VIDEO: Dazzling mysterious light causes UFO scare in California; relax it was SpaceX’s new rocket launch

The SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites for Iridium Communications. And it lit the sky in a weird light that caused many to believe it was UFO.

By: Trends Desk
New Delhi | Updated: December 23, 2017 08:55 PM IST

4 min read

In this photo provided by Javier Mendoza, the contrail from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen from Long Beach, California more than 100 miles southeast from its launch site Vandenberg Air Force Base. (Source: Javier Mendoza via AP)

Did aliens attack the earth? Well, at least many residents of California were very sure. On Friday (December 22) night residents across Southern California and as far away as Phoenix, Arizona saw a mysterious light dazzling the sky and mistook it as UFO. People on the highways in Los Angeles stopped their cars to take videos and photos and it left everyone in frenzy. However, it was not a UFO but a rocket. Yes, SpaceX launched their reused rocket carrying 10 satellites into orbit from California, and it created a mysterious trail on the sky.

The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites for Iridium Communications. The billowing streak that was widely seen throughout Southern California set off frantic calls to TV stations. The hullabaloo was so heightened that the Los Angeles Fire Department issued an advisory that the “mysterious light in the sky” was from the rocket launch.

Twitter was flooded with photos and videos and while adults thought it was alien, some little ones thought it might have been Santa out to deliver gifts before Christmas. And if all these were not enough, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a joke about the mysterious light being “Nuclear alien UFO from North Korea”. And Demi Lovato too ruled it as UFO!

Watch the video here:

Here’s what Tweeple had to say:

https://twitter.com/Hot_CoffeyYAAAA/status/944381223584935936

https://twitter.com/kidkidkidkid/status/944380852707909632

https://twitter.com/AustinLatest/status/944412522446286848

The same rocket carried Iridium satellites into orbit in June. That time, the first stage landed on a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. This time, the rocket was allowed to plunge into the sea.

It was the 18th and final launch of 2017 for SpaceX, which has contracted to replace Iridium’s system with 75 updated satellites.

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