Missile launch enthralls

BY Friday Flyer

The local social media pages were buzzing last Saturday with comments and videos as Canyon Lakers saw what they believed to be everything from a UFO to an exploding airplane to a meteor/comet.

Cmdr. Ryan Perry with the Navy’s Third Fleet later confirmed it was a Trident II missile launched off the Southern California coast from the USS Kentucky, an Ohio class ballistics submarine.

Calling it a UFO, unidentified flying object, was correct at the moment, since it certainly was flying and it was unidentified – though not alien. The missile lit up the night sky shortly after 6 p.m. November 7 and was visible as far as Arizona, according to some reports.

News sources quoted Perry as saying the tests were part of a scheduled, on-going system evaluation. Launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system. The missile was not armed, and no information was released about the test beforehand because it was classified until after the launch. Air traffic controllers had been notified ahead of time, however, to divert air traffic coming into LAX.

Here’s what a few employees at Golding Publications has to say about the sight:

Marti Norris – Saturday night our family took the grand boys fishing at the end of the Oceanside Pier. We were all at the end of the pier by Ruby’s watching the boys fish when my daughter noticed a light at the horizon line to the south of us, way out in the ocean.

It seemed to be getting brighter by the second and then the ocean started to glow around it. Suddenly, this light shot right out of the water straight up in to the sky. It went very high and then started heading north from us. It had a tail like a sparkler, then seemed to explode and disintegrate into a glowing white ball. Everyone on the pier was pointing and shouting!

Lynda Hoffman – I was driving east from the North Gate when I saw a bright flash in the sky right in front of me. It appeared maybe to be an odd-shaped airplane and lights, kind of square. I jokingly said to my husband, “Is that a UFO?” Then it just went poof and was gone.

Dona Jessup – At first we thought it was an airplane on fire and crashing. Then the thing in the sky changed it course. It went from traveling from south to north (horizontal) to going straight up, appearing to explode, a big white circle of smoke. The circle was spreading rapidly. It appeared to still be traveling after the explosion and still on fire. A few seconds later another explosion and another white cloud inside the existing white cloud. Now there were two large white circles in the sky, then bright blue sky in the middle of the dark night sky. Then the thing in the sky was gone. People were stopped on the streets outside their vehicles just watching in disbelief. One man I spoke to said he thought it was a UFO, then was almost certain we were under attack. Very exciting and scary at the same time!

Donna Kupke – We had our daughter and her family over for her birthday. The guys were outside barbecuing when my grandson came running in shouting, “Nonna, Nonna, there’s a martian in the sky! A UFO!” The rest of us went outside and looked up. We had no idea what it was; a sky lantern? fire balloon? plane on fire? hot air balloon in trouble? a rocket? Then came the bright and very blue trail, which was the most confusing part. We thought the bright white might be from the moisture in the air but really were at a loss as to what it could be. Since the steaks were done, we decided to go back inside and, to appease 3-year-old Micah, call it a “friendly, happy UFO.”