[gandalftb]

Good posts.

Several competing rumors and reports about:

The NORAD data is always approximate, there was a SK AEGIS cruiser that not only had all the tracking from a front row seat, was so close it saw some of the splashdown. That is the source of the SK newsw reports and is reliable.

That area is so shallow that recovery of the debris is certain and there were big chunks that landed intact.

It is fairly certain that the launch occurred unexpectedly. The NK’s may have had an onboard emergency and had to launch (my theory). We know that NK naval vessels were not in place to observe their own launch.

Or another possibility: They may have been hacked. NK has a serious hacker community and have cyber assaulted us many times, all over. If one of their hackers was a double-agent, hmmm. Stuxnet redux.

[AdmSmith]

Russian spy planes fly close to border

Two Russian spy planes approached Japanese airspace on Thursday at a time of high alert in Tokyo over an anticipated ballistic missile launch by North Korea. Air Self-Defense Force planes were put into position after the Russian TU-142 planes looked set to enter Japanese airspace, the Defense Ministry said.

The Russian planes headed south above the Sea of Japan, where a Japanese Aegis destroyer was deployed in preparation for North Korea’s missile launch. The planes flew over the Tsushima Strait between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula and continued on to the East China Sea., where two Japanese Aegis destroyers were deployed.

The aircraft hovered over the East China Sea for a while before returning to Russia. The planes flew close to Japanese airspace for about nine hours starting at around 8 a.m., according to the ministry.
(Apr. 14, 2012)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120413005320.htm

[TigerLikesRooster]

If Stuxnet is involved, Kim Jong-eun will go ballistic, since it can be viewed as direct attack on NK. Who knows what he will do? Not that I would be against it.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I agree that something smells about this incident. As you said, they may not have been fully ready when they pushed the launch button.

SK military claims they have not been able to retrieve pieces of debris, having difficulty locating it because the place is very muddy. It may be true but I suspect they are intentionally hiding information on the on-going operation. Premature leak to press may get them in trouble. Initial information tends to be less than accurate and any retraction later could open the military for media attack. Especially left element in SK would make a big fuss out of it. That was certainly the case in Cheonan incident.