No, you didn't see a UFO or a meteor on Tuesday night. What flew past Delaware on Feb. 4
Plenty of people in the region did, but despite the guesses about shooting stars, meteors and unidentified aerial phenomena, it turned out to be none of those.
The American Meteor Society received 17 reports of a fireball seen over Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia on Tuesday at around 6:20 p.m.
In Delaware, Tim Levin reported seeing something in the sky from Newark at 6:19 p.m.
'Maybe unrelated, but there was a mild but unusual 'burnt' smell in the air maybe 20 minutes afterwards,' Levin wrote in his online report.
He said the sighting lasted for about 20 seconds and had a glowing trail, with what looked to be smoke, that faded after a while.
Other Delaware residents took to social media Tuesday evening to inquire about what the disturbance in the sky was and ask if others saw it, too.
In Conway, South Carolina, Ross E. saw something similar at 6:20 p.m. that lasted for about 45 seconds and was blue and white.
'One of the craziest things I have ever seen with my own eyes,' he wrote in his report. 'Me and my father were working on a car and out of the corner of my eye I saw it and we watched it go from one side of the night sky to the other.'
Sorry to burst your bubble, everyone, but that was no fireball. It was actually a rocket launch, the American Meteor Society confirmed.
On Feb. 4, 21 Starlink satellites were launched by Falcon 9 at 5:15 a.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, along with the Maxar 3 mission from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.
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While it might be a letdown that it wasn't a fireball, spotting a rocket launch is still a cool sight to see, especially when it lights up the night sky like something out of a sci-fi film.
As for fireballs spotted in the area, the American Meteor Society has received reports of three separate sightings in Delaware so far in 2025. The first was on Jan. 1 at 6:38 a.m., followed by one on Jan. 23 at 8:01 p.m. and another on Jan. 29 at 6:15 p.m.
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delawareans recount seeing something glow in the sky on Tuesday
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