An out-of-control U.S. Navy spy satellite headed for Earth was visible over the Northwest before it was shot out of the sky late Wednesday night.

People were able to check out the USA 193 just after 6 p.m. as it traveled from the southwest to the east-northeast.

It looks like a bright light or a large, moving star as it streaked through the sky.

But it's gone now.

Pentagon officials confirmed that the Navy intercepted it with a missile late Wednesday night.

The satellite lost power in 2006 and is out of control and well below the altitude of a normal satellite. The Pentagon wants to hit it with an SM-3 missile just before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere, in that way minimizing the amount of debris that would remain in space.

President Bush approved the plan last week out of concern that toxic fuel on board the satellite could crash to earth and potentially hurt people, the Defense Department has said.