An unusual trail of light on the night horizon over Kiev has caused an air alert in the Ukrainian capital. Shortly thereafter, the city’s military administration reported on Telegram that a disused NASA satellite that had entered Earth’s atmosphere may have caused this phenomenon. “An air raid alert has been issued to avoid casualties from debris falling on the ground,” it said. The anti-aircraft defense had not become active.
The satellite may be the RHESSI space telescope, whose re-entry into the atmosphere was announced for Thursday night. The telescope was launched in February 2002 and the mission ended in October 2018.