Airplane over Seattle appears to be on fire causing panic on social media – but the incident was a false alarm caused by skydivers with flares
Plane appears to be on fire over Seattle causing panic on social media – but the incident was a false alarm caused by skydivers with flares
- The Seattle Police Department told DailyMail.com the incident was a false alarm
- Parachutists with flares jumped into the Seattle Sounders MLS game
- Images caused panic and confusion on social media platform X
A plane over Seattle appeared to be on fire in videos posted online Saturday night, sparking fear on social media — but the incident was a false alarm.
“It was a skydiver with fireworks for the Sounders Game tonight at Lumen Field,” a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department told DailyMail.com, referring to the city’s MLS club.
Photos and videos posted on social media show a plane with two streaks of flames extending behind it.
Some of the images depicted streaks of flames sweeping away in separate directions.
A plane over Seattle appeared to be on fire in videos posted online Saturday night, sparking fear on social media — but the incident was a false alarm
A skydiver poses for a photo after landing in Lumen Field on Saturday night. Pyrotechnics used by the skydiver were responsible for false alarms about a burning plane, police said
The images, which were first posted on X around 19:30 local time, caused confusion and panic on the platform.
“Looks like a passenger plane engine exploded mid-air in Seattle,” one person wrote.
“Um, what were those falling fireballs in the Seattle sky just now?” another wrote.
Another asked: ‘What in the name is going on in Seattle’?
In 2019, a similar incident sparked reports of a UFO or large meteor over downtown Los Angeles.
In that case, the fireball turned out to be winged jumpers performing a Red Bull stunt.
In the Los Angeles incident, three members of the ‘Red Bull Air Force’ jumped from a helicopter, 4,000 feet in the air, as part of a stunt to celebrate the third supermoon of the year.
They wore custom winged suits fitted with fireworks and LED lights that fired as the men flew through the air at 120 mph before deploying their parachutes.
Police said Saturday’s sighting in Seattle was related to the Sounders game.
The Sounders, who clinched an MLS playoff spot on Wednesday, were set to face their Cascadia Cup rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Seattle returns to the playoffs after missing out in 2022, the only season since joining MLS in 2009 in which it did not qualify for the postseason.