The U.S. Space Command confirms the fireball seen streaking across the Southern California sky early Tuesday morning was Chinese space junk. It was a module that had been used to launch three astronauts into space in the fall of 2022.
The module’s heat shield burned away as it reentered the earth’s atmosphere, making it look like a meteor. It had nothing to do with the SpaceX Falcon Nine rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday night.
The space junk likely broke up over the Pacific Ocean.