The footage of a bizarre alien-like glowing sea creature swimming in Bristol harbor that had stunned experts and eyewitnesses on Tuesday night, has now been declared a publicity stunt.
It had been disclosed that the paranormal creature was part of an elaborate marketing stunt to promote a new TV program about magic that will air on Watch, UK MailOnline, reported.
"The Happenings", which launches on Dec. 9, is a "new type of narrative magic show" that brings film scenes to life features the magicians "Barry and Stewart" and is made by the producers of Derren Brown, according to UK MailOnline.
Baffled eyewitnesses walking alongside Bristol docks, located 116 miles west of London, pulled out phones and began capturing photos and videos of the strange, luminescent, tentacled object which was flashing a variety of colors floating close to the top of the water.
Cameraman John Tombe, who filmed the sight alongside several other bystanders, posted it on YouTube and wrote: "Filmed this tonight. What the hell?'
The promotional campaign was created to launch the TV show which uses unsuspecting residents from towns across the UK and the U.S. to unleash magic on. Before the hoax was revealed, marine biologists claimed that the footage could be a marine salp which had drifted off course by the weather.
"It's very intriguing - I don't really know what to make of it," Dr. Steve Simpson, Marine biologist at Bristol University, said. "There is a possibility that it is a special type of jellyfish or a marine salp. It's very unusual and I haven't really seen anything like it before though.
"What makes it even more unusual is that fact that it showed up in the middle of a really busy area," he said. "There are various marine animals that have biological illuminating abilities and they are able to make themselves flash. It is entirely possible that it is a marine creature which has been brought into the harbor because of the storms or maybe it was trying to shelter from the stormy seas."
Alex Gordon-Lennox, 22, one of the many people to witness the strange creature, told UK MailOnline, "It was just floating down the harbor. I've never seen anything like it before. I only noticed it because it was flashing and was so bright. I was out with some friends that night so we watched it travel down the water a bit and then it just seemed to disappear. It looked a bit like a jellyfish or a squid or something. It was amazing."
