Chinese Rocket Creates Bright Ball of Light in the Sky

Did you see the bright ball of light in the sky Wednesday night? It’s wasn’t a meteorite or meteor, and it wasn’t an alien from outer space coming to visit us. The bright light in the sky is actually more “earthly.”

According to the U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn, a Chinese rocket re-entering the atmosphere near California is to blame for the ball of light many Central Coast residents saw.

The “mysterious” bright object streaking across the night sky lit up social media, and you may watch a compiled video clip from viewers in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Nipomo above. At NewsChannel 3 and KCOY 12, we received numerous calls from viewers wanting to know what they were looking at.

Ziegenhorn identified the rocket as the Chang Zheng 7 rocket, which the Chinese launched on June 25 to deliver a prototype shuttle into space.

If you missed the light show don’t worry — you can catch the Delta Aquarids meteor shower Thursday and Friday night over much of North America.