Fire in the Sky
According to reporters who went to the area, so far no single person who saw the object could be found. Although everyone believes the story is true, they all gave the same answer: I didn't see it with my eyes but...
Approach Direction: from south
Departure Direction: to north
Witness Direction: north
Description: I spotted in a split second a long tail of tan colored light burning about a football field in length that suddenly vanished. It moved faster than any jet I know of. It very well could have been something entering Earth's atmosphere.
Sources have told The Sunday Express that all reports came in almost simultaneously, around 1.45 am this morning, and the matter is being investigated.
The description used by pilots, according to their reports, was that it appeared like a "ball of fire, orange in colour and scattered". One pilot, in fact, said it looked like a "meteor shower".
At first, alarmed officials checked whether any aircraft had gone missing or if there was any other disaster in the area. But all this was ruled out by afternoon.
US space officials said today it was most likely a close encounter with a disintegrating meteor, denying assertions from New Zealand officials that the LAN Chile plane narrowly missed being blasted by Russian space debris that was returning to Earth ahead of schedule.
According to media reports, the LAN Airbus A340 was traveling between Santiago and Auckland, New Zealand. The pilot notified air traffic controllers at the Auckland Flight Center after seeing flaming, incandescent fragments of the satellite flying through the sky eight kilometers in front of the aircraft. He described seeing pieces of debris lighting up as they re-entered the earth's atmosphere.
According to a plane spotter, who was tuning into a high frequency radio broadcast at the time, the pilot "reported that the rumbling noise from the space debris could be heard over the noise of the aircraft." The plane spotter also heard air traffic control in Auckland warning the pilot of an Aerolineas Argentinas flight, traveling in the opposite direction ten degrees further south. The pilot chose to carry on rather than turn back to New Zealand.
The objects fell ahead of and behind a Chilean airliner flying over the Pacific between Santiago and Auckland on Tuesday night.
A chief NASA scientist checked with the Russians, who say they fired rockets on their space junk after the airline reported the near-miss.
Comment: Can we call 'em or what?
The pilot of a Chilean jet bound for Auckland reported seeing fiery debris falling near his plane on Tuesday night.
There is speculation it was an unmanned Russian cargo craft returning to Earth after resupplying the International Space Station.
The captain of a LAN Chile Airbus A340 flying to Auckland was shocked to see the flaming debris less than 10km from his craft.
New Zealand air traffic control authorities said the space junk posed a major safety risk and would be investigated.
Comment: They are starting to come fast and furious now!
Heads up!