Was that a meteor over Los Angeles? A UFO? Nope. A supermoon stunt from Red Bull lit up the sky - USA TODAY

Brett Molina USA TODAY

Published 7:58 AM EDT Mar 21, 2019

No, downtown Los Angeles did not experience a meteoric impact or a visit from aliens. It was all a Hollywood stunt by drink-maker Red Bull.

On Wednesday night, Twitter lit up with videos and tweets from people alarmed because of an apparent fireball streaking across the skies of downtown Los Angeles.

"What is this flying item on fire above downtown Los Angeles?" wrote Dennis Hegstad in a post on Twitter featuring the mysterious flying object.

"Did anyone else see that meteor over Downtown Los Angeles??," wrote Twitter user @elliseckles.

Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department jumped on Twitter to assure residents that it was not a meteor, or even aliens, but Hollywood.

"PSA: A meteor did not crash into Downtown Los Angeles, and no, it's not an alien invasion...just a film shoot. This is Tinseltown after all," wrote the LAPD.

Some Twitter users pointed to videos suggesting the actual meteor were a pair of wingsuit jumpers.

In a statement, beverage maker Red Bull said its Red Bull Air Force celebrated the third and final supermoon of the year by having skydivers in wingsuits jump from a helicopter 4,000 feet above Los Angeles.

"To add a touch of Hollywood glitz, the suits were fitted with LED lights and sparking pyrotechnics that lit up the night sky as the sun set and the supermoon rose," said Red Bull, noting the jumpers were moving at more than 120 miles per hour.

As for the real thing, NASA confirmed this month a huge meteor exploded over the Bering Sea in December. The agency said it generated enough energy roughly equivalent to 173 kilotons of TNT.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23

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