Right in an area that is the US Navy testing area ....heavily instrumented:
Another interesting theory from See-BS:
by skr81 November 9, 2010 12:11 PM EST
ResearchEngineer is right. The false assumptions are completely off base. This launch was from a launch platform in the Pacific. I had dinner with two people on Friday who are aerospace engineers with high security clearance and they told me about this launch and they were checking their smart phones to monitor the Vandenburg launch. They gave me no specifics on the payload of course. They may have mentioned it was a converted oil platform. When I told them I’d never heard of a launch platform out in the Pacific in the area off Los Angeles and tried to get specifics about how far out it was located they weren’t willing to share anymore specifics. We were in a remote area and they were very grateful that I pointed out an open wireless network so they could get data. This was a normal launch with a normal payload, not a political stunt.
Perhaps someone screwed up and fired an ground to air missile off. It just seems strange the reports from other areas within the state to not verify it was a vertical launch. Or at least I or one have not seen them yet.