8:02 AM CST January 29, 2025 Updated: 8:35 AM CST January 29, 2025 MOLINE, Ill. — Anyone watching the night sky in the Quad Cities late Tuesday witnessed quite an event as a Starlink satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere around 9:05 p.m. CDT. The reentry caused the satellite to burn, creating a bright streak across the northern sky. Several WQAD News 8 viewers sent questions and videos of the reentry. "Something big just broke apart above Northern Illinois!", wrote one person on social media who witnessed the event. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell posted on X that Starlink 5693 appeared to have reentered over southern Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, a little after 9 p.m. Tuesday. According to social media reports, it was widely observed across the region from Chicago to Michigan. Starlink 5693 appears to have reentered over the southern Wisconsin/Michigan area at about 0303 to 0305 UTC Jan 29 (9.03 to 9.05pm CST) and was widely observed from neighbouring regions including Chicago pic.twitter.com/IDmFxooTZR