South Koreans report UFO sighting after secret rocket launch

Hundreds of people called police in South Korea after fearing that a rocket test-fired by the military was a UFO or North Korean missile attack, a report said. The South Korean defence ministry had kept the launch a secret. Following, the scare, it explained that they'd been test-firing a solid-fuelled rocket, The Mirror reported.

South Korean defence ministry said that the rocket was part of the military's efforts to build a space-based surveillance capability and bolster its defences adding that it did not notify the public of the launch in advance because it involved sensitive military security issues, the report said.

A white and red trail could be seen snaking behind a bright white light in parts of South Korea's sky while users shared photos of the same on social media.

South Korean emergency offices and police received hundreds of reports of witnessing of a suspicious flying object and mysterious lights across the country. The rocket test comes four days after South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the border for the first time in five years.

South Korea's military detected the drones but failed to shoot them down, causing security concerns about its air defence network.

This year, North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests, seen as an escalation by South Korea and the West.

Meanwhile, North Korea test-fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The missiles were launched from Chunghwa County in North Korea's North Hwanghae Province, Yonhap said, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).