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Published on April 02, 2024
Mysterious Lights Over Southern California Spark Speculation of Space Debris or Meteor EventSource: Unsplash/Tatyana Dobreva

Last night's celestial display across Southern California skies has left residents baffled, sparking a flurry of phone calls and social media posts searching for explanations. Starting around 1:30 a.m., numerous people reported seeing bright lights streaking overhead, stretching from San Bernardino to Santa Barbara County, and as far south as Temecula and Orange County. According to KTLA, video footage captured by a Lakewood local, Alberto Guerrero, shows the mysterious lights moving across the sky, reminiscent, but not confirmed, of space debris or meteors.

The intrigue deepened as the public pondered the source of this spectacle. Some speculated the event could be related to SpaceX's latest launch, as a Falcon 9 rocket carried 22 Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, mere hours, before the light show occurred. However, no clear link has been established and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to respond to inquiries from KTLA.

While some members of the public leaned towards explanations involving natural celestial events, such as a meteor or comet, others pointed to man-made objects. The Aerospace Corporation, specializing in space exploration, indicated on its website about a Chinese spacecraft forecasted to re-enter Earth's atmosphere near Los Angeles around the reported time of the sightings, Eyewitness News reports.

Adding to the uncertainty, neither SpaceX nor The Aerospace Corporation could shed light on the incident, and with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's schedule of celestial events for the month lacking a fitting explanation, Southern Californians are left piecing together clues. Eyewitness News has attempted to contact SpaceX, The Aerospace Corporation, NASA, and the JPL for clarification, but at the time of writing, responses remain pending, and the origin of last night's luminous procession floats unclaimed in the ether of hypotheses and conjecture.