Then somewhere today I read that the CBS helicopter camera man filmed this for 10 minutes.
A jet would certainly remain in view for ten minutes, but would a missile launch? I don’t know the answer to that, but I doubt it.
I have seen many missile launches and that video sure looked exactly like some SLBM launches.
Writing that, if the camera man filmed it for ten minutes it was definitely an aircraft as missiles only burn for around five minutes or so before releasing the RV/s. The fuel burns out pretty fast.
I would like to point out, and tell me if I am seeing it wrong, but many here have stated that it was a flight to Arizona.
Given the position of the setting sun and the angle to which it reflects off the contrail would not the object in question be flying WNW or somewhat North? I thought Phoenix was to the Southeast from there (to the left of the video).
Even though the CBS affiliate reported the cameraman observed the contrail for ten minutes, there’s no way to know how much of that time the aircraft that created the contrail was in sight, unless someone could specifically ask him. The Department of Defense seized the tape for analysis. Only about a minute of the flight is seen online. If that minute represented the entire flight time, and the other nine minutes was simply filming the leftover contrail, its still possible it was a missile.
But without further clarification, its likely he observed the craft for ten minutes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocean_rick/5165540970/?reg=1&src=comment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocean_rick/5165538062/in/photostream/
I contacted him via PM at Flickr. Here’s his response:
Subject: Re: contrail photo question
Date: 26th November, 2010Hi Dr. Kopp
I really wasn’t sure what I had at the time. I was shooting with a telephoto lens and looking through a viewfinder so I never really saw the seperation of the object and the contrail untell I looked at the photos but I’m sure that this whole thing lasted way to long to be a missile. I see lots of contrails from my 10th floor balcony but the difference in this one was that it “seemed” to be going up. I then gave Mick West ( of Contrail Science) the use of all my photos to work with to try and figure this thing out. I’m now of the opinion that it was indeed a plane. Here’s a link to his site in case you haven’t seen it yet.
Hope this helps. Rickhttp://contrailscience.com/los-angeles-missile-contrail-explained-in-pictures/