Watch: Mysterious lights over California were likely Chinese space debris

April 3 (UPI) -- A series of mysterious light streaks in the night sky over California weren't UFOs, meteors or Starlink satellites, experts said.

The lights were spotted and caught on camera over Sand City, Carmel and Salinas in Monterey County about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, and sparked a flurry of speculation online.

Some of the most popular theories included comets, meteors, UFOs and debris SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base around 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and satellite tracker, said the streaks of light appeared to be the orbital module of China's Shenzhou 15 spacecraft falling back to earth.

Shenzhou 15 transported three astronauts to the Tiangong space station in November 2022, and the 3,300-pound orbital module was used to give the space-goers extra room to conduct their science experiments.

The module was not designed to return to earth with the Shenzhou reentry module, and remained in orbit until its overnight reentry.