Norway citizens confuse NASA experiment for an alien invasion

Northern Norway saw an unexpected light show which resembled brushstrokes of blue and orange-colored gases in the night sky. After the pictures caught everyone's attention on social media, many users said this could be a sign of alien existence or an imminent attack.

However, NASA rubbished all the alien theories by saying that the lights were a part of an ongoing experiment called The Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment (AZURE), reported Mail Online.

The space agency said the AZURE test rocket was launched to understand the patterns of solar winds and was also the first of eight planned tests. The lights that were seen in the sky were a result of the harmless gases released into the atmosphere, said NASA.

The main motive behind the experiment was to enable scientists to study the paths of particles in the ionosphere. The scientists from the space agency told the media that the experiment will unravel unknown facts about Aurora Borealis.

Auroras occur when solar winds blow over Earth's magnetic fields. This lights up the sky above the regions close to the poles in green, purple, and blue colors. The gases released by NASA were also similar to the ones that cause Auroras.

NASA, previously released images of the Dragon Aurora over Iceland as the "Astronomy Picture of the Day." The space agency said that the sight is even more special as it was supposed to be a quiet month for aurora sightings. On February 18, the northern lights happened to take the form of a dragon.