraft that the space agency
announced was set to re-enter the atmosphere on Wednesday.

The RHESSI satellite, used to observe solar flares, was launched into low Earth
orbit in 2002 and decommissioned in 2018, Nasa said.

But Rob Margetta from Nasa's office of communications told the BBC that the
satellite was still in orbit atCreate a free
the time the BBC
flash was account.
observed, and was due to
re-enter Earth's atmosphere during the night.

Satellite-tracking website Satflare indicated that RHESSI

Register was in
or Sign nowhere near
Ukraine at the time.

Ukrainian social media has been awash with theories and memes about what
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the flash could have been, with a popular theme being that it was caused by
aliens.

But air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV that the flash had also
been seen over neighbouring Belarus to the north and Ukraine's space agency
said it was probably related to a cosmic body entering the dense layers of the
atmosphere.

Kyiv officials said it was up to experts to establish what it was but what was
most important was the city's security.

Related Topics

Russia-Ukraine war Kyiv Nasa Space Ukraine

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