[Unrepentant VN Vet]

This couldn’t have happened literally right under their nose, you could have chucked a rock from Whidbey and hit the sub that launched this missile!

One other minor point in all this.

Subs don't launch missiles while surfaced.

Any resident bubbleheads can check me on this, but the missiles (Poseidons, Tomahawks, etc.) get ejected from the sub by a compressed air charge and the rocket motor doesn't get ignited until clear of the water. (Not to mention well clear of the submarine, which would not be in a happy place with a solid fuel rocket going off in or near the hull.)

Any data on water depths around Whidbey? I'd figure that a submerged Ohio boomer would need 200 feet of water for a launch....

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Puget Sound is very deep, which is why it is a good location for sub bases, but your point is important as there is just too much surface traffic in Puget Sound for a sub launch. I think Axenolith is right here - this was a THAAD launch...anti-air defense launch.