Odd lights appear in California skies

The Twitter hashtags #Navy, #comet and #UFO were trending as social media users uploaded videos and pictures of the mysterious bright light illuminating the night skies.

According to CBS Los Angeles, the test missile was sacked from a submarine near Point Mugu in Ventura County near Oxnard, California.

Perry said the launches are conducted on a frequent basis and that information about such test launches is classified prior to the launch. Ryan Perry with the Navy’s Third Fleet. Each test activity provides valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities.

“It went from gold and small, burning for a few minutes and turned into this blue spot light”.

Later Saturday a US Navy spokesman finally confirmed that the fireball was, in fact, a Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine.

But not to worry, US military officials said.

Panic and speculation spread when the bright white light lit up the sky Saturday.

The missile was not armed and Strategic Systems Programs does not routinely announce missile testing.

The newspaper said the light was seen as far away as the states of Nevada and Arizona.

However, that naval test fire likely did not come from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.

“Taurid meteors can be seen any time the constellation Taurus is above the horizon during the months of September, October, and November”, explained Bill Cooke, lead for the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office, in a recent blog post.

A social media frenzy followed the spotting, many speculating the light as coming from a rocket or even a comet.