Mysterious Missile Launched Off California Coast
A disturbing story from California, where a mysterious missile/rocket launch was caught on film by a news helicopter camera.
UPDATE at 11/9/10 11:39:34 am:
A likely sounding explanation: it wasn’t a missile at all, but an airliner.
Southern California’s top meteorologist Kevin Martin from the Southern California Weather Authority states it was nothing but a contrail from an airliner.
“We see this often when the flights come at the right time, however some people are just out to witness it at the right time,” says Martin. “We had strong winds up there as well as really cold temperatures from a passing storm system. This also had an area of upper level moisture at 250 to 200mb, where airliners fly.”
Martin described the event as too slow for a missile launch.
“Even from Los Angeles, an ICBM from Vandenberg is very quick in the sky, not as slow as this looks,” he added. “I found archives from Monday evening from the San Diego area and came to the conclusion this airline was coming in from the west, at the observers. While it may look like a flame originating from the object, it is nothing more than sunlight bouncing off the airliner fuselage.”
UPDATE at 11/9/10 1:11:34 pm:
Here’s an excellent post on jet contrails, and how they can easily be mistaken for rocket or missile launches: Jet contrails from some angles look like missile trails.
