E-Paper
Mysterious light appears in Kolkata sky: Satellite or Agni V? Speculations rife
The mysterious light was visible in the Kolkata sky on Thursday evening for about five minutes. Speculations over the light are rife on social media as it is not yet know where the light came from.
For around five minutes, a mysterious light appeared in the Kolkata sky to the amazement of sky-gazers as the source of it was not immediately known. Experts are also not sure whether it was a part of a meteor or a satellite or a missile. According to social media posts, the light was visible from 5.50pm to 5.55pm. Apart from Kolkata, the strange light was visible from Bankura, East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and also from a few districts in Odisha.
The light was seen coming moving and it was like a spotlight.
This coincided with the night trial of the nuclear-capable Agni-5 ballistic missile on Thursday. The launch was carried out at 5.30pm from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.
Reports said the missile uses a three-stage solid-fuelled engine and is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometres with a very high degree of accuracy. The missile test comes amid the escalated tension between India and China in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh. However, whether the mysterious light seen in the sky of the eastern part of the country was from the missile test is not known.
