Fergus Falls Lights

[Jeff Dick]

I just saw this report from earlier today of lights over the Fergus Falls area. Not a lot of information at this point.
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/09/15/mysterious-lights-reported-around-region/

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1431004992274646

 

[JMartJr]

Sure looks like a rocket booster or similar space junk disintegrating on reentry...

 

[Mick West]

It looks like space junk. A rocket re-entry and its breakup in the atmosphere.

 

[JMartJr]

Didn't have a picture on my phone, so have moved to my computer:

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/dont...ll-make-an-uncontrolled-re-entry-this-weekend

 

[Mick West]

There are several reports from the nearby Fargo area.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fargo/comments/1wgu57s/meteorspace_junk/

Anyone else see that thing break up overhead around 2:40AM? At first I thought it was just a crazy long airliner coming into land but then I saw the trailing portion. Unfortunately I was driving and it went over a cloud before I could get a video or picture

It's pretty clear it's reentry debris, just not exactly what it's from. This is a fairly regular, but very impressive-looking occurrence. I saw one once.

 

[Jeff Dick]

That's what I was guessing. Very cool!

 

[Ann K]

That looks much like the Peekskill meteor in 1992, which was filmed by many people over several states because it came at the time all the high school football games were starting. I had a good look at it, and the notable feature to me was that it appeared to be traveling slowly (which it wasn't) because it was much brighter and much farther away than I first thought.


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOU3r3Q4-eY

 

[JMartJr]

That looks much like the Peekskill meteor in 1992, which was filmed by many people over several states because it came at the time all the high school football games were starting. I had a good look at it, and the notable feature to me was that it appeared to be traveling slowly (which it wasn't) because it was much brighter and much farther away than I first thought.

Fascinating video -- the slow speed and fracturing into a bunch of bits make me wonder of that was a meteor at all, or if it was another space debris incident. Not that it CAN'T be a meteor, but if'n I was guessing I'd have gone with something reentering.

And I'd have been wrong...

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peekskill_meteorite

...the identity as a meteor was pretty well established when a chunk of it was found after it hit a parked car in Peekskill, NY! (What a coincidence that the Peekskill Meteor fell in the town of Peekskill--what are the odds!^_^)

And a nice lesson in retaining a willingness to discard a hypothesis, even one based on some evidence, when better evidence comes along!

 

[GM4AJK]

Possibly also caught by missouriskies

 

[GM4AJK]

Also, it looks like it was predicted

Reentry Prediction
Predicted Reentry Time	15 Sep 2026 13:17 UTC ± 20 hours
Orbit Epoch	11 Sep 2026 12:22:42.254 UTC

Object Description
Reentry Type	Rocket Body
Int'l Designation	2004-012C
NORAD Number	28222
Launched	18 April 2004 @ 00:00 UTC
Launch Site	Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China
Mission	TANSUO 1

 

[FatPhil]

That looks much like the Peekskill meteor in 1992, which was filmed by many people over several states because it came at the time all the high school football games were starting. I had a good look at it, and the notable feature to me was that it appeared to be traveling slowly (which it wasn't) because it was much brighter and much farther away than I first thought.

Meteors are typically significantly faster than things coming from low earth orbit, in particular as the latter burn up after a period of retardation, so will be slower than usual LEO objects (7.8km/s). Meteors can be between 2 and 10 times that, so they hit the atmosphere way harder. As you mention, foreshortening, in particular with their intrinsic brightness so you see them from a greater distance and at a shallower angle, can easily fool the eye.