By Tim Binnall
Residents in several western states were left wondering if they were witnessing some kind of alien invasion due to a string of strange lights spotted in the night sky, but the proverbial mass UFO sighting turned out to be merely a launch of SpaceX's Starlink satellites. The weirdness began on Tuesday evening when people in the Pacific Northwest reported seeing the curious scene and, as if often the case, took to social media to share videos of the unidentified flying objects. The 'flap' continued the subsequent evening as residents of southern California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada caught sight of the string of lights.
Local news stations throughout the western part of the United States were flooded with viewers' questions about the oddities and, thankfully, it didn't take long to figure out what was unfolding in the night sky. The 'UFO armada' was quickly determined to be 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites that had been launched on Tuesday. The controversial craft, which appear in the sky as a line of lights, are frequently mistaken for something of an alien variety by witnesses who are unaware of the aerospace company's ambitious endeavor to provide internet service for people in remote locations. With SpaceX set to continue launching the satellites as the project develops, it's a safe bet that this week's widespread case of mistaken identity is not the last time such UFO confusion will occur.