There was not any actual footage of the Zuni that they had. If you look at the documentary, they are piecing together segments of film shot for other purposes to create the documentary.
The Zuni you saw looked like a test firing filming, and it sure wouldn’t have hit anything going that way! I can see some of the A-4 planes shown did have VA-46 markings, but I think this was sometime before or after the fire.
However, they did have a camera on the island, but it was not pointed aft. In a documentary about how the naval officer in charge of the investigation figure out what happened, apparently in the video they were shooting in the course of normal flight ops (it was a fixed camera, I think, but could be wrong) they saw a reflection on the glass the camera was shooting through that registered on the film, and knowing where the camera was and where it was pointed, were able to use the angles of glass and camera to figure out where, and when the missle went off, and as a result, were able to use that as a key piece of evidence.
Yep I’ve been looking at the video.
The narrator says “there it is” at 3:31 when it fires. Very odd that they try to sneak a test shot in as the real shot that started the fire. Unethical in my opinion.
I’ve been studying the F-4. Looks like red paint... translation VX-9 China Lake weaps test??? and there’s no PC in front of the jet, no jets in front, and he’s right smack dab on the centerline, facing port side I think, and shot lines are visible so it’s forward of CAT 3/4 JBDs at a minimum, indicating it is likely a test fire.
Again, it will never be proven true or false.
I would like to think he didn’t do anything dumb like that, since when you start you can always have people walking in cat walks etc who could be hurt.
It’s neither here nor there. Appreciate your service and all those flight deck guys out there who serve or have served.
Bottom line:
BEST ELECTION EVER.