What was that? ( mexico )

[Swami]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckEhT1mQbFA

[Hiram]

Its great Video! Quite beautiful no?

My first instinct, if i were to adopt a NASA public-relations stance is: Space Junk burning up upon reentry. If the camera were sensitive enough we could do a spectral analysis of the flare to see what the composition of the object is. Many shooting starts burn green into red...due to the high iron content, this didn't look green to me.

But it could also be something creating a mess in the atmosphere as it reenters, not necessarily burning up. The way the flare flickers and brightens and dims though makes me think something is incinerating.

Thoughts?

[Harley]

Hi Swami and Hiram,

I'm posting this one for comparison. This appears (to me) to be a (Chinese?) rocket or missile, and it appears to be going much slower than Swami's. At about 00:35 there even appears to be a stage separation. But notice how the exhaust, or contrail, starts out wide and then collapses back in on itself. Or is that an optical illusion?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uddmh2jqPYY&feature=player_embedded

Still, very beautiful!

[onawah]

That footage over China was gorgeous! It looks like whatever it was came from the ground.