Not a Meteor, BRIN States Celestial Object over Lampung is Chinese Rocket Debris

The mystery surrounding the mysterious celestial object that crossed the airspace over Lampung and Banten on Saturday night (4/4) has finally been solved. The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has confirmed that the glowing object was not a meteor, but rather space debris.

BRIN Astronomy Professor Thomas Djamaluddin confirmed that the phenomenon, which went viral on social media, was the process of remnants from a space launch falling to Earth.

“Residents around Lampung and Banten were excited by a bright object streaking across the sky that appeared to break into several parts. That was fragments of space debris,” said Thomas, quoted from Antara on Sunday (5/4).

Based on the latest data analysis, Thomas explained that the space debris was remnants of a Chinese rocket, specifically the CZ-3B type. The rocket was tracked launching from the direction of India towards the Indian Ocean.

“The latest information from Space-Track and orbital analysis shows that the Chinese rocket debris was heading from the direction of India towards the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra,” he clarified.

The phenomenon was clearly visible to residents because the object’s altitude continued to decrease as it entered Indonesian airspace. Around 19:56 WIB, the rocket’s altitude dropped to below 120 km.

“The object entered the dense atmosphere, continued to streak while burning and breaking apart. That is what was witnessed by residents around Lampung and Banten,” Thomas stated.

Previously, the online world was abuzz with amateur video recordings showing a glowing elongated object streaking across the sky in Lampung. The object appeared to scatter into small fragments several times, which sparked speculation among the public that it was a meteor shower or other falling object from space.