By Tara John
Americans took to Twitter Tuesday night to have a minor freakout over a mysterious fireball that streaked across the sky. Was it a bird? A Plane? Superman? Was Independence Day real after all?
According to military officials, the real answer was more mundane than an alien invasion: The streak of light burning across the sky in the U.S. was in fact debris from a Russian rocket re-entering the atmosphere.
U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn says the fireball, seen over Arizona, Nevada and California overnight, came from a Russian SL-4 rocket body booster launched on Monday, reports Associated Press.
Sometimes the truth isn’t stranger than fiction.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com