Smoke plume off Calif. coast possibly aircraft

Washington Times ^ | 11/09/10 | Bill Gertz

[jimbo123]

A mysterious smoke plume that looked like a missile firing off the California coast on Monday may have been an aircraft and not a missile, U.S. military officials said.

[Doc Savage]

Your field of knowledge is what,...stupidity?

[Constitutions Grandchild]

I don't know. I only saw one launch from Vandenberg when I was in my early twenties. I've seen lots of vapor trails in the sunset left by jets. This looks exactly like the missile I saw launched way back in the day. The little dot of light flashing also looked just like what I saw. You would think our military would be able to track down the flight plan of something that leaves that big a vapor trail by now.

[Regulator]

W = Warning Area

CAE = Control Area

Google "Los Angeles Sectional", move it around till you're just south of the Channel Islands, you'll see Control Areas 1316 & 1318

Standard NOTAM

[jimbo123]

They cut this part off. This notice was issued AFTER the launch took place.

09 NOV 20:00 2010 UNTIL 10 NOV 01:00 2010. CREATED: 08 NOV 20:52 201”

[ml/nj]

B) 1011092000 C) 1011100100

10-11-09-2000 - 10-11-10-0100

This is for activity beginning TODAY at 2000 GMT (1200 PST) and ending this afternoon (1700 PST).

ML/NJ

[Doc Savage]

Remind me NEVER to fly with you. How do you file your flight plans,...transcendentally?

[SeeSac]

If you watch the speed of the vehicle

What is its speed?

[Moose4]

Looking at the video again, the other thing that catches my eye...I’m usually able, when I see a plane going over on a clear day, to tell if it’s got two or four engines, assuming the engines are wing-mounted. The vapor trails stay distinct for a short distance before merging into one contrail behind the airplane. That isn’t the case with that video. Maybe it’s low resolution or distance, but all I’m seeing is one fat vapor trail, which would indicate to me the thrust is coming from the centerline. I suppose it could be a military fighter like an F-15 on full afterburner going somewhere in a big hurry, but they rarely fly alone.

I’m not completely discounting the aircraft explanation, but parts of it don’t seem to stand up.

}:-)4

[mlo]

"W537 is probably the code that defines the no-fly area over the weapons center."

W537 is the area over the ocean where the missile was seen.

[Moose4]

Thanks!

}:-)4

[jimbo123]

Flashback Dec 2009: Mystery deepens with video of ‘launch’ off O.C.

http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2009/12/31/mystery-launch-visible-off-oc/75161/

[Truth29]

"The still photo’s I’ve seen of this thing DO look like contrails. If there is no video of an actual rocket taking off and creating the contrail, I’m gonna go with the contrail explanation."

Unless it is a hoax, there is video, some links on this thread, as well as CBS and Yahoo that show a launch complete with the glow of the thrust at the bottom of the missile and a long boost phase.

[jimbo123]

Video is HERE:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/11/09/pentagon-cant-explain-missile-off-california-coast/

[steveo]

Pulled? never. replaced.

[DoughtyOne]

A leaving aircraft might, but certainly not an approaching one. Hogwash. The people on the CBS helicopter would have seen the aircraft fly by if it was inbound.

And if this was an aircraft, can you imagine how many such sightings we would have connected to LAX alone?

Tens per day? 50 per week? 200 plus per month?

Honestly, it gets rather annoying when folks offer up ideas that are completely disconnected from reality, to try to shoot something down they have no connection to whatsoever.

[stockpirate]

I upchucked on my keyboard!

[jsh3180]

[Fundamentally Fair]

Sub Launched F-15. 

[Rushmore Rocks]

As an Air Force brat and a missileier’s wife, I’ve spent nearly 30 years on Air Force bases (including Vandenburg, where my husband was a launch control officer for the old Atlas program in the early ‘60’s). I’ve seen countless missile launches and contrails. THAT contrail did not emanate from an airplane.

IMHO