Meteor or aliens? Strange lights appear in Southern California night sky

With the total solar eclipse just days away, skygazers are awaiting the chance to witness the rare celestial event. While the anticipation for the rare phenomenon set to occur on April 8 is at a record high, Southern California natives noticed something strange Tuesday night. Mysterious lights streaked across the night sky around 1:45 pm, with reports of sightings coming in from populated areas, including Los Angeles.

Mysterious lights spotted in night sky across Southern California

Before 2 am on early Tuesday morning, KTLA received numerous reports about a series of mysterious bright lights in the sky. The network revealed that many reported it as either space debris or meteor showers. The strange lights were sighted in Anaheim, San Bernardino Ontario, Boyle Heights, Burbank, Ventura and Santa Barbara County, the network added.

Jarred Gonzalez, who saw the strange event in the Pico Union area and captured it on video, said, “The light from the front was bright blue. It was visible to us for a good 30 seconds, then disappeared from our line of sight,” per NBC Los Angeles.

Another witness, Roseleen Browne, who saw the lights while walking her dog in Hollywood, told the outlet, “It was just like a sparkler in the sky, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. A girl was walking by, and I was like 'Did you see this?' It was just magical. It didn’t seem very real.”

While there is no official confirmation from any space agencies, the mysterious event followed a SpaceX rocket launch. The launch was six hours prior to the strange series of lights from Vandenberg Space Force Base, about 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Despite the speculation about space debris, no evidence was found that indicated a connection between the Falcon 9 rocket launch and the mysterious event on Tuesday.