Russian space debris lights up Nevada, California skies

Wednesday, December 23, 2015, 10:08 AM - A streaking fireball was captured in the skies above Las Vegas Tuesday night and after much speculation, U.S. defense officials confirmed it was Russian space debris re-entering the atmosphere.

U.S. Strategic Command said the light that was seen over Nevada and California was caused by a Russian SL-4 rocket.

According to Strategic Command, the rocket was launched on Monday.

Newfoundlanders took to social media last week to report another "mysterious fireball" streaking across the sky.

That too, was space junk.

"Based on tracking information and the object’s identification number, this space debris was the second stage of the rocket that launched the latest crew members to the International Space Station, on Tuesday, December 15. While the three crew members, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, British astronaut Timothy Peake and NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra, arrived at the ISS within 8 hours after launch, the rocket booster made several revolutions of the planet before plunging back into the atmosphere over Labrador on Thursday afternoon," said Weather Network space guru Scott Sutherland.