SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The strange mystery lights that seemed to float over the ocean were seen by many off the San Diego coast around 10 p.m. on Monday, June 27, 2022. Posts from up and down the county filled social media feeds as San Diegan's tried to figure out what they were seeing in the sky and offering up their theories on what the lights could be.
CBS 8 called San Diego Police to see if they knew what the lights were. They told us that lifeguards said the lights were flares used for military exercises. However, Camp Pendleton and Naval Air Station North Island both said they did not know what the lights were.
There were rumblings on social media that it could be for an Imperial beach 4th of July drone show. Imperial Beach Police say they don’t know what the lights were either.
Then - on Wednesday - CBS 8 spoke to Adam Stanton, a Coast Guard Public Affairs specialist.
Stanton said that it was indeed the Navy doing "flare training." and that it was "organized and planned" He said that the flares were fired off of SW of San Clemente Island.
During training like this, they often have people who have never fired one and they use "expired" flares -- so they can look a little different.
Stanton said that the flares were dropped from a Navy C130 plane and possibly were attached to a parachute, which is why they seemed to stay in place and lingered for so long.
When asked why no one reported seeing a plane, Stanton didn't have an answer for that.
WATCH: Mysterious lights off San Diego coast light up social media on Monday night
A similar sight and answer were given back in 2018. CBS 8 confirmed that those lights were part of a military flare training exercise 30 miles off the San Diego Coast. The flare lights were from Squadron VMGR-325, "The Raiders," according to Sandy Demunik, a public information officer for Naval Station Coronado.
WATCH RELATED (2018): Mystery lights caused by military flares
