Posted on 11/10/2010 8:24:09 AM PST by MindBender26
California Contrail Explained - Not Missile
After having about 10 experienced pilots and another 20 of us who are accustomed to watching missile launches from Cape Canaveral review tape, we have most probable answer for the mysterious California contrail. Tape was also reviewed by senior official at NGA.
It is not a missile. It is the contrail of a airliner at altitude moving toward the camera, at an angle of about 30 degrees off center to the right. Retired TRANSPAC airline pilots and USAF types said it was a rather common sight to see as they are climbing out over water on a westerly heading at sunset.
A few clues:
1. This is not as new event. The photographer who took video said in interview that it was very much like others he had seen week earlier.
2. Expanding contrail plume gives illusion that bottom/rear of plume is closer to observer than the top/newest part of plume, that which is near the aircraft. It is an illusion.
3. The light emanating from the object that looks like rocket flame is a reflection of the sun off the aluminum bottom of the a/c fuselage. The clues that it is not a rocket flame are that it is not hidden by contrail, and more importantly, is the same color temperature as the sun's other reflections.
4. There were no alarms from the DSP satellites. They detect heat from rocket launches from geostationary orbit. They are very good, so good in fact that when Sovs had a fire in an ICBM silo a few years ago, it was reported at NORAD immediately.
5. No radar, and there are numerous ATC and air defense radars in that area, had any track, primary or transponder, of any object on a course as speculated.
All in all, a false alarm. A very interesting one, but a false alarm.
Not the first false alarm, either. In the 60s, we went to DEFCON 2 based on DEW and PineTree line radar returns indicating Sov bombers inbound over Greenland. Was really delayed radar echoes off the rising moon.
Hey, the dude in the helicopter that photographed this contrail said it was similar to other contrails he had seen before. Strange that you are posting falsely about the views of the dude that filmed this!
No reports from any boaters/fishermen in the area either.
The airport in Hawaii is far away....
Yes. I’m pointing to this link which suggests a specific flight.
http://blog.bahneman.com/content/it-was-us-airways-flight-808
Planes coming toward the viewer look as if they are flying straight up. Widening contrails appear as if they are closer than the plane, when in fact they are further away. This is not the first case of an apparent missile launch which is in fact an ordinary jet airliner and its contrail.
Also see Flight Aware for the U.S. Air 808 flight:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE808/history/20101108/1955Z/PHNL/KPHX
Ok then it shouldn't be hard to look up which flight it was.
Nothing personal but I'm not buying any normal airplane theory.
Not "chem-trail" and if you search the web you will find lots of them that 'look' like rockets.
try reading the whole page. it’s makes a solid case that it’s a contrail.
US Airways from HA to Phoenix.
"1942" was the sequel that never got made.
You are correct. It is not difficult to look up which flight it was. A number of persons already have and have suggested:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE808/history/20101108/1955Z/PHNL/KPHX
The “expert” you are quoting is a bird photographer.
Actually- what the pilot said this was similar to ONE he saw last Thursday. He phoned it in to the station because he was seeing another one- saying this one was more dramatic. It would have been useful if the station asked him for the record IF this looks like the dozens of other contrails he’s seen in the past.
You are expecting a lot!
And, a pretty steep climb also. That's fighter territory, not airliner. Or, missile territory...
Maybe we’ll know what this was by watching for changes in the way Obama deals with China or Russia.
Does Obama take the nuclear football with him every time he travels abroad?
Your “expert” is a bird photographer?
Not missile. I say what you think. You no worry now. Pilot say so and other authority say so too. You no think US military launch missile that cannot explain. What go up no need to come down. You no worry now.
Folks, our guys and gals would have seen a missile launch. There's no two ways about it. They state categorically that they did not; I have to believe this. Remember that most members of the USAF are patriots who pledge to and follow the US Constitution; not some master appointed over them. They are not liars, either. They are far more likely to be a member of Free Republic than KOS or Huff Post. They're not part of some grand conspiracy!
If they tracked this and just don't want to report it, or where ordered not to report it, then they wouldn't have lied, but offered no comment instead.
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