Californians mistake lights in sky from SpaceX rocket launch for UFOs or nuclear attack from North Korea - Independent

Californians mistake lights in sky from SpaceX rocket launch for UFOs or nuclear attack from North Korea

Motorists stopped their cars on motorways to get out and take pictures

22/12/2017

Jeff Farrell

The SpaceX rocket hurtles across the sky over California

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SpaceX founder Elon Musk's latest rocket launch left many onlookers fearing it was a UFO or a nuclear bomb attack by North Korea.

The spacecraft streaked through the night sky after its launch in California, illuminated by a giant oval-shaped glow against the backdrop of a setting sun as it hurtled into the stratosphere.

Onlookers across the US state stopped their cars on motorways and ran out of their homes to gaze upwards and take pictures.

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Many took to social media and told how they believed the orb of light – shaped like a Zeppelin air balloon – was an alien craft or a bomb attack by Kim Jong-un.

Celebrities were not immune to the excitement.

Rapper will.i.am posted: “What is that in the Los Angeles sky?”, while singer Billy Ray Cyrus wrote:

Emergency services had to field calls from worried bystanders, forcing one fire department to notify the public that the “mysterious light in the sky” was actually Mr Musk’s rocket launch.

@billyraycyrus

1:29 PM - Dec 23, 2017

The tech guru himself even made fun of the confusion, posting a video of the launch on Twitter captioned: “Nuclear alien UFO from North Korea”.

The SpaceX rocket was launched from the coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, in Santa Barbara County in California.

The Falcon 9 booster lifted off carrying a batch of 10 satellites which were successfully propelled into orbit an hour later.

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Sanee Akbar told The Independent how he was visiting friends with his children in San Diego, California when he went outside to take a video of the rocket.

He said: “We ran out of the house when we saw the streak in the sky. We called our kids out to see.

“We were in awe and thought it’s a UFO. Of course we know about Elon Musk and his adventures, I would say, but didn’t know it was a rocket.”

@iamwill

What is this in the sky?

12:40 PM - Dec 23, 2017

In another video, published on Twitter by Ally Thornton, a girl is heard apparently calling the emergency services after seeing the sight.

She appeared to make a phone call and said: “Hi, do you see what’s happening outside in the sky? I seriously think it’s a nuclear bomb.”

Mr Musk, a South African multi-billionaire, founded the tech company in 2002 with “the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets”.