A powerful explosion of an aerial object over the capital of Ukraine at around 21:57 on April 19, after which an air alert signal was issued, caused confusion and alarm in Kyiv and became a sensation in the Ukrainian and foreign media. During the next day, many versions and assumptions were put forward as to what it was. The incomprehensible object was defined as a NASA space satellite and even an RS-24 “Yars” without a warhead. The strange flashes in the sky above the capital became the reason for the creation of numerous memes and photo frogs in social networks, where Kyivans joked about a UFO that could be shot down over the capital, and about the fact that the Ukrainian military, with the help of the American Patriot system, managed to hit one of Elon Musk’s Starlink, which recently made ambiguous statements about Ukraine. So, Ukrainians once again showed themselves as a nation that cannot be intimidated by incomprehensible phenomena, but can only cause a creative wave.
The Kyiv City Military Administration in its official message initially insisted on the version of the fall to Earth of a NASA space satellite, but a representative of the space agency denied it, saying that the satellite in question “is still in orbit.”
❗️The false version of the involvement of the space satellite in the event is due to the announcement by NASA that the 270-kilogram Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft decommissioned in 2018 will enter the atmosphere on April 19 and most of this mass will turn into ash during the fall and a couple The fall was predicted to occur at 4:30 a.m. Kyiv time on April 20, but with an error of plus or minus 16 hours. That is, the outbreak in Kyiv, which occurred around 10:30 p.m. on April 19, fits into this time frame. However, according to NASA officials, this return has not yet occurred, and the agency and the US Department of Defense continue to monitor RHESSI.
Immediately after the appearance of the bright object, the Head of the President’s Office, A. Yermak, announced in a Telegram channel that it was an air defense system, but later deleted the post and called to wait for information from the Air Force. The spokesman of the command of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yu.Ignat said that the department cannot confirm the data about the fall of the satellite, but noted that this time no enemy attacks were recorded in the Kyiv region.
The former adviser to the head of the State Space Agency A.Kolesnyk considers the version about the satellite unlikely. He also suggested that it could be a meteorite or other object that entered the dense layers of the atmosphere. Kolesnyk noted that the flash was accompanied by an explosion, which certainly would not have happened with the fall of satellite debris. According to the agency’s estimates, the estimated place of the epicenter of the explosion is in the Kyiv region.
Meanwhile, pro-russian Telegram channels are promoting the version of a russian missile attack on the warehouses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bila Tserkva, to which Ukrainian air defense did not react. Or they comment on the mysterious outbreak as an “ominous sign” of the defeat of the future Ukrainian counteroffensive.
On the morning of April 20, it became known that the information about the alleged use of russian aircraft and a missile attack was not confirmed, because the air defense did not use the available weapons, and no damage or casualties were recorded.
Specialists of the popular science space project Alpha Centauri also deny the version of NASA’s space satellite falling to Earth and prove that a bolide (meteor) fell near Kyiv. They justify this by the fact that as of 0:50 on April 20, the satellite had not yet entered the Earth’s atmosphere, that is, there was no fall at that time. And the main thing is that even if the NASA apparatus entered the atmosphere, the trajectory of its fall is very far from Ukraine. As of this time, the probable place of fall is the Pacific Ocean, and the satellite itself flies closest to Ukraine in the area of Saudi Arabia. That is, residents of Kyiv region and southern Belarus saw the flash not from the fall of a satellite, but probably from a meteor. It is characteristic that at the same time as the events in Kyiv on the evening of April 19, in several areas of Belarus (near Gomel, Mozyr and other cities located near the Belarus-Ukraine border), a similar bright flash in the sky was observed, which resembled the fall of a meteorite.
❗️So, what exactly it was – experts have to find out, but the most reliable version of a high-energy acoustic event in the sky above Kyiv can be considered the entry of a bolide (meteor) into the dense layers of the atmosphere. The command of the Air Force of Ukraine assures that there is currently no threat of the enemy using air attack means in this direction, and the air defense is ready to repel any threat from the air.
The press service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine calls on Ukrainians to remain calm and avoid creating humorous versions of what happened, using the official symbols of the Air Force. After all, the military did everything necessary to prevent potential victims from the fall of a celestial body in the capital of the country where the war is going on.
