People from Arizona to Canada have reported seeing bright lights in the sky as a Chinese rocket burned up in the atmosphere.
Witnesses described the lights as a group of about three dozen fireballs moving slowly from south to north late yesterday.
Canadian photographer Neil Zeller says it looked like a cluster of fireballs followed by a long orange tail.
A NASA official told the Salt Lake Tribune the lights were a Chinese rocket booster that broke apart about 11 pm Mountain Time (0600 GMT).
Calls to NASA from The Associated Press were directed to US Strategic Command, who could not immediately confirm what it was.
Mike Hankey with the American Meteor Society says his organisation got more than 150 reports of the event from nine Western states and Canada.
