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Meteor shower or Chinese rocket debris? Mysterious lights seen over Delhi skies
As people speculated over the mysterious lights, a Grok comment said it was likely space debris from a Chinese CZ-3B rocket body reentering the atmosphere.
Fiery streaks spotted over skies in parts of Delhi and national capital region (NCR) cities in the early hours of Saturday puzzled residents, leaving them wondering if it was a meteor shower or space debris. Neither of the two possibilities have been confirmed by any relevant authority.
As people speculated, a Grok comment on X to a post on the bright streak over Delhi-NCR said it was likely space debris from a Chinese CZ-3B rocket body reentering the atmosphere. The Grok based it on predictions and video characteristics like slow speed and fragmentation. Some experts call it a bolide, but evidence leans toward debris. An official confirmation was awaited.
Most reports of sightings of the mysterious streaks of light and fireball came from Delhi-NCR areas at around 1:20 am on Saturday.
The fiery streaks were spotted by residents of Haryana's Gurugram, Uttar Pradesh's Noida as well as Rajasthan's Jaipur apart from Delhiites.
The residents took to social media platforms and shared videos of the mysterious lights, speculating what it could be.
“Just witnessed this incredible fire streak in the night sky… Looks like a meteor or maybe part of a rocket burning up in the atmosphere nature’s own light show from my rooftop. Did anyone else spot it too?” one user wrote on X.
Another post on X showed visuals from Gurugram, calling it a meteor shower. “Meteor Showers over Sector 77, Gurgaon at 1:25 AM. It was a bright streak of light… Extremely beautiful and fortunate to watch,” the post read.
“Midnight spectacle in Greater Noida! Around 1:22 AM, a blazing asteroid lit up the Noida sky, a rare cinematic moment witnessed by locals,” read another post.
One user wrote that he spotted the lights over Delhi sky at around 1:25 am near Bhikaji Kama Place while coming back from office.
“I was coming a while ago from my office with one of my colleague and around 1:25 am we saw a meteor shower above delhi sky , near bhikaji kama place , we stopped the scooty and started recording this, not sure if it's a meteor shower or something else , and we can't find in news,” the post read.
An account called Thepagetoday cited the American Meteor Society and said the mystery lights are likely part of the Perseid shower. The Perseid meteor shower is an annual astronomical event where Earth passes through the debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle, resulting in similar shooting stars-like sightings in the night sky. The Perseid meteor shower, however, peaks around mid-August.
“Rare #meteorlights up #Delhi, #Noida #Ghaziabad, & #Gurgaon skies on September 19, 2025, likely part of the Perseid shower. Bright bolide observed, possibly fragmenting, as reported by the American Meteor Society. No space debris or rocket re-entry confirmed. #Meteor #DelhiNCR,” the post read.
On Reddit, one user wrote that it is likely space debris as meteor showers don't look like this. “This isn't a meteor lol. There aren't even any around in September! This was just space debris and still kind of rare to see (in case it wasn't Starlink),” a user wrote on Reddit in comments of a post that shared visuals of the streaks.
