[RobRoy]

>>And then just stop out in front of you with no continuing contrail. <<

You have got to be kidding me. Have you never seen a contrail that resembles a dashed line, because the plane keeps going in and out of different conditions? I’ve seen lots of planes that leave a contrail, then stop, then start again after a mile or so, then stop again, etc.

In fact, that is what I saw in one of the stills from late in the video of this plane.

[Gargantua]

"In fact, that is what I saw in one of the stills from late in the video of this plane."

Well, that would explain part of the confusion here. We're discussing the video of a missile. You big silly!

:-|

[TigersEye]

Have you never seen a contrail that resembles a dashed line, because the plane keeps going in and out of different conditions?

But this contrail has no such dashed appearance and the vehicle does not continue on ahead of the contrail. There was a front moving in from the coast that had reached the east slope of the Rockies at about the same time this video was shot. The upper level atmospheric conditions of temp and humidity would have been pretty uniform from off the coast to 700 miles east of LA. The contrail did not continue on overhead or to the east. It simply ended at the top of the spike apparently still miles to the west.