Atlas V Rocket launch stirs reports of flying object over the Triangle

WRAL photojournalist Richard Adkins caught video of the object streaking across the sky in Johnston County.

Another viewer said, "At dusk today we saw these unidentified lights. We are located in Fuquay, very close to Lillington (Christian Light and Revels Rd). We are out in the country with very little street lights. Odd behavior by these lights."

"Really cool meteor over Raleigh. It was near intersection of Hwy 64 East and I-540 heading westbound at 5:35 p.m.," wrote another viewer.

Yet another local sent in a picture, asking, "What is this?" They said they snapped this photo in traffic on Capital Blvd. in Raleigh around 6:10 p.m.

One viewer said they believed it was space debris, and attached a video from Wake Forest.

Multiple people called to ask if there was a UFO over Raleigh, and another person sent a video, writing that it was an Atlas V Rocket.

An article in the Orlando Sentinel in Florida may explain the unusual sight over the North Carolina sky.

"After multiple delays and equipment malfunctions, United Launch Alliance sent up its powerful Atlas V rocket with a spy satellite on Friday moments after sundown," said the article.

According to the article, the Atlas V rocket lifted off at exactly 5:32 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Complex 41. The timing lines up very closely with when people in the Triangle began seeing the exhaust in the sky.

The rocket "is carrying a classified national security satellite known as NROL-101 built by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The agency has not disclosed any details about the payload other than to say it will provide data to the military and senior U.S. policymakers," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze and Kat Campbell confirmed the sight is from the Atlas V rocket launch this evening in Florida.