THE X-FILES SpaceX rocket launch sparks alien invasion fears in California as glowing blue orb lights up the night sky

PANIC erupted across California after sightings of a huge blue orb in the sky sparked fears of an alien invasion.

Taking to Twitter, hysteria broke out as users shared photos of the scene, with some demanding to know what was going on.

Bizarre conspiracy theories emerged, with one user writing: “LA WHATS IN THE SKY????? Aliens? Space X?! Government is lying.”

Another shared a video of the beaming light and wrote: “Ummm okay… Aliens???”

But luckily for the confused star-gazers, they were not the victims of a UFO invasion – they had actually witnessed Elon Musk’s rocket making its way into space.

The spectacular display of smoke and lights came as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket left the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The entrepreneur’s test was part of further research into the possible future settlement on Mars.

Despite this, many still refused to believe that it was a space mission, but the work of outer-space lifeforms.

Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, took to Twitter to reassure Californians: “Nope, definitely not aliens. What you’re looking at is the first launch and landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the West Coast.”

One witty local replied to the Mayor’s tweet with: “We know it’s aliens bro you ain’t tricking us.”

The Falcon 9 launched into orbit late Sunday from the base around 150 miles north of Los Angeles. It could be seen as far away as the north-western Mexican states.

The rocket launch was the first ever by SpaceX on the US West Coast and it successfully delivered Argentina’s SAOCOM-1A Earth-observation satellite to orbit.