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Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A series of bright fireballs that illuminated the night sky over several southern states was identified as the remains of a Chinese satellite.

Witnesses reported seeing a group of fireballs streaking across the sky Saturday night over Tennessee, Arkansas and other southern states.

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Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said on social media that the light show was likely the remains of the decommissioned GaoJing/SuperView-1 02 satellite burning up in the atmosphere.

The commercial imaging satellite was launched in 2016 and was decommissioned after two years.

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