SIMFEROPOL, May 3 .The glow in the sky over the European part of Russia and, in particular, in Crimea, appeared the day before due to the Falcon 9 rocket launched in California, said Sergei Nazarov, a researcher at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO).
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“Late on Thursday evening, a moving “cloud of gas” was observed over the European part of Russia, as well as over the territories of other countries. In fact, it was a flyby of the third stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched earlier in California from the Vandenberg Space Center,” the astronomer said.
The day before, the publication “Country” reported that on Thursday evening a strange glow appeared in the sky throughout Ukraine; residents of Kyiv, Odessa, Dnieper and western regions reported it.
Nazarov clarified that observers on Earth saw the operation of the third stage engines.
The glow in Crimea could be seen at about 23:00 Moscow time, the astronomer noted. Reports of observation of the missile's flight came from Crimea, Karelia, Moscow, Tver, Pskov and Novgorod regions, he noted. The rocket flew from south to north over the western part of the horizon.