Mystery solved News as object spotted over city identified as US rocket
A LUMINOUS “Golden Snitchshaped” object spotted gliding through the Derby night sky was actually a space rocket launched from the United States of America, it has been revealed.
On Tuesday we reported how two call centre workers saw a bright white and blue light above them on Monday in Inglewood Avenue, Mickleover.
As the two of them, who both work at Pride Park call centre site Firstsource, made their way back to their houses, they say the luminous object passing by above them over the rooftops, just after 10pm at night.
Stunned by what they were looking at, the two of them took pictures and video of the object, likening it the fictional golden and winged ball used in the game of Quidditch, in Harry Potter.
Witnesses from across the country had similar experiences, spotting what appeared to be a strange object in the sky.
Now it is thought the object is related to the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the US.
The rocket successfully carried Landsat 9 — a NASA satellite meant to help monitor Earth’s land and coastal regions — into orbit before separating and moving to a lower orbit to deploy rideshare Cubesats.
According to NASA, Landsat 9 can take more than 700 images of Earth per day.
The launch had previously been delayed because of supply chain troubles that limited access to liquid nitrogen.
The Derby pair from Firstsource said it was visible for a matter of seconds, before it glided away into the horizon and out of view.
One of the workers, who wished not to be named, said: “I couldn’t believe it. I have never seen anything like this before. I couldn’t understand how chillingly quiet it was. There was no noise or lights coming from it like a normal aeroplane or airliner would have and it certainly wasn’t some kind of shooting star, as it was just too big.
“It looked like a Golden Snitch out of Harry Potter, but much bigger and it seemed to have some kind of light coming from it.
“It was only in the sky for seconds, less than a minute, before it went off in a north-easterly direction. It was really creepy to be honest.”
Pictures were taken by the pair just after 10pm.