Californians panicked by 'mysterious' light in night sky
A mysterious light that caused panic and confusion among onlookers in the US state of California was caused by a missile test, the US Navy has confirmed.
Many Californians were prompted to call police and other security agencies on Saturday, after seeing a streak of an unusually bright light in the night sky.
Local news media also said that they were overwhelmed by a wave of calls reporting everything from a flare to a comet to a nuclear bomb explosion in the sky.
The illumination whisked across the state and was visible as far away as Nevada and Arizona.
The Navy, however, unraveled the mystery by confirming that the light was in fact an unarmed missile fired from a Navy submarine.
Navy spokesman Commander Ryan Perry said the Navy Strategic Systems Programs carried out the test and the missile was fired from the USS Kentucky, a ballistic missile vessel.
"Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted scheduled Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from USS Kentucky, an Ohio Class SSBN, in the Pacific Test Range off the coast of Southern California," Perry said in a statement.
The Navy also said it does not typically announce its tests, especially when Trident II missiles are involved because they are classified.
The US Coast Guard in Los Angeles and Long Beach doubled down on the Navy's announcement and said there was no need for people to panic.
Some local authorities even took the matter to the social media, with the Orange County Sheriff's Department confirming the test on Twitter.
The Trident II (pictured above) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile which was developed in 1983 with an estimated cost of $37 million per unit.
The Pacific Test Range, where the test was carried out, is a vast area northwest of Los Angeles which is used by the Navy to periodically test Tomahawk and Standard cruise missiles fired from surface ships and submarines, according to the Associated Press.
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