(OPINION) A large worm-like cloud materialized this week over Alaska’s Lazy Mountain, igniting conspiracy theories and prompting an investigation — and explanation — from Alaska State Troopers. It happened around 7 a.m. Thursday, April 7, and photos show the streak of smoke resembled everything from a falling meteor to a burning aircraft.

Social media explanations included talk of an eruption, a crashing UFO, and a Russian weapon linked to the ongoing conflict over Ukraine. “We saw this on the way to school this morning as well. Very eerie!” Christy Hronkin Swift wrote on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook page. “Looks like a meteor.

I wonder where it landed,” Cassi Joi posted. “Could it be a satellite? It’s so strange,” Shannon Del Vecchio Watson said. “No wings,” Susie Kuke Martin noted. Rumors of a possible plane crash eventually caught the attention of Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center.

“There have been no reports of overdue aircraft or ELT activations indicating an aircraft crash. A rescue team on a helicopter flew a mission around the Lazy Mountain area this morning and located nothing suspicious and there were no signs of crashed aircraft,” Alaska State Troopers reported in a release.

Rumors of a possible plane crash eventually caught the attention of Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. “There have been no reports of overdue aircraft or ELT activations indicating an aircraft crash.

A rescue team on a helicopter flew a mission around the Lazy Mountain area this morning and located nothing suspicious and there were no signs of crashed aircraft,” Alaska State Troopers reported in a release. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage, told the Anchorage Daily News that his best guess is “it was just a very vivid contrail.”