FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – Space junk streaked through the sky throughout Wisconsin Tuesday night, putting on a show for anybody lucky enough to see it.
Local 5 News received pictures and videos of the fiery display from southern Fond du Lac County, to Kenosha, all the way down to Chicago’s western suburbs.
“As it was going across the sky little pieces were falling off, so we weren’t even sure what we were looking at,” said Melissa Klink who saw the space junk from Slinger. “We weren’t sure if it was a meteor or something else but it was pretty cool.”
Many people wondered what they had just seen, speculating that it could be a meteor or a very large shooting star.
Newsmaker Sunday: Paul’s Pantry
On their Facebook page, U-W Madison’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences officials said what people were likely seeing was leftover debris from a Starlink satellite launch vehicle. Their cameras also capturing the moment the debris streaked across the sky.
“I don’t even know how to describe it, it was just something that I’ve never seen before,” Klink told Local 5 News.
Over at the Barlow Planetarium in Menasha, the director there Teri Gee provided insight into the science behind what people were seeing in the sky.
“When they go up they have what we call a decaying orbit so gradually it’s getting closer and closer to the earth,” said Gee. “When it gets to the right point it rubs against the atmosphere, our air. And it’s going really fast there’s friction that heats up that thing until it incinerates.”
St. Norbert beats Adrian in shootout, stays atop conference standings
She said most of the time when debris burns up in the atmosphere, it’s usually too small to put on much of a show or it happens over oceans where we can’t see it.
On Tuesday night though, it happened over several Midwest states putting on a spectacular show for anybody lucky enough to be looking up at just the right time.
She said usually this space junk is harmless and it’s rare for it to actually reach the earth before burning up in the atmosphere.
“Anytime something breaks that pattern, you’re like whoa that is not supposed to happen what is that,” said Gee. “You want to know both know what it is and is it dangerous.”
