A Long March 5 rocket carrying a test satellite payload, launched by China at 12:45 UTC on December 27, 2019, produced an amazing night sky show as parts of it disintegrated over Guam and Saipan around 13:25 UTC (23:25 LT) on the same day.
Residents of Saipan and Guam posted numerous sightings of the event, initially thought to be a meteor. Some of the residents reported hearing explosion during the event, which is not uncommon for this type of event.
According to NWS Guam, pieces of the rocket ended in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Saipan.
The office said people in Saipan saw the object almost overhead, while in Guam it was fairly low in the sky.
#Meteorito
— Geól. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) December 28, 2019
Espectacular video, probablemente de un meteorito desde los cielos de #Guam desintegrándose en la atmósfera. Otras opciones incluyen escombros de una prueba del cohete Long-5 realizada desde el sitio de lanzamiento de Wenchang en Hainan
Vía @weerenradar pic.twitter.com/ij1zXuFZt4
If you are curious about the launch and how this impressive rocket looks like, take a look at the video below:
Featured image credit: KuamNews
