Michigan Residents Observe 'Failed' Satellite's Blazing Reentry Over Midwest

Skywatchers across US Midwestern states observed a fireball streaking through the night sky on October 19-20 that NASA said was caused by the “reentry and fragmentation of a satellite.”

The sightings were shared amid reports of the annual Orionid meteor shower. The American Meteorological Society confirmed that the fragment was not a “natural fireball but appears to be the re-entry of Kosmos-2551, a Russian reconnaissance satellite that launched on September 9 but failed to maintain orbit."

This footage shared by Jared Dougall, who said it was filmed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, shows the fireball trailing over the city. Credit: Jared Dougall via Storyful