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Mystery East Coast Fireball Was a Russian Rocket

Naval Observatory 99% sure explosion was remains of Soyuz booster

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 31, 2009 2:47 AM CDT

(Newser) – The fireball that lit up parts of the East Coast Sunday night was almost certainly the exploding remains of a Russian rocket, a US Naval Observatory official tells Space.com. The second stage of the Soyuz rocket was slated to enter the atmosphere at the time and place the fireball was reported by residents along the Atlantic coast, according to an observatory computer program that tracks space junk.

The boom and flash of light reported by residents are "entirely consistent with re-entering space junk, especially something this big," said the official, who is "99.4% convinced" it wasn't a meteor.

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A Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft carrying a new crew to the international space station blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, last Thursday. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

People take photos of the Russian-built Soyuz TMA 14 rocket that will carry new crew to the international space station at the launch pad Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

In this image made available by NASA, the Soyuz rocket is hoisted into position at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Tuesday, March 24, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

The Russian-built Soyuz TMA 14 rocket that will carry a new crew to the international space station is transported to the launch pad in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

The Russian-built Soyuz TMA 14 rocket that will carry a new crew to the international space station as it is transported to the launch pad in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

A Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft carrying a new crew to the international space station blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, March 26, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

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Virginians ask: "What was that?" (clipsyndicate.com)

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This is just too much of a coincidence to be coincidence. - Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory

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Mystery East Coast Fireball Was a Russian Rocket