[papertyger]

How could an SLBM designed to launch and reach a target in 10-15 minutes still be visible from Long Beach several minutes after firing?

By not being designed to specifications you seem to think are immutable.

I recall the Soviets making extensive use of vaccuum tubes in their fighter aircraft well oast the 1970s...

[buccaneer81]

I recall the Soviets making extensive use of vaccuum tubes in their fighter aircraft well oast the 1970s...

They recognized the dangers of EMP to solid state electronics.

I'm going to buy a '65 Mustang very soon, for more reasons than it being a classic.

[Mr. Silverback]

By not being designed to specifications you seem to think are immutable. I recall the Soviets making extensive use of vaccuum tubes in their fighter aircraft well oast the 1970s...

OK, let's try thinking through this:

The "B" in "SLBM" stands for "Ballistic." The missile must acheive a ballistic trajectory to reach its target. To acheive that trajectory, it would have to reach a speed which makes it impossible for it to still be visible from Long Beach several minutes after the first sighting. Moreover, as you can see here...

...the object doesn't even travel far, and most of the photos in this overlay are taken after it finishes its "boost phase."

Building an SLBM like that would not be like building an interceptor with vacuum tubes in the radar. It wouldn't even be like building a transatlantic airliner with prop engines or wood and canvas construction. It would be like building a transatlantic airliner that carries 50 gallons of fuel, or an artillery shell that leaves the gun barell at 10 mph.

It is physically impossible for this object to be an SLBM and still be photographed several minutes after launch, much less in the same part of the sky with an off-the-shelf camera.