RE: Vietnam: Officials probe mysterious 'space balls'

From: Ted Molczan via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2016 12:45:17 -0500
Thank you, Richard. The source was the re-entry of 2015-074C / 41107, the second stage of the Zenit-2SB rocket that was
observed to decay over Thailand on 2016 Jan 01 near 23:35 UTC (Saturday, Jan 02, 06:35 local time), per Marco
Langbroek's post of Jan 2. Empty mass was 8,900 kg.

The following news report clearly correlates the debris discoveries with the local date and time of the re-entry,
including reports of, "several thunder-like noises from the sky just minutes before the objects were discovered."

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/mysterious-metal-balls-found-in-vietnam-may-be-space-debris-officials-57789.html

Here is another report:

http://saigoneer.com/vietnam-news/6047-mysterious-space-balls-smash-into-northern-vietnam

The re-entry fireball crossed  Vietnam about 1 min. before sunrise.

Below is a good approximation of the re-entry ground track over Yen Bai Province and Tuyen Quang Province, where the
debris was found:

http://www.satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/15074C_ground_track.jpg

Ted Molczan


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Received on Wed Jan 06 2016 - 11:45:57 UTC

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