A bright orange fireball that arced over Hollywood — home of countless disaster movies — sent people scrambling to capture the scene for social media — even if it later turned out to be more fiction than fact (JOE KLAMAR)

Los Angeles (AFP) – A “meteor” that tore across the Los Angeles skyline set Twitter alight with speculation it was a real life “Deep Impact”.

A bright orange fireball that arced over Hollywood — home of countless disaster movies — sent people scrambling to capture the scene for social media — even if it later turned out to be more fiction than fact.

“Anyone else just see the Meteor over LA?”, one person wrote on Twitter. “Incredible. Coolest thing I’ve seen.”

“Anyone else see a giant meteor or fireball in the middle of downtown Los Angeles like a few minutes ago? It looked like a meteor but it was WAY too low to the ground,” wrote Kasey Clark.

The Los Angeles Police Department weighed in to calm people’s nerves with a Public Service Announcement, and remind them that theirs is the city of fantasy and dreams.

“PSA: A meteor did not crash into Downtown Los Angeles, and no, it’s not an alien invasion … just a film shoot. This is Tinseltown after all,” the LAPD wrote on Twitter.

The phenomenon was a publicity stunt by Red Bull, which fitted skydivers with LEDs and pyrotechnics as they plunged out of a helicopter 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above the city.

Still — for a few moments at least — the people of Los Angeles were allowed to dream.

“Is Captain Marvel back?” wrote Twitter user @MightyMisterX.

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