A curious circular smoke formation Saturday evening raised questions for many residents of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area.

As seen in the air and on social media, the large ring of smoke floated through the sky about 8:30 p.m. Saturday near the northwest part of town.

While a few of the smoke-spotters said they believed the ring to be a sign of extra-terrestrial life, the Cape Girardeau Police Department issued a Facebook post late Saturday to the contrary.

According to the Facebook post, which has been shared more than 600 times and garnered more than 1,200 reactions, the black ring of smoke originated from a fireworks shoot near Elks Lodge 639 in Cape Girardeau and was no cause for alarm.

“We aren’t expecting any alien abductions tonight in Cape Girardeau,” the department’s post stated.

After one person expressed skepticism on Facebook about the explanation for the smoke ring, the department replied: “We promise we aren’t making it up. We had an officer and some fire trucks track down the source. It was definitely from fireworks.”

Pertinent address:

639 Elks Lane, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701