The night sky above wartime Kyiv was lit up by a flash of light on Wednesday, social media channels said, prompting speculation that a crashing satellite or even aliens might be responsible.
Four short video clips posted to a Telegram channel by journalist and blogger Anatolii Sharii showed the sky suddenly illuminated by a bright light. In one clip, a flaming object appeared to be crashing to the ground.
The footage prompted several memes about aliens and unidentified flying objects. The Kyiv city military administration, citing what it called preliminary information, said it was a crashing NASA satellite.
A NASA spokesman denied this, saying there appeared to be some confusion over an earlier announcement the agency had made about bringing a retired satellite out of orbit in the early hours of Thursday morning Kyiv time.
The Ukrainian air force, responsible for trying to down missiles and drones fired by Russia, said a satellite or a meteorite could be responsible.
"Please do not use official air force symbols to create memes for the enemy to enjoy!" it said in a message.
Minutes earlier, presidential advisor Andriy Yermak had posted an emoji of a UFO.