Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast
A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night, and officials are staying tight-lipped over the nature of the projectile.
CBS station KFMB put in calls to the Navy and Air Force Monday night about the striking launch off the coast of Los Angeles, which was easily visible from the coast, but the military has said nothing about the launch.
KFMB showed video of the apparent missile to former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Robert Ellsworth, who is also a former Deputy Secretary of Defense, to get his thoughts.
Scroll down for KFMB video showing the launch.
"It's spectacular… It takes people's breath away," said Ellsworth, calling the projectile, "a big missile".
Magnificent images were captured by the KCBS news helicopter in L.A. around sunset Monday evening. The location of the missile was about 35 miles out to sea, west of L.A. and north of Catalina Island.
A Navy spokesperson told KFMB it wasn't their missile. He said there was no Navy activity reported in the area Monday evening.
On Friday night, Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, launched a Delta II rocket, carrying an Italian satellite into orbit, but a sergeant at the base told KFMB there had been no launches since then.
Ellsworth urged American to wait for definitive answers to come from the military.
When asked, however, what he thought it might be, the former ambassador said it could possibly have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama tours Asia.
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"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine … to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," speculated Ellsworth.
Ellsworth said such tests were carried out in the Atlantic to demonstrate America's power to the Soviets, when there was a Soviet Union, but he doesn't believe an ICBM has previously been tested by the U.S. over the Pacific.
Officially, at least, the projectile remains a mystery missile.
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. CBS station KFMB put in calls to the Navy and Air Force Monday night about the striking launch off the coast of Los Angeles, which was easily visible from the coast, but the military has said nothing about the launch.
KFMB showed video of the apparent missile to former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Robert Ellsworth, who is also a former Deputy Secretary of Defense, to get his thoughts.
Scroll down for KFMB video showing the launch.
"It's spectacular… It takes people's breath away," said Ellsworth, calling the projectile, "a big missile".
Magnificent images were captured by the KCBS news helicopter in L.A. around sunset Monday evening. The location of the missile was about 35 miles out to sea, west of L.A. and north of Catalina Island.
A Navy spokesperson told KFMB it wasn't their missile. He said there was no Navy activity reported in the area Monday evening.
On Friday night, Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, launched a Delta II rocket, carrying an Italian satellite into orbit, but a sergeant at the base told KFMB there had been no launches since then.
Ellsworth urged American to wait for definitive answers to come from the military.
When asked, however, what he thought it might be, the former ambassador said it could possibly have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama tours Asia.
10 Famous American UFO Reports: Fact or Fiction?
"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine … to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," speculated Ellsworth.
Ellsworth said such tests were carried out in the Atlantic to demonstrate America's power to the Soviets, when there was a Soviet Union, but he doesn't believe an ICBM has previously been tested by the U.S. over the Pacific.
Officially, at least, the projectile remains a mystery missile.
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434/10(18). EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC. CALIFORNIA. MISSILES. 1. INTERMITTENT MISSILE FIRING OPERATIONS 0001Z TO 2359Z DAILY MONDAY THRU SUNDAY IN THE NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER SEA RANGE.
http://uncinus.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/4/
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As far as airplane contrail since when do you see a contrail that gushes behind a plane with such solidness and size? Give me a break, most of you have seen airplane contrail right over your house from various angle and they do not remotely resemble this. Pilots might say that general aviation flighting below a FL 180 do not have to provide flight path?.that is true. But when do you see small, light general aviation plane produce contrail that can only liken to a missile launch? None.
As far as the possibility of a foreign country launching this that is absurd. Russian and China would not be this irresponsible unless they risk massive retaliation from a very jitter Homeland Security. And for Iran or North Korea, they wish they had the capability to do this 10,000 miles away from their homeland.
Don?t discount the UFO origin. There are eyewitnesses to this event who stated that whatever was at the tip of this contrail was ?football? shaped and was spinning. If you look at the CBS video(not a snap shot on the web) and you will see a spiralling of the contrail. Have you seen a jetliner contrail that spirals? No, they simply spreadout and dissipate.
Don?t let the Pentagon fool you folks. This is no plane contrail. The only plausible theory is that of an extraterrestrial origin
You're really up in arms over this, aren't you? Just an FYI, it's NO SECRET that Missiles are launched from the areas outboard and adjacent of the Channel Islands chain. The US Navy controls San Miguel and San Nicolas Island. It's all part of Sea Range in conjunction with the US Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) which used to be known as Pt. Mugu Pacific MISSILE Test Center (PMTC). As the crow flies, the shore based facility is just a stones throw over the mountain, on the coast, just the north of star studded town of Malibu along the infamous Highway 1.
The only time the 35 mile factor was mentioned was when the news reporter in the Helicopter from which the video was taken, said that it "appeared" to have "launched" around 35 miles out.
Look at an Aeronautical Sectional Chart and you will see the area is laden with Warning Areas, Live Fire Sectors, and Control Areas intended for this very purpose...LAUNCHING missiles and other ordinance, and occasionally, shooting it down with aircraft. They're even testing the new 747 based Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser System which has successfully brought down a MISSILE launched from this Sea Range Complex. Within that area of Control Zones are areas for civilian aircraft traffic to transition through as they leave or approach the mainland...which is EXACTLY what this jetliner was doing when it was caught on tape from such a perspective.
Bottom line....GET OVER YOURSELF! The video was a commercial airliner that HAPPENED to be flying in meteorological conditions that were conducive to a heavy and persistent contrail which HAPPENED to be observed from a unique perspective, filmed, and then "reported" in a very irresponsible manner by a questionably professional news team.
These events occur here regularly on the coast this time of year when such meteorological conditions are present.
The cameraman even stated in an on camera interview that the supposed "missile" had come from "over the horizon" and was headed "INBOUND" towards them. Why didn't they continue to observe and film said "missile" if it was such a newsworthy and unusual event? Let's see the REST of the video footage!
You missile and UFO theorists HAVE BEEN PLAYED!!!
Again....ROFLMAO!!!
33.264288,-119.53898
Over the past two years they've shot off six of these rockets, all at night. In fact, they had a test two weeks ago. Read the press release at w w w . m d a . m i l , under "News & Resources", October 21, 2010. They specifically mention San Nicholas as the launch point in their February 11, 2010 press release.
My hunch is either this test was mis-scheduled and thus "seen" by all of L.A., or the test was yet anothre failure, which MDA isn't keen on publicizing since Congress is looking to cut the program entirely. I just wish they'd stop thinking we're all idiots and simply tell us the truth.
Get off the anti-government rhetoric, they didn't supply an explanation because it's not their job to explain irresponsible "news" reporting. If there had been an incident, our incredibly complex detection and warning systems would have responded. Why is no one pointing the finger at CBS for fabricating the story with literally no research??? That's not news, it's fiction, and it's likely they knew what they were doing. Doing it simply to create controversy and make a buck. They should be ashamed. It's a cheap tabloid trick, only they are supposed to be one of our dependable national news sources.........not any more.
OR maybe I didn't see what I saw, maybe the government injected the image of a jet in my eyes so I wouldn't see the missile they had launched over WI.