A mysterious object fell from the sky in a busy aircraft corridor along Long Island and lit up imaginations.
The object, which left a white trail as it plummeted to the ground Monday, generated 911 calls and reports of a downed plane.
Suffolk County police looked into whether a small plane had crashed, but found nothing.
Marc Rubin is among those who witnessed the object when it fell between Patchogue and Sayville.
"It had this little curlicue tail at the top and was coming straight down at a 90-degree angle," Rubin said Wednesday.
Police said they plan to send investigators to talk to Rubin and look at the pictures he took. But they believe the object had less mysterious origins.
Suffolk County Police Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said, "I spoke to some helicopter pilots with our department and it's their belief that this was some type of model rocket or some type of flare."