The fireball spotted streaking across the night sky late on Monday in the western United States was almost certainly the body of a rocket used by
China in December to launch a satellite, an astronomer said on Tuesday.
Residents in Rocky Mountain states such as Idaho, Utah and Montana reported seeing the rocket as it disintegrated in the atmosphere about 70 miles (113 km) above Earth, said Chris Anderson, manager of the Centennial Observatory at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.
The rocket, which was orbiting Earth about every 87 minutes, made an early appearance elsewhere and in fiery fashion likely because its orientation may have changed.