Witnesses across much of California and parts of Nevada have reported observing a bright fireball meteor at about 7.50 pm local time (about 12.50 pm GMT) on Thursday 25 September 2025. The fireball is described as having moved from southwest to northeast, appearing near Lake Berryessa and disappearing to the east of Waldo Junction. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus.
Such are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry, which appears to have been the case on 25 September. The Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit organisation which (amongst other things) monitors space traffic, has calculated that the fireball was caused by the breakup of Starlink satellite 1711, one of a cluster of Starlink satellites which was due to re-enter the atmosphere on that day. The satellite would have re-entered the atmosphere at a speed of about 8000 metres per second, compared to an average of 30 000 m per second for meteorites, leading to a slower and brighter burning object.
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