Burning debris from SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lights up Pacific Northwest skies

Burning debris from a rocket lit up Pacific Northwest skies on Thursday night.

Burning debris from a rocket lit up Pacific Northwest skies on Thursday night, the National Weather Service in Seattle said.

"The widely reported bright objects in the sky were debris from a Falcon 9 rocket 2nd stage that did not successfully have a deorbit burn," the service said in a tweet about the astral occurrence that the Seattle Times reported was seen shortly after 9pm.

There were no reports of damage or other impacts on the ground.

DID YOU SEE THIS? I have never in my life seen something so incredible. I am in awe. Just happened over Portland about 10 minutes ago. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/L9wLEXBrcW

— Genevieve Reaume (@GenevieveReaume) March 26, 2021

The rocket delivered Starlink satellites, built in Redmond, Washington, into orbit earlier this week, the Times reported.

SpaceX said Wednesday that the Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth and landed as planned on its ocean-going barge off the coast of Florida.

The Falcon 9 second stage from the Mar 4 Starlink launch failed to make a deorbit burn and is now reentering after 22 days in orbit. Its reentry was observed from the Seattle area at about 0400 UTC Mar 26. pic.twitter.com/FQrBrUoBHh

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 26, 2021