A mysterious light with a twisting, smoking tail appeared in the early evening sky over the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday, but local astronomers had a scientific explanation.

It was a meteor, according to the University of California's Lick Observatory near San Jose.

"A bright meteor was visible in the skies over the Bay Area shortly after sunset this evening, leaving a bright trail that was visible for many minutes in the western sky," the observatory wrote on Facebook.

Initial reports of the meteor sighting came in around 5:30 p.m., the Bay Area's FOX 2 reported.

Twitter exploded with photos and comments about the glowing phenomenon.

"@NASA white blaze in sky what is dis? Maybe a plane?" user Jose Armando Solis tweeted.

Jeremy Thomas said the light "flashed bright green for a few seconds as it fell and appeared to split up," previously adding that "something fell out of the sky."

The National Weather Service office in the Bay Area said "we saw it here at the office."

"Anyone else see this interesting cloud feature?" the NWS tweeted.

Some people joked it was Santa on his sleigh, Berkeleyside reported.