New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- Residents across Delhi-NCR were treated to a rare celestial spectacle in the early hours of Saturday: bright orange streaks cutting across the night sky, which experts say were most likely space debris burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The fiery 'fireball' was caught on camera by stunned onlookers, who flooded social media with photographs and videos soon after midnight.

Astronomers said while a meteor couldn't be ruled out, such brilliance is uncommon over India. Rishabh Jain, a researcher and space scientist with Delhi's Nehru Planetarium, recalled similar sightings in 2022 and 2023-both linked to retired satellites. "When a satellite is retired, it loses power, drifts out of control, and eventually plunges into ...