A mysterious light was spotted by onlookers and recorded via smart phones in Orange County, Calif. and neighboring areas Saturday night.
Many bystanders panicked and made calls to law enforcement about this unknown light, according to CNN. The Orange county sheriff, however, explained that it was from a Naval test fire, BBC News reported.
The U.S. navy later claimed responsibility, with a spokesperson from the Pentagon explaining, "The tests were part of a scheduled, ongoing system evaluation test. Launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system. Each test activity provides valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities," according to The Los Angeles Times.
The public was not alerted of this test, which caused a lot of the commotion. "The missile was not armed. Strategic Systems Programs does not routinely announce missile testing. Information regarding the test launch of Trident II (D5) missiles is classified prior to the launch," the spokesperson continued.
"At first, it looked like a gold shooting star," said Matt McKee, a witness to the event.
"It went from gold and small, burning for a few minutes and turned into this blue spot light. Like at an event held at night -- not like shooting out at us, but a white bright light," he continued.
"What was weird, the tail was light and wide and it got bluer and bluer. Then it just burned out and went away."
Check out a video of the mysterious light below!
