NATIONWIDE — The streaks that were seen over the Californian skies that captured the imaginations of witnesses were most likely the remains of a Chinese spacecraft, stated an astrophysicist.

While there was speculation as to what was seen during the early Tuesday morning hours — from a meteor to a UFO — it was simply a part of a Chinese spacecraft, stated Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell.

Using the U.S. Space Force public tracking website, McDowell was able to confirm that what people actually saw was a 1.7-ton piece of space junk called Shenzhou 15 Orbital Module.

The module is part of a Shenzhou spacecraft that carries people to China’s Tiangong space station.

“The orbital module is the place where the astronauts live and work,” stated China’s National Space Administration.

It was jettisoned from a Chinese spacecraft in June 2023.

It re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at around 1:40 a.m. PDT (4:40 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, April 02.

“… its reentry track (passed) directly over Santa Barbara, heading towards Las Vegas. There is no doubt in my mind that this is what folks in the LA area saw — the position, time, and appearance are all correct,” McDowell explained to Spectrum News.

Spectrum News reached out to U.S. Space Command for additional information and is awaiting comment.

Speaking of things falling from the sky, McDowell stated that it has strongly been suspected that the piece of space junk that fell into a man’s home in Naples, Fla., was part of a pallet of discarded equipment that was dumped from the International Space Station.

“The extrapolated path of the reentering debris was right over the Ft Myers/Naples area, and is within the uncertainty range of how far the debris would have gotten,” he stated in an email.

McDowell said that small pieces of debris re-enter Earth every day, but larger objects like the one in Naples happen monthly.