JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. - Stargazers were looking up Tuesday night hoping to see the Perseid meteor shower. 

Many of them saw something unexpected.

“I thought it was aliens,” said Ashley Robison, a De Soto resident. “It wasn’t the moon, and it was swirling.”

Multiple sightings of the swirling object were shared on social media and speculation skyrocketed.  

“It kind of looks like a possible UFO,” De Soto resident William White said.

One possible explanation is that spent rocket fuel turned into ice crystals at an extremely high altitude. There were two rocket launches on Tuesday. 

One involved the military and the other involved a weather satellite. 

“I thought it was really odd,” said Laura Sanders, another De Soto resident. “I’m not really sure what it is.”

White said his curiosity about the atmosphere is growing.   He said, “It really makes you wonder what all is out there.”

A spokesperson for the St. Louis Science Center said anyone interested in learning more about what's visible in the night sky can attend Planetarium Star Shows held Thursdays through Mondays.

A weekly Night Sky blog also provides additional information.

The Science Center is also hosting its next monthly free telescope viewing event on Sept. 5 at the Planetarium, weather and skies permitting.