Santa Clara, California – According to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Command, which monitors all satellites in orbit, North Korea’s newest satellite, called the Kwangmyongsongflew 3-2 almost right over Levi Stadium just an hour after the super bowl ended in Santa Clara, California, at 7:25 p.m. local time.
“It passed almost directly overhead Silicon Valley, which is where I am and where the stadium is. The pass happened at 8:26 p.m., after the game. I would put it down to nothing more than a coincidence, but an interesting one,” tech watcher Martyn Williams said in an email to The Associated Press.
Over the years, many countries have speculated about the reasons why North Korea has lanched its satellites. Many concerned countries, which include the U.S., have wondered if those launches were a front for nuclear missile testing or they just were monitoring the weather patterns.
Those are the exact reason North Korea’s State Hydro-Meteorological Administration’ deputy director Ryu Pong Chol claimed that the latest satellite is being used for, to monitor the weather, along with mapping natural resources and forest distributions.
Jonathan McDowell, Harvard-Smithsonian Center astrophysicist said that even though Kwangmyongsongflew did pass over that part of California at 8:27 p.m. PST at an altitude of 480 kilometers, there is no evidence to suggest that it has transmitted any signals back to the country.
According to Associated Press, North Korea launched a long-range rocket over the weekend that has reportedly put a pair of possible satellites into orbit. The launch took place at approximately 9:00 local time Sunday at a site on the west coast of North Korea.
The liftoff was tracked individually by the US Strategic Command and by their counterparts in South Korea and Japan, which was able to cover air footage that showed a streak of light heading into the sky.
North Korea claimed the launch was conducted to put the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite into orbit earlier than originally expected. Its launched was originally scheduled for February 8th.
Source: ABC News