Fireball over Florida was debris from Chinese rocket

July 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force said a fireball that lit up the night sky over Florida was debris from a Chinese rocket.

The fireball, which was seen breaking into multiple pieces in the Florida sky about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, sparked speculation that a large meteor or piece of space junk was re-entering the atmosphere over the state.

Maj. Cody Chiles, spokesman of the US Air Force's the Joint Force Space Component Command, confirmed the item was space junk, specifically a Chinese CZ3 rocket body.

Police said there were at least two 911 calls about the fireball, including one that speculated the lights were a series of UFOs.