Posted on 11/09/2010 8:05:31 AM PST by Gennie
(CBS) A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night, and officials are staying tight-lipped over the nature of the projectile.
CBS station KFMB put in calls to the Navy and Air Force Monday night about the striking launch off the coast of Los Angeles, which was easily visible from the coast, but the military has said nothing about the launch.
KFMB showed video of the apparent missile to former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Robert Ellsworth, who is also a former Deputy Secretary of Defense, to get his thoughts.
Scroll down for KFMB video showing the launch.
Video here
"It's spectacular… It takes people's breath away," said Ellsworth, calling the projectile, "a big missile".
Magnificent images were captured by the KCBS news helicopter in L.A. around sunset Monday evening. The location of the missile was about 35 miles out to sea, west of L.A. and north of Catalina Island.
A Navy spokesperson told KFMB it wasn't their missile. He said there was no Navy activity reported in the area Monday evening.
On Friday night, Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, launched a Delta II rocket, carrying an Italian satellite into orbit, but a sergeant at the base told KFMB there had been no launches since then.
Ellsworth urged American to wait for definitive answers to come from the military.
When asked, however, what he thought it might be, the former ambassador said it could possibly have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama tours Asia.
"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine … to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," speculated Ellsworth.
Ellsworth said such tests were carried out in the Atlantic to demonstrate America's power to the Soviets, when there was a Soviet Union, but he doesn't believe an ICBM has previously been tested by the U.S. over the Pacific.
Officially, at least, the projectile remains a mystery missile.
Captain Nash on Fox News says...they government says there is no foreign threat to our nation...right now. But was there one last night at 5 pm PST?
I was gonna post it and i typed in keywords Missile CA and i got 3 hits,so i let it go .
No biggie i thought i was being helpful......
Watch the video. That is NOT an airplane contrail.
blame the amish! /s
If no answer comes before the 6pm news, then this is extremely problematic and wimpy by our country. This is already not the same country I grew up in and if this falls off the news page and we have no answers, then it green lights any terrorists that they have free will to do what they want to us.
“I noted that in a later post. Perhaps they are trying to keep the area clear while searching for the remains of the missile.”
Or keeping it clear while the Reagan and Nimitz CAGs are pinging the doo-doo out of the waters to track down a Chinese sub
It's the "sea" version of creating a diversion to take all your first responders out so you can more easily conduct the main operation unimpeded.
Well, DRUDGE just escalated this to “Headline” level!!!
A NOTAM for today, and the AO was issued
KZLA LOS ANGELES (ARTCC)PALMDALE, CA.
A2832/10 - THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS ARE REQUIRED DUE TO NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION ACTIVATION OF W537. IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY, ALL NON-PARTICIPATING PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID W537. IFR TRAFFIC UNDER ATC JURISDICTION SHOULD ANTICIPATE CLEARANCE AROUND W537 AND CAE 1176. CAE 1155 WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. CAE 1316 & CAE 1318 WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. CAE 1177 WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. W537 ACTIVE, CAE 1176 CLOSED. SURFACE - FL390, 09 NOV 20:00 2010 UNTIL 10 NOV 01:00 2010. CREATED: 08 NOV 20:52 2010
Someone a little quick on the trigger?
Somewhere a jr officer is contemplating the end of his or her up-to-now promising career....
“The operative word is ‘unexplainable,’” a Pentagon spokesman said.
The Chinese aren't too happy about the way we are handling their money.
LA would make a great target....But maybe we could ask them to try SF while the Box, DiFi and Nasty (among others) are home?
Hardly India.
I doubt this one was armed (just a hunch)..but if it had a target.. Well.
San Nicholas Island is US territory, and that makes it well inside our territory. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl Look up San Nicholas Island and zoom out. This is definitely inside our bathing suit if you will.
You’re thinking it’s an accidental launch of one our birds before the scheduled time for the exercise?
Can you post a map of W537?
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