Videos and images captured fiery streaks from a Russian fuel tank's reentry as they filled the sky over Montana earlier this week
Earlier this week, Montana citizens were treated to an impressive and intriguing event. On Tuesday night, fiery streaks appeared in the sky over Montana. The American Meteor Society documented around 29 reports of fiery objects. And reports came in from Montana as well as other states, including Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon.The streaks began appearing around 10:08 p.m. Tuesday evening and were especially strong near Bitterroot Valley, Livingston, and Park County.
While this event was undoubtedly exciting, the explanation behind it is a bit more mundane. According to, the streaks may have been caused by the fuel tank of an old Russian rocket. The site reports that shortly before the explosion and subsequent fiery rain over Montona, the U.S. Department of Defense issued an impact prediction for something called “BREEZE-M DEB .”
The DoD’s Space Track website predicted that the tank would fall into Earth’s atmosphere on July 13, around 04:06 52 minutes UT. Based on the prediction, the fiery streaks in the sky over Montana appear to corroborate that timing.With the solar cycle continuing to peak, we may see more space junk falling out of orbit. Image source: JPL
The fuel tank in question had been orbiting the planet for almost 10 years. It was originally part of Russia’s Yamal 402 geostationary communications satellite, which launched on December 8, 2012. Unfortunately, recent increases in the Sun’s solar activity appear to have accelerated its orbital decay. As a result, it hit the atmosphere and exploded, causing fiery streaks in the sky.
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