A streak of fireball glided across the night skies of Japan, leaving many residents puzzled at the strange phenomenon.

On Wednesday night, several people took to social media to share clips of what appeared to be a meteorite, with smaller ones streaking behind it, as it lighted up the sky around 8.30 pm (local time).

The mysterious burning object was spotted moving eastward towards Okinawa city.

Soon, it was spotted in various areas in Japan, including Nago and Itoman in Okinawa prefecture, and Amami in&nbsp;Kagoshima&nbsp;prefecture.

“What’s this?&nbsp;meteorite? shooting star? missile?” one Twitter user wrote. “It looks like a fireball!” said another.

However, before any random claim could give space to&nbsp;conspiracy theories, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan came out with a clarification.

It said that the movement of the objects indicated that it was not a meteorite but "looked exactly like the atmospheric entry of debris from a rocket" possibly from a Chinese launch in November.

A Japanese official, who did not share his name, told AFP news agency that the fiery streaks were likely not shooting stars, but rocket debris.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Burning objects of unknown origin flew in the sky over Japan. On Wednesday evening, they were spotted in Okinawa Prefecture, according to local TV channel TBS. <a href="https://t.co/A9CuJm1j7P">pic.twitter.com/A9CuJm1j7P</a>
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) <a href="https://twitter.com/Spriter99880/status/1656501031457497088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

“Given the information publicly available, we think the falling objects are not fireballs from meteorites, but debris from a rocket,” said the official with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).

“It is possible that (it was) debris from a rocket that was launched by China in November,” he said.

A curator of astronomy at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa prefecture also believed that the object may have been a Chinese rocket.

“The object appears to be a rocket launched by China carrying a communications satellite in November last year,” he told local news.

The space junk was predicted to land in the sea and posed no danger to residents.

“It was beautiful, it looked like a weeping cherry blossom tree,” one Twitter user wrote of the display.

“But it’s good to know it wasn’t something dangerous.”

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

A streak of fireball glided across the night skies of Japan, leaving many residents puzzled at the strange phenomenon. On Wednesday night, several people took to social media to share clips of what appeared to be a meteorite, with smaller ones streaking behind it, as it lighted up the sky around 8.

A streak of fireball glided across the night skies of Japan, leaving many residents puzzled at the strange phenomenon. On Wednesday night, several people took to social media to share clips of what appeared to be a meteorite, with smaller ones streaking behind it, as it lighted up the sky around 8.30 pm (local time). The mysterious burning object was spotted moving eastward towards Okinawa city. Soon, it was spotted in various areas in Japan, including Nago and Itoman in Okinawa prefecture, and Amami in Kagoshima prefecture. “What’s this? meteorite? shooting star? missile?” one Twitter user wrote. “It looks like a fireball!” said another. However, before any random claim could give space to conspiracy theories, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan came out with a clarification. It said that the movement of the objects indicated that it was not a meteorite but "looked exactly like the atmospheric entry of debris from a rocket" possibly from a Chinese launch in November. A Japanese official, who did not share his name, told AFP news agency that the fiery streaks were likely not shooting stars, but rocket debris. Burning objects of unknown origin flew in the sky over Japan. On Wednesday evening, they were spotted in Okinawa Prefecture, according to local TV channel TBS. pic.twitter.com/A9CuJm1j7P — Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 11, 2023 × “Given the information publicly available, we think the falling objects are not fireballs from meteorites, but debris from a rocket,” said the official with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). “It is possible that (it was) debris from a rocket that was launched by China in November,” he said. A curator of astronomy at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa prefecture also believed that the object may have been a Chinese rocket. “The object appears to be a rocket launched by China carrying a communications satellite in November last year,” he told local news. The space junk was predicted to land in the sea and posed no danger to residents. “It was beautiful, it looked like a weeping cherry blossom tree,” one Twitter user wrote of the display. “But it’s good to know it wasn’t something dangerous.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Watch: 'Strange' fireball glides past Japan skies, leaving netizens puzzled

The 'fireball' meteorite that blazed across the night sky over Britain last month has been found - after landing in a driveway in Gloucestershire.&nbsp;

Many rocky fragments have been found from the fireball and they all came down in the Winchcombe area of Gloucestershire.&nbsp;

The recovered meteorite is a rare kind of space rock known as a carbonaceous chondrite – extremely ancient pieces of interplanetary debris that predate our own planet, explains Dr Ashley King from London's Natural History Museum (NHM), who was a member of the team that verified and retrieved the meteorites.

He said that "We study them to learn about how our solar system formed and the origin of habitable planets like the Earth,”.

There are about 65,000 known meteorites in the entire world and of those only 51 of them are carbonaceous chondrites that have been seen to fall like this one.

Earlier on the night of 28 February, shortly before 10 pm over the western part of the UK, a fireball was spotted blazing across the night sky.

Lasting about six seconds, the bright flash of light was reported by hundreds of people as it was recorded on doorbell cameras, car dashcams and picked up by the dedicated network of cameras across the UK trained at the sky for precisely this kind of event.

(With inputs from agencies)

The 'fireball' meteorite that blazed across the night sky over Britain last month has been found - after landing in a driveway in Gloucestershire. Many rocky fragments have been found from the fireball and they all came down in the Winchcombe area of Gloucestershire.

The 'fireball' meteorite that blazed across the night sky over Britain last month has been found - after landing in a driveway in Gloucestershire. Many rocky fragments have been found from the fireball and they all came down in the Winchcombe area of Gloucestershire. The recovered meteorite is a rare kind of space rock known as a carbonaceous chondrite – extremely ancient pieces of interplanetary debris that predate our own planet, explains Dr Ashley King from London's Natural History Museum (NHM), who was a member of the team that verified and retrieved the meteorites. He said that "We study them to learn about how our solar system formed and the origin of habitable planets like the Earth,”. There are about 65,000 known meteorites in the entire world and of those only 51 of them are carbonaceous chondrites that have been seen to fall like this one. Earlier on the night of 28 February, shortly before 10 pm over the western part of the UK, a fireball was spotted blazing across the night sky. Lasting about six seconds, the bright flash of light was reported by hundreds of people as it was recorded on doorbell cameras, car dashcams and picked up by the dedicated network of cameras across the UK trained at the sky for precisely this kind of event. (With inputs from agencies)

Fireball meteorite that lights up the sky above the UK recovered from a driveway

fireball-meteorite

Fireball Meteorite, News on Fireball Meteorite, stories on Fireball Meteorite, articles on Fireball Meteorite, Fireball Meteorite stories at Wion, Fireball Meteorite news, Fireball Meteorite latest news

fireball meteorite

Watch: 'Strange' fireball glides past Japan skies, leaving netizens puzzled

Fireball meteorite that lights up the sky above the UK recovered from a driveway