Dazzling sky show over Pacific Northwest was rocket booster falling out of orbit

A SpaceX rocket booster falling out of orbit made for a spectacular display over much of the Pacific Northwest on Thursday night, prompting calls to authorities and excited posts to social media.

A second stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had failed to make its deorbit burn earlier this month and burned up in the atmosphere at about 9 p.m., according to reports.

"The widely reported bright objects in the sky were the debris from a Falcon 9 rocket 2nd stage that did not successfully have a deorbit burn," the National Weather Service in Seattle wrote on Twitter.

The disintegrating rocket part split into numerous pieces as it fell into the night sky, prompting reports of airplane crashes or meteor strikes.

The spectacle was visible as far north as Seattle and as far west as Cannon Beach in Oregon, according to posts on social media.

There were no reports of damage or other impacts on the ground.

The rocket delivered Starlink satellites, built in Redmond, Washington, into orbit earlier this week.

SpaceX said Wednesday that the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth and landed as planned on its ocean-going barge off the coast of Florida.

Here are some more reactions from Twitter: