Many Aucklanders thought aliens were about to land on Saturday night, while others feared a comet was going to collide with the Earth.
A fiery orange object was seen over the city, and the Auckland Observatory was besieged by calls from residents wanting to know what it was.
It turned out the object was not a threat to life as we know it, but the vapour trail of a plane, lit up by the sun which was just below the horizon.
The observatory says the lights are quite common at this time of year.
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