Mysterious: Authorities have been left baffled as to what the phenomenon was off the Southern California yesterday. It certainly looked like a missile launch
Internet experts insist 'launch' was an optical illusion created by clear skies and a conventional aircraft vapour trail
The sight of a missile streaking through the sky over the Californian coast was startling enough. What was more alarming last night, however, was that there was still no official explanation for what the object was.
The initial thought was that it must have been fired from a U.S. Navy vessel, but the Pentagon said that was not the case. Indeed, spokesmen from all strands of the US armed forces denied responsibility for the phenomenon.
Foreign aggressors and private ballistics firms were also ruled out. It lead to speculation among aerospace experts on the internet that the trail could have been the result of an optical illusion
Trail's gone cold: The Pentagon said today that none of the military or Department of Defense agencies have said 'they were involved in this'
Amazing image: The contrail was seen from Los Angeles and miles around but no ownership has yet been made to the launch, which lit up the sky yesterdaySpokesmen for the Navy, Air Force, the Defence Department and North American Aerospace Defence Command all said they were in the dark.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said: ‘Nobody within the Department of Defense that we’ve reached out to has been able to explain what this contrail is and where it came from.
'So far, we’ve come up empty with an explanation,’ he added.
Off the coast: The location of the missile was said to be west of Los Angeles, north of Catalina Island, and approximately 35 miles out to seaMilitary officials said it was possible a private company may have been behind the incident.
Judging from the images, the rocket looked to be within sight of a passenger jet flying out of nearby Los Angeles Airport.
Colonel Lapan said an official missile test would usually involve air space being closed off and a notification to all shipping in the area. But there was no advance notice of the event.
Not ours: Vandenberg Air Force based confirmed they launched a Delta II rocket on Friday but was not responsible for yesterday's missileHe added: ‘At this point, until we know more information about what it may have been, there is not alarm. But that could change depending on what we find out.'
He said it was ‘implausible’ that the test could be carried out so near to the airport.
The video was captured on Monday evening about 5pm by a news helicopter flying over Los Angeles.
Plane crazy: The missile launch appeared to get close to an aircraft from nearby LAX airport. But many now believe it was the result of a rare optical illusion The contrail was about 35 miles out to sea, just north of Catalina, a small island about 20 miles from the mainland.
The initial thought was that it must have been fired from a US Navy vessel offshore, but the Pentagon said that was not the case.
Nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base confirmed it fired a Delta II rocket carrying a satellite last Friday, but had not authorised or carried out any launches since then.
source: dailymail
