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I think these 2 are much better possibilities (higher altitude, South to North):

Could well be. We need to know more about location and direction.

I found the local story KCBS which shot the video. Here's a screengrab off their raw video:

Note the land and the apparent position of the sun. [Is the camera poionting SSE? Where is the 'copter] Here's relevant info from the text at the site:

…vapor trail that crossed the skies over Los Angeles on Monday night… While cruising the skies Monday at sunset, Sky2 captured on video what appears to be a missile making its way up into the sky from over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast... [Sunset today in LA was 4:53 PST ]

Also from the text at the source:

One expert called it an optical illusion. “It’s an airplane that is heading toward the camera and the contrail is illuminated by the setting sun,” said John Pike, director of the U.S.-based security analyst group globalsecurity.org.…
Pike said the object could not have been a rocket because it appeared to alter its course. “The local station chopped up the video and so it’s hard to watch it continuously,” Pike said. “But at one place you can see it has changed course — rockets don’t do that.” Pike said he didn’t understand why the military had not recognized the contrail of an aircraft. “The Air Force must …understand how contrails are formed,” he said. “Why they can’t get some major out to belabor the obvious, I don’t know.”

Raw video and more pics at the link.

John Pike knows what he’s talking about. He’s been an excellent source of information for a long time. One of the most accurate, credible open sources we have out there.

But I’m having a real tough time with this one. For the Pentagon, NORAD and the FAA to miss this seemingly obvious possibility for so long — while telling the public they have “no clue” — is impossible to wrap my mind around. I do hope he’s correct, though.

But at one place you can see it has changed course — rockets don’t do that

Uh, excuse me? He's trying to tell me that a SLBM can't course correct? Seems to me that most rockets have that capability. I have no military experience, but I find his assertion extremely hard to believe. A bit of net research certainly suggests that they can. Maybe someone more knowledgeable that me can clear this up.