OK. TEAM. Who fired the missile near the SoCal OpArea?

[yodaears]

Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Flash]

Got this from my Dad this morning...this is his conjecturin'.....

Let's see - DoD denies, NORAD/NORTHCOM denies, Pacific Missile Test Range location......Sometime later, I learned that it was a test launch of an ICBM from a C-141 (or C-5, I can’t remember). The missile was loaded "nose cone in" on tracks that would allow it to roll out Booster first down the opened tail ramp. It was stabilized into a vertical position by a drogue chute and then ignited remotely at altitude – apparently a success. Since SALT was on the table, I always presumed that this was a workaround for the limitations that would be put on the number of hard launch silos that was to be a part of the treaty.

Fast forward thirty five years – What missile silos have recently been taken out of play? (Hint: missile defense of Europe). What might be an alternate method of launching GBIs (Ground Based Interceptors)? Hmmm, of course that’s mere speculation on my part. Oh well.

R/ Jon

Actually that is still done occasionally for tests, they have launched them out of C-17's too for MDA testing when they need a missile for certain tests. The problem with using it as a launch platform for ICBMs is the numbers of planes you would need to have a credible deterrent. If you want 20 ICBMs you would need at least 40-60, maybe more, planes dedicated solely to that mission. Why waste all that money when the SSBN force provides a much more reliable and survivable launch platform for nukes?

No Idea. I wish I knew. I was asking everyone I could with a TS clearance if they knew the day after it happend. No dice.

I really don't know what you are getting at, pretty obvious from all the available evidence that it is almost certainly a regular contrail. It happened late in the day so I am not surprised that the Pentagon and NORAD were caught flat-footed in their response, all the PAOs had gone home by then and the watch officers probably didn't have enough info to base a response on. And they probably didn't think it was all that big a deal either, the warning systems did not go off (and they would have) and there was no threat. So what was the big deal? There wasn't, until the news went into overdrive and made a mountain out of a few stray pieces of dirt, gotta fill those 24 hours somehow.

Oh, and if it wasn't an airliner and was some mysterious spaceplane or rocket ship anyone with a TS ain't going to be able to tell you jack or shit, a clearance is not a ticket to find out everything out there that is secret. Stuff like that goes into a 'compartment' that only those who need to know get to know and it stays there until let out, if it ever is. So if it was the Aurora don't count on finding out.

 

[jollygreen07]

Whoa whoa whoa... I'm not getting at anything, sir. All I did was ask a bunch of like-minded people (i.e. folks that were curious about what it was) if they had heard anything on the secret wires about it, as I was too busy myself to look it up. We were all curious. Jesus effing christ. I get that if it was compartmentalized that I would have been told in a not so nice manner to go get fucked. Maybe I should have just said "I asked anyone with a CLEARANCE" as opposed to a TS clearance. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Just because I fly a big white jet dosen't mean I know everything about everything all the time. Just most of the time.

 

[Reconjoe]

Not to go poking holes into your already sound logic, but just for the sake of good ol fashion argument...did it ever occur to you that someone with a clearance wouldn't tell you even if you were Saint Teresa of Ávila herself god rest her soul?

 

[jollygreen07]

Not to go poking holes into your already sound logic, but just for the sake of good ol fashion argument...did it ever occur to you that someone with a clearance wouldn't tell you even if you were Saint Teresa of Ávila herself god rest her soul?

Nope. Not once. And if they did, fuck 'em. I really could give a damn. Airliner, missile, floating spaghetti monster, whatever it was. It's gone and whoever was responsible for it got a laugh because we all freaked out, and an E-6 pilot on this forum learned never to say anything in a thread regarding launches of any sort.

The end.
I'm gonna take a shit.

 

[das]

From today's New York Times:

How Smoky Plume in Sky Drew the Eyes of the World

 

[Vas Deferens]

I'm not saying I have the definate answer, but when I first saw the media going crazy over this story, I never thought it looked that much like a ICBM, rocket, or whatever launch. I watched this sunset Shuttle launch last year and one thing is obviously different about the Cali incident. There is no color change on the smoke trail. If this were a missile travelling vertically through the upper atmosphere, the sun would shine on the higher parts as in the pics below. Instead its the same color it would be if it were in level flight around 30,000 Ft. For me, mystery solved, but what do I really know. Okay my moment of geekdom is over.

 

[das]

Interesting analysis from Contrail Science:

http://contrailscience.com/los-angeles-missile-contrail-explained-in-pictures/
http://contrailscience.com/contrails-are-usually-horizontal/

 

[Shiddy]

It was a minuteman III ICBM being launched from Vandenburg AFB. These tests are actually fairly common, just not publicized for obvious reasons.

 

[HAL Pilot]

It was a minuteman III ICBM being launched from Vandenburg AFB. These tests are actually fairly common, just not publicized for obvious reasons.

And you know this how? Or is it pure BS speculation on your part (as I suspect)?

Minuteman tests might not be publicized but they are not closely guarded secrets, especially after the fact and since we probably tell the Russians, etc before hand as part of the treaties we have to ensure we do not accidentally start WWIII. There is no reason the government would not admit to such a test with all this publicity if it were the case.

Besides, we all know it was just a chem trail.....

 

[MIDNJAC]

And you know this how? Or is it pure BS speculation on your part (as I suspect)?

Minuteman tests might not be publicized but they are not closely guarded secrets, especially after the fact and since we probably tell the Russians, etc before hand as part of the treaties we have to ensure we do not accidentally start WWIII. There is no reason the government would not admit to such a test with all this publicity if it were the case.

Besides, we all know it was just a chem trail.....

Hell, this one almost tipped off WWIII (as recently as 1995 no less), and it wasn't even an ICBM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_rocket_incident

 

[das]

NASA weighs in...

It's a Bird, It's a Missile... It's an Airplane!

Conspiracy kooks weigh in...

China Fired Missile Seen In Southern California

China must be overjoyed that our conspiracy kooks do their IO/propaganda jobs for them.

 

[jollygreen07]

Besides, we all know it was just a chem trail.....

Don't even get me started on this. People are effing retarded.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Those aren't CONTRAILS, they are CHEMTRAILS. [grabs tinfoil hat & popcorn]

-ea6bflyr