I'm not sure what the missile type was, but I think it was a Nike.
This story was told to me by an older co-worker who worked on the test box, many years ago.
Jesus, that Nike missile.
I used to launch Lance missiles off the island of Crete in the summer. It was the NAAMFI installation, and it was also used for Hawk and Nike missiles used by our allies. Great shows. Often, the Nike-Hercules would rise on it’s boosters, and when they’d cut out, it would start to fall backwards until (hopefully) the main engines cut in. That seemed like forever.