Overview

• More than 200 witnesses from the Bay Area to Reno reported a bright streak around 7:50 p.m., according to the American Meteor Society.
• Videos showed a slow, fragmenting trail consistent with human-made orbital debris rather than a fast, single-flash meteor.
• The Aerospace Corporation had multiple Starlink objects listed for expected reentry that evening and described the clustered breakup pattern seen in the sky.
• A Chabot Space & Science Center astronomer said the display likely came from an older Falcon 9 upper stage, not the Starlink mission that launched later that night.
• SpaceX confirmed a 9:26 p.m. Falcon 9 liftoff from Vandenberg that deployed new Starlink satellites, and no injuries or ground impacts were reported from the earlier reentry.