Fireball Over Sumatra and Malaysia Was NASA's Swift Telescope Re-Entering

This scan turned up three reports. The strongest one has an official answer: a fireball seen across Southeast Asia was a retired NASA telescope burning up. The other two are still unexplained, though both have likely everyday causes.

Fireball over Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore was NASA's Swift telescope

On the evening of Wednesday, November 4, people in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore watched a fiery object with a long tail cross the sky. Reported sightings included Johor and Pahang in Malaysia, and one Singapore witness put the time at about 8:40 p.m. local time. Many people posted videos, and some asked whether it was a falling plane or a meteor.

NASA says the U.S. Space Force confirmed that the retired Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory re-entered at 7:39 a.m. EST (8:39 p.m. in Singapore) over North Sumatra, Indonesia. The roughly 1,450 kg telescope had been in orbit for almost 22 years. NASA expected most of it to burn up but said some parts may have survived. The time and place match the sightings.

Rating: Strong (official confirmation plus many videos). Explanation: satellite re-entry, confirmed. NASA Swift blog

Green and white flashes over Coyoacán, Mexico City

On the night of Thursday, November 5, people near the Gran Sur shopping center in Coyoacán, in southern Mexico City, filmed greenish and white flashes in the sky. In one clip a yellow-green band appears to stretch sideways, and another shows long white flashes. Publimetro reported that dozens of people stopped to look and that several videos spread online.

No official explanation has been given. Some residents linked the lights to rehearsals for the Ultra México 2026 festival at nearby Estadio Banorte on November 7–8, but that link has not been confirmed. Stage lasers or searchlights reflecting off low clouds would match what the videos show.

Rating: Moderate (local news, several videos, many witnesses). Likely explanation: event lighting on clouds (unconfirmed). Publimetro

UK airline captain releases time-lapse of lights over Europe

Steve Frazer is a commercial pilot from Cheshire, England, who has flown for 27 years. He shared cockpit time-lapse footage of small points of light that appear to cross the night sky and then vanish. He says he has seen lights like these six or seven times since 2022, first near Brussels and most recently in October 2026. He also says a colleague saw them on a flight back from Lithuania. Frazer says their movement doesn't fit refueling aircraft or Starlink satellites.

The story comes from Frazer's own account and footage, and nobody has independently verified it. Time-lapse can make distant aircraft, satellites or flares look strange, so it can't be assessed without the full original video.

Rating: Moderate (named, experienced witness with video, but no outside verification). Explanation: unknown. SWNS

Saw something?

If you spotted a strange light, run it through our Is It a UFO? checker before you post it. Steady footage helps more than anything else, and a simple phone tripod keeps a night clip from turning into a blur.

Sources: NASA Science; Mothership.SG; The Rakyat Post; Publimetro; SWNS.