UPDATE: 1:21 p.m. - August 13, 2025
The debris observed burning in the Montana sky could also be linked to the ULA Vulcan rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on the evening of August 12.
First report:
GREAT FALLS — The annual Perseids meteor shower peaked Tuesday night, but stargazers had the chance to see another incredible display in the sky early Wednesday morning around 5:15-5:20 a.m.
Bright streaks resembling a shooting star moved from west to east across the night sky, but this was not actually related to the meteor shower. It was space junk re-entering and burning up.
Several people shared videos with us - watch:
It could have been a satellite, perhaps an old Starlink. A couple of re-entries occur nearly every day somewhere on Earth, so this is not uncommon.
According to SpaceX, "Starlink satellites operate in a low Earth orbit below 600 km altitude. Atmospheric drag at these altitudes will deorbit a satellite naturally in five years or less, depending on the altitude and satellite design, should one fail on orbit. SpaceX proactively deorbits satellites that are identified to be at an elevated risk of becoming non-maneuverable."
While the event was captured by many across Montana, no damage was reported in the aftermath, as the satellite likely burned up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground.
