An Atlas 5 United Launch Alliance rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Florida November 18, 2013.
An Atlas 5 United Launch Alliance rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Florida November 18, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Blinking lights hovering above Houston in the United States has caused mass panic after dozens of photos appeared on social media and went viral. The alleged UFO sightings sparked wild speculation and confusion among residents. Social media users who saw the circle of lights in the sky were frantic in an attempt to capture the clearest photos of what they have seen.

The alleged mass UFO sightings did not convince UFO sceptics. According to reports, the alleged sighting was recorded on Aug. 11 during a thunderstorm. Sceptics said the bad weather may have distorted an object in the sky and led people on the ground to believe they were seeing a UFO.

Others had observed that the sightings occurred less than 20 km from the Johnson Space Center. They said NASA could have tested an experimental flying object or aircraft.

According to Carolyn Summers from the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the "trick" to determine the authenticity of UFOs is to find out other possible explanations. She said it was easy for people to say and conclude what they saw were aliens.

Summers added that the more people see the sightings differently, the more likely others can explain what the alleged UFO really is.

The images of alleged UFOs in Texas were seen by many in Twitter. Some likened what they have seen as an "alien invasion" reminiscent of Hollywood films about aliens taking over the world. Other social media users tried to calm people down by saying that the lights were "probably nothing."

Mutual UFO Network chief investigator Fletcher Gray dismissed the lights as coming from an alien ship. He said the object as "light trapped in the side window of a car."

Despite sceptics discounting the mass sightings in Houston as having anything to do with aliens, people who saw the ring of lights believe otherwise. Reports said some fake pictures were posted online, leading to more confusion. The Facebook page of Texas UFO Sightings has already received more than a thousand likes.

Houston is about 666 miles from Roswell, the area where a mysterious object has allegedly crashed in 1947. Many people claimed the object was an alien spacecraft, reports said.