Mysterious “jellyfish-shaped object” filmed “entering atmosphere” over Russia

A mysterious “jellyfish-shaped object” that suddenly appeared in Earth’s atmosphere stunned local Russians.

Residents of the Amur Oblast region spotted the glowing object flying above their heads last month and posted a video of it online.

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In the images, posted to YouTube by Viral Hog, the comet-like object can be seen dashing toward Earth as stunned viewers revel in its beauty.

A young boy, accompanied by his friends, can be heard screaming in his native Russian as he points to the starry sky.

He then zooms in to get a closer look at the shiny object – which is directed by a shiny tip.

In the caption of the video, the user explains, “My friends and I saw the movement of an object in the sky, it looked like a comet, but it flew slowly and we realized it was kind rocket or flying machine.

“A little later it exploded and a jellyfish pattern formed, we even heard a kind of sound similar to the explosion.”

Soon, astonished astronomers took to the comments section to speculate on what the object might be.

One user speculated that it could be a rocket, writing: “It looks like a rocket jumping out of Earth’s atmosphere, I wonder if it has made it into orbit.

A second said it could be the re-entry of the satellite, “with the lithium burning towards the end”

While a third wrote simply: “It’s a rocket.

However, others were more creative in their responses with speculations ranging from UFOs to asteroids, comets and meteorites.

An interested user said with confidence: “That my friends are a meteorite. In fact, we are affected by several per year. Fairly common. Notice how it burned.

Meteors burn as they enter our atmosphere and this can create a trail of light behind them.

They also often fall on the sea or on uninhabited land and can therefore go unnoticed.

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• Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
• Meteoroid: When two asteroids collide, the small pieces that break off are called meteorites
• Meteor: If a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vaporize and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it will look like a trail of light in the sky, because the rock is burning
• Meteorite: If a meteoroid does not vaporize completely and survives the journey through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on Earth. At this point it becomes a meteorite
• Comet: Like asteroids, a comet revolves around the Sun. However, rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains a lot of ice and gas, which can cause amazing tails to form behind them (thanks to the vapor of ice and dust).