That really was Elon Musk who stopped by the Tesla Inc. solar panel factory in Buffalo on Friday.

Musk, Tesla's chairman and CEO, visited the South Park Avenue factory Friday, a Tesla spokeswoman confirmed. She did not elaborate on what Musk did here or offer any other details of the visit. She said Musk, who has never made a public visit to Buffalo, would not be speaking to local media while he is here.

The Buffalo solar panel factory, built and partially equipped by the state with $750 million in taxpayer money as part of the Buffalo Billion economic development program, has taken far longer than expected to develop as Tesla's solar energy business has shrunk and the company has focused most of its resources on its electric vehicle business.

The plant, which Tesla has pledged will employ 1,460 people by April 2020, currently has fewer than 800 workers after a companywide round of job cuts earlier this year.