California Missile Mystery
Could an Unauthorized Missile Have Launched Off the West Coast?
It's a bird, it's a plane...
Or, was it a missile?
On Monday, San Francisco's CBS affiliate posted footage shot by one of its news helicopters showing a large contrail observed off the California coast near Los Angeles. A mystery missile launch has been blamed for the vapors.
As of today, according to the Associated Press, authorities are still trying to figure out if a missile was launched.
Missile launches are not uncommon, and they do not usually evoke any sense of mystery. In fact, nearby Vandenburg Air Force Base launched a satellite last Friday. Missile launches occur frequently, but when they do they require clearance.
Whose Missile Is It Anyway?
What makes this event unusual is no one is fessing up to launching a seemingly unauthorized missile. Possible ownership remains a mystery.
The Department of Defense says it wasn't one of ours.
In a statement released by The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), they don't believe it was one of "theirs" either.
"We are aware of the unexplained contrail reported off the coast of Southern California yesterday evening. At this time, we are unable to provide specific details but we are working to determine the exact nature of this event. We can confirm that there is no indication of any threat to our nation and we will provide more information as it becomes available."
The FAA denies giving clearance for a private launch of a missile. Adding to the mystery, FAA officials reviewed radar replays for the Los Angeles area but observed no unidentifiable objects. Pilots flying in the area at the noted time filed no reports related to unusual occurrences.
What If It's Not a Missile At All?
The internet is abuzz with conjecture. Not surprisingly, there's a myriad of theories.
The Right Perspective claims that a former Deputy Secretary of Defense speculated a missile may have been launched from a U.S. submarine as a "show of strength." Others have considered "classified" Naval activity. Some have purported that it wasn't a missile fired from a U.S. submarine, but a Korean one.
Some claim it cannot be a missile at all as the contrail seems to change course in the video and rockets are incapable of such movements.
The one theory I have yet to hear, and the one that immediately came to my mind, is - the missile is not a missile at all.
It's Superman.
Has anyone seen Clark Kent?
Sources, in addition to those embedded:
Published by Martha Fry - Featured Contributor in Business & Finance
Martha Fry works as a freelance writer and editor. An accountant who worked at Peat, Marwick & Mitchell and Price Waterhouse, she also does financial consulting and often writes on business and personal fina... View profile
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22 Comments
Post a CommentVery good! and I always click on the "I like this' to give extra page views!
We may never know the truth but so many already have their own idea of what it may have been.
Yeah, Superman.
Has anyone thought that if the government doesn't know and nasa doesn't know, how are we supposed to trust these people now that they admit they don't know what it is, which I know they do. But, wouldn't that come into question that they would be so incompetant to not know that something was happening off the coast of the United States. And no explaination to what it was. Let's just say it was a missile and it was coming towards the US. I bet that they would definately know what it was. Things that make you go hmm.
Guess we'll never know!
When I was a kid, we used to make our own fireworks and shoot them off on a hill in Sioux City. The fire department showed up one day after one of the residents thought the "Russians were attacking Sioux City". Maybe this is another reason Mom only had one boy...
great job ♥ thanks for sharing
Kind of scary that we don't know where it came from.
Interesting did not see this on news.
Love the ending...look, up in the sky....! LOL Great closing line.