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.
San Nicolas Island, California
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San Nicolas Island is the most northwesterly of the four southern Channel Islands. Like its eastern neighbor San Clemente Island, San Nicolas is a US Navy owned and operated island. Located 65 nautical miles southwest of the Point Mugu complex, San Nicolas Island is the cornerstone in the Sea Range capabilities. The waters surrounding the island are split into three zones that are controlled by the Navy.
Seriously? Do you really think the Pentagon can't get ATC data from up and down the coast, at the exact time, to confirm or deny an aircraft? There's NO WAY they would go on national television and say - WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON - if the explanation is as simple as something that can be verified almost instantly with ATC records.
that was my first thought. A boat from China, NoKo or so other rogue state launches off the coast to prove we’re not so invincible.
Electing this weak-kneed effeminate socialist is going to get us more trouble than we need.
Yeah we all seemed to forget that bonehead did this.
He is such an idiot.
@backwoods-engineer,
Fire? Consider that that fire is simply reflection off the aircraft itself. Go onto You Tube and look through the nuts claiming to see fake or hologram planes spraying chemicals. Every reflection off the airframe is an ‘orb generating’ when it is simply light reflection. You are putting far too much emphasis on a video shot at extreme range and with a light source present.
Merapi has the potential for an explosion larger than Krakatoa. Its pumping out a craptastic amount of ash right now. Nearest city has people voluntarily evacuating. Smart not get AF-1 out of there.
At the end of the video you see also either a CH-46 helicopter or MH-47 twin rotor. These are often used for airborne video, stable platform, slow flying etc. Also for tommy, the end of the contrail in the video has a glowing light as one sees with a rocket down range from end on viewing. It’s not a plane it’s a missile.
It seems that the usual suspects are all assembled.
Now if we can get that guy that used to post for Jack Cashill on here....
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SEA RANGE Point Mugu, California
The Sea Range at Point Mugu, Calif., is DoD’s largest and most extensively instrumented over-water range that offers realistic, open-ocean and littoral operating environments. Located off the coast of Southern California just 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the Sea Range is uniquely situated with a highly instrumented coastline and off-shore islands; full-service military airfields; target and missile launch facilities; data collection and surveillance aircraft; and an experienced staff of technical personnel. The Sea Range consists of 36,000 square miles of controlled sea and airspace. Temporary expansion of the area is possible through coordination with local Navy facilities and the FAA. The range supports the test and evaluation of a wide variety of weapons, ships, aircraft and specialized systems for a broad spectrum of military, Homeland Defense, NASA, foreign ally, and private sector programs; from small-scale static tests to complex multi-participant, multi-target operations in dense electronic combat environments.
Instrumentation includes radar, telemetry, photo-optics and video, sea and air surveillance, voice communications, and data processing and displays. Time Space Position Information (TSPI), telemetry, communications and geophysics support is all available at the Sea Range. Overlapping instrumentation coverage is provided from sites at Point Mugu, Laguna Peak, San Nicolas Island, Santa Cruz Island, Vandenberg Air Force Base and Pillar Point. These ground-based assets are augmented by airborne instrumentation on NP-3D Orion aircraft to ensure effective data collection over the entire Sea Range. Dedicated high-speed data links enable real-time data transfer between Point Mugu and ranges and laboratories at China Lake, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Edwards Air Force Base.
Aerial, seaborne and littoral targets are available through the Port Hueneme facility, which provides surface craft for seaborne targets; boats for aerial target recovery; and vessels to enforce security and safety zones.
Sea Range program support includes:
More Fact Sheets:
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Might have been a foul-up, either in communications, or in an unscheduled launch:
OldMissileer: “That is a sub launched ballistic missile and it looks as if its’ trajectory was taking it toward Kwajalein Atoll where we target our western test launches.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2624382/posts?page=47#47
Lemme tell ya something Tommy...I operate my own optical astronomical observatory, and I know the freaking difference between a contrail and live missile launch...lol
I go with the Test....see my posts just above ...US Navy owns an Island out there...
You know I’m just wondering (and I’m saying this with my tin foil hat on), but did they ever find out who was shooting at the Pentagon, and the Marine Corps Enlistment building awhile back, when they were finding bullet holes in the buildings? It just seems there is alot going on that nobody knows alot about.
Concur regarding helo...undetermined type, but MOSDEF military twin rotor.
For me, the equally important question remains: Where did it go? I can understand most of the speculation and theories as to where it came from. I have yet to see any data about where the darn thing went. It seems to me like that should be a factual piece of data that requires no theorizing. I'm baffled.
I’m calling Steve Ritchie to get him to run his traps.
That was clearly a large ballistic missile, not a cruise missile, roman candle or whatever.
This is serious sh*t.
By the looks of the video, northwest out over the ocean...
Of course they can obtain that data. Probably some aircraft enthusiast also has the plot on commercially available aircraft tracking software.
I’m talking about the observation of the video. To ANY observer it is going to LOOK like a ballistic missile launch. Of course they will be looking into all data and trying to match it up. Do you think that they can just do that in an instant? It takes time to make a comprehensive examination of the footage and to tie up all information.
If it had been a ballistic missile launch then NORAD would have the info and detection of it. They obviously don’t so it is a puzzle as all they have is the footage. Footage that has to be examined and tied up with the likes of ATC data. It takes time for such an investigation and analysis.
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