Chinese Space rocket debris crashes back to earth over Indian Ocean

On Saturday, several individuals posted footage of meteor showers on social media. 

The videos depict breathtaking displays of red, blue, and yellow lighting up the night sky as passersby pull out their cameras to record the event.

The pyrotechnics, however, were really burning pieces of a Chinese rocket that had reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

Numerous people in east and southeast Asia saw the captivating display over the night sky. While many people posted videos thinking it was a meteor shower, astronauts and scientists were eager to refute this and clarify.

The Long March-5B Y3 carrier rocket, weighing 23 tonnes, was launched by China on July 24, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

China was strongly criticised by NASA administrator Bill Nelson for not managing the safe reentry of their rockets. 

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance," Nelson tweeted, "to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property."