Speculation was rife online Sunday evening, after mystified residents in Michigan reported seeing unidentified lights flying in formation across the night sky.

Theories ranged from a string of lanterns to “weird stars” and finally, naturally, to alien overlords.

"What are the weird stars in a row in the sky?" resident Sindi Kozminske asked a local news outlet on Facebook, after a sighting at approximately 7:30pm local time.

Another cool shot of the line of satellites spotted in West Michigan tonight! This comes compliments of Amber Hutson in Kalamazoo's Westwood neighborhood. #MIWxpic.twitter.com/Y1s92sIuap — Meteorologist Will Haenni WWMT (@WillWWMT) December 23, 2019

“Right... couldn't be a coverup or practice run for the actual arrival of our Alien Overlords (ALL HAIL THE OVERLORDS!!!) I'm, um, an early adapter,” joked Dutch Wolff on Facebook.

Okay one last cool shot of tonight's spectacle compliments of Ramiah Johnson in Vicksburg. pic.twitter.com/A3K8cU8WTw — Meteorologist Will Haenni WWMT (@WillWWMT) December 23, 2019

Anyone else spot the strange "stars" lined up in the night sky tonight? Sindi Kozminske captured this photo in Mattawan and shared it with us. Those "stars" are likely satellites from #SpaceX's Starlink satellite project! Clear skies provided excellent viewing. @wwmtnews#MIwxpic.twitter.com/rLwnToMgDD — Meteorologist Will Haenni WWMT (@WillWWMT) December 23, 2019

"They were moving pretty slow and were a consistent distance apart," Kalamazoo resident Amber Huston said in a Facebook comment. "We could see about 6 to 10 at a time and then they would disappear into the atmosphere."

“I was with my girlfriend in Vicksburg at 7:30 pm Sunday when we saw them and freaked us out! Thought we were getting invaded for a minute,” another Michigan native wrote.

However, as always, the real explanation was a bit more mundane than an alien invasion; it turns out the lights were merely the machinations of one Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite constellation orbits the Earth in formation at an altitude of 174 miles up, much to the consternation and frustration of astronomers the world over.

Also on rt.com 'Man who polluted heavens': Astronomers furious over Musk's Starlink satellites clouding their vision

As of November 2019, Musk has launched some 122 satellites into the skies above us, with the ultimate goal of deploying some 12,000 by the mid-2020s.

Below is the footage from earlier this year of Starlink satellites streaking across the skies above the Netherlands. For those who wish to avoid minor panic attacks at the thought of an impending alien invasion, you can check when and where the Starlink satellites are expected to fly overhead here.

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