KYIV: A flash of light that lit up the night sky above wartime Kyiv has led to widespread confusion, public speculation about what caused it, and lighthearted jokes about space aliens in a city more accustomed to Russian missile attacks.

Video clips posted on social media showed the sky over the Ukrainian capital suddenly illuminated by a bright light late on Wednesday. In one clip, a flaming object appeared to be crashing to the ground.

Kyiv authorities said an unknown aerial object had fallen from the sky around 1900 GMT on Wednesday, forcing them to announce an air alert in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

Initial alarm gave way to questions about what had happened, which remained unanswered the next morning.

“After verification and clarification, the information regarding the possible use of enemy aircraft or an air strike with missile weapons was not confirmed,” the Kyiv administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv has regularly been struck by Russian missiles and drones that have hit civilian areas and forced residents to shelter underground. But residents including top officials seemed to enjoy speculating that the flash could be unrelated to the war.

Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, jokingly posted an emoji of a UFO.

One theory, that the flash was caused by a falling US satellite, was ruled out by the US space agency Nasa.

The US space agency had announced earlier this week that a retired 660-pound satellite would re-enter the atmosphere some time on Wednesday.

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, suggested a meteorite may have entered Earth’s atmosphere. He said the Ukrainian air force, in charge of air defences, was not involved.

“We cannot identify what it was exactly, but our assumption is that it was a meteorite,” Igor Korniyenko, the deputy head of a control centre at Ukraine’s national space agency, said.

But he said there was no sufficient data to determine “the exact nature” of what might have caused the flash.

“Our observation devices showed it was a powerful explosion. We recorded it and determined where it took place,” he said. “What exactly it was — only experts can find out,” the military administration’s chief Sergiy Popko said on Thursday.

Unknown aerial object

But he ruled out that the flash could have been one of the regular Russian missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital.

“It was not a missile attack. Our anti-aircraft defence did not deploy its available weapons,” Popko said.

He referred to Wednesday’s incident as “the fall of an unknown aerial object” and said its glow had “caused excitement and concern among the people of Kyiv”.

Jokes abound

Speculation and memes abounded on Ukrainian social media, including jokes that the mysterious flash could have been caused by an alien spacecraft.

“While social media is amused by flying saucer memes... please do not use the official symbol of the air force to create memes!” the Ukrainian air force said.

In a statement on Monday, Nasa said it expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it enters the atmosphere.

“But some components are expected to survive re-entry,” the agency said, adding that the risk of harm to anyone on Earth was low — approximately one in 2,467.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2023