Mystery light in sky was debris from Chinese rocket

The U.S. Strategic Command has confirmed that the bright light that was seen in the sky across California on Wednesday night was a Chinese rocket re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The light appeared at 9:38 p.m. Wednesday, and was visible for more than 20 seconds in many areas, including parts of San Diego County.

Many people thought that they were seeing a fireball in the upper atmosphere. And it’s possible that some people did see a meteor.

Francis French, education director at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, said online Wednesday night, “I was outside watching the (International Space Station) come over and saw an impressive blue meteor come over going the opposite direction (east to west).” He lives in East County.

But the more widely seen light was the remnants of the Chinese rocket.

The sighting caused quite a stir.

“We’ve had a lot of calls, and people are talking about it on the California Warning Phone,” said James Brotherton, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo, said on Wednesday night.

California counties and weather service stations maintain a special phone line to share information.

Brotherton said, “We don’t know what it was. But it was seen all the way up in Northern California.”