Mystery of huge fireballs seen plummeting to Earth from space in Peru solved
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The mystery of the huge fireballs which were seen shooting across the sky has now been solved.
The bright objects were seen plummeting from space across the world confusing people who did not know what they were.
But after giant balls of metal were found in fields in Peru, an answer for the strange phenomenon has now been given.
The Peruvian Air Force has confirmed the fireball was actually a Russian space rocket re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
And it added that the metal spheres which were found were fuel tanks belonging to the satellite.
Amazingly it took more than a month for the balls to come back down after the launch of the rocket in December.
Spectacular images of the fireball were taken at the time with the scene going viral on social media.
Footage shows the objects shooting across the sky as a stream of fire is left lingering behind it.
(Image: AFP)
(Image: AFP)
(Image: AFP)
But while people thought it could perhaps be a meteorite , the real reason has now been confirmed.
Meteorologist Alejandro Fonesca, from the Federal University of Acre in Brazil, also said that the fireballs were created by the man-made debris plummeting back to the ground.
He said: "When the debris enters the atmosphere it comes under intense friction and this causes it to set on fire."
(Image: AFP)
The 40kg metal balls were from the SL-23 rocket which was launched from Kazakhstan on Boxing Day.
The parts re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on January 27 and are often used to hold tank pressure gases.
The rocket was launched as part of a joint venture between Russia and Angola to put the Angosat-1 into orbit in a bid to improve communications in the African country.