Burning objects plunge near plane
The pilot of a Chilean jetliner spotted flaming objects falling near the plane as it headed for a landing in New Zealand, airline officials said.
U.S. experts said the objects were probably meteors burning up in the atmosphere.
They doubted Australian media reports that the objects could be pieces of a falling Russian spacecraft, saying the space junk had fallen at a different time.
LAN Chile airline said in a brief statement that the pilot, who was not identified, “made visual contact with incandescent fragments” several miles away Monday.
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