Satellite Debris, Meteor, or UFO?

Written by: Brian Neudorff

What was that in the sky over Texas Sunday? Initially, it was reported that the bright fireball was produced by debris from two satellites that collided last Tuesday, since those reports, experts have analyzed the video and feel this something more natural. From SpaceWeather.net:

What you just saw was not satellite debris. The high speed of the fireball in the News 8 video is typical of a natural meteoroid hitting Earth's atmosphere at tens of km/s. Orbital debris, on the other hand, should crawl across the sky at a fraction of that speed. Astronomer Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office has analyzed the video and confirms "it's a natural meteor, definitely." According to Cooke's analysis, the source of the fireball was a meter-class asteroid traveling at about 20 km/s.

More info on the satellite collision:
On Tuesday, February 10, 2008 two satellites, one Russian the other from the United States collided over northern Siberia. Both satellites were completely destroyed. Less than a day after the collision the FAA reportedly warned U.S. pilots to watch for "falling space debris." This is the first time two large satellites have collided in Earth orbit.