If you've been looking at Twitter or Facebook on Friday evening and have friends in Southern California, you might've seen them post images of a breathtaking sight. It looks like an alien invasion -- or like someone punched a hole in the sky.

What the ......... That a ufo? lol 😂 #aliens #ufosighting #ufo #southerncalifornia Posted by Maurice Valentino Townsell on Friday, December 22, 2017

In reality, what you saw was a multistage rocket launch. At 5:28 p.m. PT, at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket achieved liftoff. It was carrying Iridium-4, a package of 10 Iridium communications satellites designed to be part of an 81-satellite constellation that'll hover in low Earth orbit to deliver data and voice communications, including next-gen air traffic control.

That's awesome. And so was the way the rocket lit up Southern California on Friday. Here are some more images and video, including a fantastic shot by Mike Paule that shows the whole progression.

Special light show over Southern California as the Space X Delta 9 rocket streaks upward in the sky! #spacex #vanderbergrocketlaunch pic.twitter.com/cusfdDK9eK — Mike Paule (@Mikep29) December 23, 2017

Freaked some folks out at Disneyland. pic.twitter.com/KOLhcdcqXj — Ry Crist (@rycrist) December 23, 2017

HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT’S A FALCON FUCKING 9!!! pic.twitter.com/auDY2l8snY — Arko (@arkorobotics) December 23, 2017

Space X Falcon 9 sunset over Hollywood pic.twitter.com/ZsXPmwMMHs — Jon Passantino (@passantino) December 23, 2017

in the sky over Long Beach?! pic.twitter.com/kpgtHSDzs5 — Maria Bustillos (@mariabustillos) December 23, 2017

As of 6:24 p.m. PT, the mission was still underway. You can watch (and rewind) SpaceX's livestream right here.

Update, 6:36 p.m. PT: It's come to our attention that SpaceX founder, CEO and hat salesman Elon Musk tweeted "It was definitely aliens" shortly after the launch. He was probably joking.