SpaceX Rocket Spotted Over Newton

NEWTON, MA — Newton resident Dave Henriquez caught a glimpse of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soaring through the sky over the city Sunday night shortly after it launched 1,300 miles away. And he managed to capture it on video.

Henriquez was coming home from band practice when the light in the sky, similar to a comet, with a tail caught his eye, and stopped him in his tracks.

He said he wasn't sure what to make of it. It did not look like your average comet or meteor, he said.

"I swore I was seeing something else," he said. "I thought it was either a comet or a UFO the way it was flying about."

Later he posted the video to his band, Hand of the Tribe, Instagram account asking if people thought it was a UFO.

The video shows a bright light streaking across the sky with a large cone, shaped tail, and then, separating from the tail and the strange sight prompted jokes about alien visitors.

But, no, it was just SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket, about 229 feet tall and about 12 feet in diameter, according to SpaceX, which describes it as “first orbital-class rocket capable of reflight.”

It's been launched 110 times and landed 70 times, according to the company website.

SpaceX launched the rocket and then a few dozen satellites from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday morning.