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South Korean Military Rocket Launch Causes UFO Scare

The military clarified that the launch was a test of ongoing spy satellite capabilities—not a UFO or North Korean missile.

The truth really was out there: it wasn’t aliens. The South Korean military launched a test flight for a rocket Friday evening, as part of ongoing efforts to put more spy satellites into orbit to bolster the country’s space-based surveillance. Due to national security considerations surrounding the mission, the military did not inform the public of the launch in advance. And as a result, many onlookers on the ground experienced a brief scare, mistaking the rocket for a UFO or a North Korean missile headed for its southern neighbors. South Koreans witnessed a white-to-red coil of vapor moving through the sky behind a bright object. The military disclosed the true nature of the launch later in the evening. The test flight, a follow-up of a March launch, took place just four days after North Korea was accused of sending five flying drones across the border into South Korea, and less than two weeks after North Korea launched a test of its own first spy satellite.