Mysterious Blue Light Baffles LA Residents [Photos]

Halloween was more than a week ago, but Southern California residents recently experienced a rather scary moment when a bright white light appeared in the sky just after sunset.

Naturally, a good number of witnesses in Los Angeles wondered if it was a UFO sighting.

"residents posted a flurry of videos on social media, together with theories of aliens or meteors. Others made panicked calls to law enforcement officials," CNN reported.

As it turned out, the light, which MailOnline said could be seen "as far as Utah and Nevada," was part of a missile test the U.S. Navy had scheduled that evening.

"The Navy Strategic Systems Programs held a scheduled missile test flight at sea from USS Kentucky, which is a ballistic missile submarine," CNN relayed, quoting a statement released by the Pentagon. "The test was conducted off the coast of Southern California."

The statement went on to explain that the missile tests were not random ones - they're regularly done to make sure that the missile system continues to work reliably.

"Each test activity provides valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities," the statement clarified.

The statement also revealed that tests are not routinely announced and that they are classified, until after the launch. The missile was not armed.

According to an eyewitness, the light first "looked like a gold shooting star."

"It went from gold and small, burning for a few minutes and turned into this blue spot light," Matt McKee told CNN. "Like at an event held at night -- not like shooting out at us, but a white bright light."

He said further that the tail end of the light grew bluer until it burned out and disappeared.

The Kardashians were one of the notable social media users who mentioned the sighting on their Twitter accounts, with Khloe Kardashian declaring that UFOs are real, as noted by MailOnline.

Singer Josh Groban also noticed the mysterious light, believing it to be of a UFO.

Prior to the clarification from the Pentagon, an astronomer from the Griffith Observatory had speculated that the mysterious light was from a meteor or comet that had arrived ahead of the Taurid meteor shower anticipated to happen later this month, ABC 7 said.

"When a comet comes into the atmosphere, it is normal for there to be a white light and then a blue and green streak," the news source quoted the astronomer, Jonathon Payne, as saying.

Have you seen the mysterious light? Tell us!

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