Residents across the southeastern United States were left awestruck Sunday night as streaking fireballs lit up the sky in a dazzling display—but this wasn’t a meteor shower. The spectacle was the fiery demise of China’s SuperView-1 02 satellite, a piece of space junk making its uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
The dramatic event unfolded around 10 p.m. local time over Bryant, Arkansas, as thousands witnessed an orange beam of light streak across the heavens. The fireballs, mistaken by many for meteors, were actually fragments of the satellite breaking apart as it plunged to Earth. Videos of the phenomenon quickly flooded social media, capturing the breathtaking display that momentarily lit up the night.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, confirmed the satellite’s fiery reentry. On social media platform X, McDowell explained that the SuperView-1 02 had been “dead as a doornail” since January 2023 and was classified as space junk. While experts knew the reentry would occur Sunday, they had only a two-hour accuracy estimate, leaving the exact timing and location uncertain.
This video was taken by a very good friend of mine, over 20 year friendship of something burning across the sky above Reelfoot Lake in West TN. Anyone have an idea as to what this is? Hey @elonmusk this belong to you? pic.twitter.com/SpCuhRBe6C
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) December 22, 2024
McDowell detailed that the half-ton satellite burned up almost entirely during its descent, though he speculated that dense components, such as parts of the propulsion system, might have survived and could potentially be recovered.
Meteorologists like Nathan Scott from Little Rock confirmed the lightshow was far too slow for meteors, which typically last mere seconds. This slower, more sustained glow was characteristic of satellites breaking apart upon reentry.
The satellite, launched in 2016 from Taiyuan, China, was part of a commercial imaging constellation operated by Beijing’s Siwei Star Co. Ltd. The spacecraft had been on a steady downward drift since it was deactivated nearly two years ago.
The American Meteor Society received over 120 reports of the event from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri. Witnesses described the fiery descent as both mesmerizing and mysterious, with many marveling at its size and brightness. Reagan Jones, a resident of Bryant, shared footage online, echoing the widespread amazement.
SuperView-1 02’s reentry highlights the growing issue of space debris. With thousands of defunct satellites orbiting Earth, events like this serve as a dramatic reminder of the need for improved satellite decommissioning strategies.
This was a scheduled Chinese satellite reentering the atmosphere and burning up. I saw it last night myself. It was huge. pic.twitter.com/mHrbbaOggp
— Dan (@cricket1378) December 23, 2024
For one night, a defunct satellite turned space junk became an unintentional showstopper, leaving those who saw it with a sense of wonder—and perhaps a little curiosity about what else might be falling from the skies.
