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.
China’s anti-ship missile not a threat: Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma
Dismissing China’s anti-ship missile programme as a threat to Indian warships, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma today said it would be a difficult task to even spot the vessels in the vast expanse of high seas.
“Targeting ships at high seas is not an easy task or as simple as land warfare,” Admiral Verma told reporters here on the sidelines of a seminar on aircraft carriers organised by the National Maritime Foundation here.
“There are hundreds and thousands of ships in the sea at any given time. It is extremely important to spot the ship before targeting it. There are limitations in terms of maritime reconnaissance and long-range searches,” Verma said when asked about the threat posed by Chinese Anti-ship Ballistic Missile Programme.
He said it was “a complex problem” to use a conventional missile against a moving target at high seas.
Earlier, addressing the seminar, the Navy Chief said aircraft carriers were expensive and there were questions on their affordability and survivability due to their large size while at sea.
“Some even talk about carrying out land-based missile attacks against an aircraft carrier. We must weigh this against the difficulties of targeting a mobile target out at sea,” he said, noting that carriers can move 600 nautical miles a day, which translates into one million square nautical miles of ocean area which an adversary has to search.
China’s anti-ship missile not a threat: Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma - India - The Times of India
Had it been a US missile, there would have been very public NOTAMs, Notices To Airmen posted all over ...Hmmmm ... confusing dates, times, Pacific vs UTC/GMT - it has happened before, and this won't be the last (either FAA or Navy or ???) ...
Does it have to have been a sub?
Could it have been from a container ship?
Yeah the 3rd thread would be the most popular, judging by most of the posts here. Least likely explanations are usually the best bet? Who knew??
You mean like 25 miles off Long Island? Check out military restriction zones in the Atlantic. Some are mighty close to shore.
Three stages of an event...
“You can watch things happen. You can make things happen. Or you can wonder what the f**k just happened. I don’t want to be on number 3” hat tip Captain Phil Harris F/V Cornelia Marie R.I.P.
I bet the reason there is no further intel on this mysterious launch is they are getting every available SOCOM type with dive experience to the splashdown point to findout WTF happened and to either confirm/deny/gather up the remnants.
Anywone mention my theory? ISI (paki intel) got a container ship close and did a demonstration and privately, through INTEL contacts) let it be known that we should not cozy up with their mortal enemy, India, and cease drone attacks?
I doubt the Paki Navy would have the stones to do this, but there are some die hard Islamofacists within the ISI that openly operates against the wishes of their parent governement.
I had a friend (worked SAC) that told me during the Carter administration that three ICBM’s came over Alaska and was heading for the US. mainland. He said SAC had all of it's silos open and were ready to launch within five minutes.
Within five minutes of launch the Russian ICBM’s turned toward the Pacific Ocean.
Turns out the Russians just wanted to see what we would do.
I asked Matt would he have hesitated to push the button. He said, “No”.
Sign me up!
Trident tests out of Port Canaveral off Florida coast all the time. Not unheard of, and we are able to point these things where we want them to go. The corkscrew smoke trail leads one to think it is a test launch, being slowed up so it stays in the range for the test and doesn’t keep going say to Polyarny.
It is all the same... Some are diehard serious know it all’s some are posting NORAD NAV notations some are having fun once in a while and being reasonable.
Honestly, I was thinking of this in terms of Ockham’s Razor as well, and the trouble is, I can’t figure out which is more damn likely, us or “them.” However, the Norks may feel they haven’t been getting enough attention by firing missiles over Japan or by torpedoing SorK frigates, so they are upping the ante. Of course, it is in our strategy with them not to give them any indication that they hurt us so it’s... “huh-WAT?” from the Pentagon.
You can’t chalk this up to some rogue launch scenario. It takes two missile keys to launch an SLBM, plus it needs to be ‘spun up’. You need to hover the boat. It takes the entire crew to do. If the launch were ours, and rogue, it means there are a bunch of dead US sailors on one of our Boomers.
Plus, where’s the detonation? If you can launch an SLBM, you have the smarts to either make sure the warhead is programmed, or make sure it doesn’t go off.
These things don’t ‘cook off’ in their silo because two sailors were fighting in weapons and elbowed a switch.
Think Crimson Tide.
Cape Cod Air Force Station, Massachusetts.
Beale AFB, California.
Clear Air Force Station, Alaska.
Sarah Palin’s fault? I'll bet she has some old contacts to call.
Anyone who thinks the
world government/globalism/NWO stuff
is
“theory”
is terminally, suicidally, and treasonously ignorant, uninformed, clueless.
http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/latest.html
Mystery missile launch? Or aircraft contrail?
Launches of NASA Black Brant IX rockets from San Nicolas Island in
California carrying MARTI targets for the Missile Defense Agency’s
Airborne Laser testbed have been removed from public NASA schedules. The
most recent such launch, which was publicly acknowledged, was on Oct 21.
The MDA has also launched Scud missiles as targets from the ocean off
Point Mugu.
Video of a contrail seen by an LA helicopter news crew on Nov 9 (Nov 8
Pacific time) not far from the San Nicolas/Pt Mugu area might be related
to these programs, but it’s been suggested by experienced observers that
it’s probably just be an aircraft contrail seen almost head-on and
illuminated by the setting sun. See
http://uncinus.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/4/ for another example.
Sorry I let my mind go all hunt for red octoberish with a turbin head current day scenerio for a sec.
It is illogical I know...
this story will be scrubbed tomorrow.
You won’t see it in any news websites.
AND IT ISN’T TERRORISM!
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT IT IS NOT TERRORISM!
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