Peruvian locals discover parts of aerospace satellite after fireball blazes across Peru
A HUGE fireball seen blazing across the skies of South America before crash landing in southeastern Peru has been identified as the remains of a satellite, the Peruvian air force said.
Fireball FLIES across sky above Peru
The air force quickly released images of the space debris in a bid to quash rumours and conspiracy theories that the object might be a UFO or planet-destroying asteroid.
It is believed the satellite burnt up upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere with some of the remaining parts left to smash into ground in southeastern Peru.
When locals discovered the remnants of the satellite they immediately contacted the Peruvian Air Force.
Video footage from the 27 January appears to show the object hurtling through the sky.
A fireball seen blazing across the skies of Peru has been identified as the remains of a satellite
When the debris enters the atmosphere it comes under intense friction and this causes it to set on fire. That is what could have happened
Meteorologist Alejandro Fonesca, from the Universidade Federal do Acre, said that no meteorites had been predicted to fall in the area and confirmed that it was either an old satellite or other human made space litter.
He said: “When the debris enters the atmosphere it comes under intense friction and this causes it to set on fire. That is what could have happened.”
It was 60 years ago the space exploration race began between the USA and the USSR, which has seen the Earth’s atmosphere being scattered with debris from various space crafts and satellites.
In recent years, many private companies have been competing with nations to send not only satellites into space but also people.
When locals discovered the remnants of the satellite they immediately contacted the Air Force
The Peruvian air force quickly released images of the space debris in a bid to quash rumours
Yesterday, Space X halted a launch of a GovSat-1 communications satellite, due to a sensor problem, but the launch is expected to go ahead today.
There are also fears the Chinese space station Tiangong-1, will crash into earth sometime in March.
Chinese authorities have said the space station will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere due to the intense heat from its descent and as a result it will not pose a direct threat to life on Earth.
A 2016 count by the United States Strategic Command found there was a staggering 17,852 artificial objects in the earth’s orbit, including 1,419 operational satellites.