The contrail from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen in the sky Friday, Dec. 22 2017, in Apple Valley, Calif. The launch was more than 200 miles from Apple Valley yet was still brilliantly visible. The... (Associated Press) 
 
 The contrail from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen in the sky Friday, Dec. 22 2017, in Apple Valley, Calif. The launch was more than 200 miles from Apple Valley yet was still brilliantly visible. The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites... (Associated Press) 
 
 VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A reused SpaceX rocket carried 10 satellites into orbit from California on Friday, leaving behind a trail of mystery and wonder as it soared into space. 
 
 The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites for Iridium Communications. 
 
 The launch in the setting sun created a shining, billowing streak that was widely seen throughout Southern California and as far away as Phoenix. 
 
 Calls came in to TV stations as far afield as San Diego, more than 200 miles south of the launch site. 
 
 Cars stopped on freeways in Los Angeles so drivers and passengers could take pictures and video. 
 
 The Los Angeles Fire Department issued an advisory that the "mysterious light in the sky" was from the rocket launch. 
 
 Jimmy Golen, a sports writer for The Associated Press in Boston who was in Southern California for the holidays, said he and other tourists saw the long, glowing contrail while touring Warner Bros. studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank. 
 
 "People were wondering if it had something to do with movies, or TV or a UFO," he said. "It was very cool." 
 
 The same rocket carried Iridium satellites into orbit in June. That time, the first stage landed on a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. This time, the rocket was allowed to plunge into the water. 
 
 It was the 18th and final launch of 2017 for SpaceX, which has contracted to replace Iridium's system with 75 updated satellites. SpaceX has made four launches and expects to make several more to complete the job by mid-2018. 
 
 The satellites also carry payloads for global aircraft tracking and a ship-tracking service. 

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 Let it not be said Elon Musk doesn't know how to grab people's attention. 
 
 The SpaceX founder captured much of the Southwest portion of the country's attention by accident on Friday night when his company launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California. 
 
 The rocket was carrying 10 low-orbit satellites from Iridium Communications. The launch went exactly as planned. 
 
 AP Photo/Jimmy Golen 
 
 Well, except for all the fears of an alien invasion. 
 
 Here's my video of tonight's @SpaceX launch as it shot over SoCal, compressed to 20 seconds. Such a great sight to see. #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/VHbNeMDT8N — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) December 23, 2017 
 
 Hundreds of people in Southern California called authorities in fear of what the bright, white streak and expanding cloud in the sky could be. The Los Angeles Fire Department went as far as to warn, "mysterious light in the sky is reported to be as a result of Vandenburg Air Force Base launching rocket to put satellite into space." 
 
 Musk joked about the UFO fears on Twitter, reveling in the chatter. 
 
 Nuclear alien UFO from North Korea pic.twitter.com/GUIHpKkkp5 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2017 
 
 Of course, he also took the opportunity to promote his next launch, because what kind of billionaire businessman would he be otherwise. 
 
 If you liked tonight’s launch, you will really like Falcon Heavy next month: 3 rocket cores & 3X thrust. 2 cores return to base doing synchronized aerobatics. 3rd lands on droneship. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2017 
 
 But more than stoking fears, the launch gave people a chance to fill up their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
– An alien invasion? A North Korean attack? After Southern Californians saw a bright white streak and blooming cloud light up the night sky Friday, hundreds called 911, scared, reports ABC News. The culprit was much more benign: SpaceX, though Elon Musk's tweet of video of the cause, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, Calif., was cheekily labeled, "Nuclear alien UFO from North Korea." Hours later, he tweeted, "If you liked tonight’s launch, you will really like Falcon Heavy next month: 3 rocket cores & 3X thrust. 2 cores return to base doing synchronized aerobatics. 3rd lands on droneship." The AP reports the rocket was carrying the latest batch of satellites—10 of them—for Iridium Communications. It's part of a contract that will see SpaceX update the Iridium system via 75 new satellites by mid-2018. This same Falcon 9 rocket carried some into orbit in June, though it launched from a platform in the Pacific.