'UFO' Seen Over Texas Just a Starlink Launch, People Still Freak Out

A bunch of Texans could've sworn they saw something extraterrestrial in the sky last night -- but fortunately, it was just an out-of-this-world personality from this planet ... Elon Musk.

Several sightings got reported online Friday evening -- with a purported UFO being spotted flying over multiple different cities all throughout the the Lone Star State. In all the clips -- some of which have been obtained by TMZ -- everyone's seeing the same thing.

Take a look ... all these folks see a bright light up in the heavens, which looks to be cruising along -- only to spit out a giant plume of smoke, which expands into an ever-growing ring.

The reactions in about all the videos are pretty much the same ... THE HECK IS THAT???

In the 1st clip above, people are watching a local football game when they spot the celestial phenomenon -- captured right in Dallas. The second clip was filmed in nearby Greenville, TX ... and a third clip was shot quite a ways away in Georgetown, TX, closer to Austin.

Like we said, all of these folks seem to have thought they witnessed a classic flying saucer -- but as it turns out ... it was just a Starlink satellite launch courtesy of EM's SpaceX company.

The subsidiary announced they'd be launching a new fleet from a station of theirs in Florida -- and noted it'd be in "low-Earth orbit." The giant halo effect is called a "space jellyfish" ... something that happens when a rocket's propulsion emission hits sunlight at a certain angle.