That Flaming 'Meteor' Over Downtown LA Was Just A Publicity Stunt, Because 2019 - LAist

It's a meteor! It's aliens! Nope, it's a skydiver for an energy drink company. (Courtesy Red Bull)

We know that a massive, flaming meteor striking L.A. would be the next logical weather event to happen in Southern California this year. But like most things, our imminent doom was just a ploy to sell energy drinks.

Turns out Red Bull was literally performing a publicity stunt Wednesday evening with its name brand "Air Force" of skydivers in special wingsuits. They were outfitted with LED lights and glorified sparklers to mark the final supermoon of the year, according to a press release issued Thursday morning.

A skydiver in a wingsuit equipped with sparklers soared over downtown Los Angeles Wednesday evening, causing a stir on social media. (Courtesy Red Bull)

A widespread advance announcement about the stunt would have been nice, but scaring and confusing people — and trending on Twitter — probably gets more attention.

Anyone else see a giant meteor or fireball in the middle of downtown Los Angeles like a few minutes ago? It looked like a meteor but it was WAY too low to the ground
— Kasey Clark (@ptrkasey) March 21, 2019

The Los Angeles Police Department soon weighed in to set the record straight.

PSA: A meteor did not crash into Downtown Los Angeles, and no, it's not an alien invasion...just a film shoot. This is Tinseltown after all. pic.twitter.com/6QFY3uHbrt
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) March 21, 2019

But some people wanted to believe.

Angelenos have a history of crying "aliens!" when they see something they haven't seen before in the sky (like that SpaceX launch last year), but if there ever are extraterrestrials or a murderous meteor screaming toward us, we'll be sure to let you know.

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