Former Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Rodriguez is arrested for the murder of Luis Carlos Morin Jr.Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

A flash of bright light over Palm Springs had social media buzzing Friday evening, but don't fret, it's not an alien attack. 

All indications are that the light is coming from the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara. 

Many in the desert took to Facebook and Twitter to show images of the bright white light that illuminated the clouds over the San Jacinto Mountains. 

SpaceX began tweeting around 5 p.m. about the launch, which was aired lived on their website. Falcon 9 launched around 5:30 p.m., according to tweets from the SpaceX Twitter account.

Around 5:45 p.m., the engine was cutoff and the stage separation was confirmed and the second stage engine burn was underway.

Less than 10 minutes after that, the second stage engines cutoff and the satellites are now in coast phase.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit for Iridium, a company focused on data satellite communications, according to a SpaceX press release.

This launch is the fourth set of 10 satellites out of 75 total satelites that will form Iridium’s “next generation global satellite constellation,” called Iridium NEXT.

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