“Could the missile have originated on their side? From their waters?
No, not from the location of the missile and camera, which was some 30 miles (at least) south of the launch, across the Sound from Everett. This can’t be a rogue sub, NAS Whidbey is an anti-submarine warfare base! 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!
This HAD to be a “friendly” launch, or that sub wouldn’t exist any longer.
We were all kinda nodding along with ‘friendly’ until the Chinese hacking article reverse-search... ‘course, ‘disinfo is necessary’... (WW) may = Whidbey, WA.
I’m pretty sure that was a THAAD launch, and if it wasn’t from land it was from a barge or other floating platform.
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....