Mysterious lights streak over Southern California. Was it a comet, space debris?

Speculation brewed over the origin of mysterious lights that streaked above Southern California on Tuesday.

Ralph Cortez, 47, of Victorville was in Downey when he saw several streaking objects fly overhead at about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

“I was at my parent's house when we looked up and saw what looked like a comet flying across the sky,” Cortez said. “At first I thought they were fireworks.”

Ralph’s wife, Sylvia Cortez, said she snapped a few "blurry photos" of the unidentified flying objects. She said the lights appeared for about 45 seconds before they faded into the distance.

Witnesses on social media said they saw the lights in places like San Bernardino, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Smithsonian astronomer Jonathan McDowell took to X to post that the mysterious lights were “the reentry of the Shenzhou 15 orbital module, over S California” at 1:40 a.m.

U.S. Space Command officials confirmed the falling objects were portions of the Chinese module used to launch three astronauts in 2022

Many believe the lights were from a meteor or comet, while others speculated it was debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off at 7:30 p.m. Monday from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Mysterious lights streak over Southern California. Was it a comet?