( CNN ) -- A series of spooky lights above parts of the northeastern United States Saturday sparked a flurry of phone calls to authorities and television news stations . NASA said strange lights seen in the Northeast on Saturday were caused by an experimental rocket . CNN affiliate stations from New Jersey to Massachusetts heard from dozens of callers who reported that the lights appeared as a cone shape shining down from the sky . However , the lights were the result of an experimental rocket launch by NASA from the agency 's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia , a spokesman told CNN . Keith Koehler said the Black Brant XII Suborbital Sounding Rocket was launched to study the Earth 's highest clouds . The light came from an artificial noctilucent cloud formed by the exhaust particles of the rocket 's fourth stage about 173 miles high . Natural noctilucent clouds , also called `` polar mesospheric clouds , '' are `` found in the upper atmosphere as spectacular displays that are most easily seen just after sunset , '' according to a NASA statement published earlier in September . `` The clouds are the highest clouds in Earth 's atmosphere , located in the mesosphere around 50 miles altitude . '' Normally , noctilucent clouds are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen when illuminated by sunlight below the horizon . The launch took place at 7:46 p.m. Saturday , just as the sun was setting for the day . Observation stations on the ground and in satellites will track the artificial noctilucent clouds created by the rocket for months , NASA said . `` Data collected during the experiment will provide insight into the formation , evolution , and properties of noctilucent clouds , which are typically observed naturally at high latitudes . `` In addition to the understanding of noctilucent clouds , scientists will use the experiment to validate and develop simulation models that predict the distribution of dust particles from rocket motors in the upper atmosphere , '' the NASA statement said . CNN 's Greg Morrison contributed to this report .
Dozens in Northeast report seeing cone-shaped lights in sky . NASA says lights came from exhaust particles of research rocket . Black Brant XII rocket will study highest clouds in Earth 's atmosphere .