Skies over Indonesia lit up with a fiery streak on Saturday evening — leaving many wondering if a missile attack or ‘alien invasion’ was about to begin. Visuals shared online showed a massive ‘fireball’ slamming into Jabung port and setting part of the structure on fire.
Officials from the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency later confirmed that the glowing streak of fire was space debris from a Chinese Long March 3B rocket re-entering the atmosphere. Witnesses had reported a bluish-white glow with a long tail — presumably noticing the rocket as it disintegrated under intense heat and aerodynamic pressure.
“The bright object witnessed by residents, which appeared to break into several pieces, was the remains of a Chinese CZ-3B rocket,” antaranews.com quoted BRIN Astronomy Professor Thomas Djamaluddin as saying.
Local media cited orbital analysis from Space-Track to confirm that the rocket fragment travelled from India toward the Indian Ocean, passing over the western coast of Sumatra. The debris descended into the dense layers of the earth’s atmosphere around 7:56 pm local time — with the friction causing it to ignite and shatter.
Missile strike or UFO?
The world has grown increasingly familiar with missile strikes in recent years, and many on social media platforms appeared convinced that Indonesia was facing an attack. Others cited the trajectory and other details to deem it the start of an alien invasion.
“A mysterious object crashed in the Jabun region over Indonesia. If it were clearly a missile, meteorite or space debris, it would have fallen at an angle. The mysterious object appears to be a UFO crash,” insisted one X user.
“Maybe one of the rocket stages from the Artemis launch,” claimed another.
“Probably a North Korean missile,” opined a third.