[meteorite-list] Mystery Light Over Pacific Ocean Was Missile Test

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/07/mystery-light-sky-military-navy-drill/

Mystery light over ocean was missile test
By Pauline Repard 
San Diego Tribune
November 7, 2015

A mysterious light that streaked across San Diego's night sky Saturday, 
visible as far away as Nevada and Arizona, was a Trident missile test-fired 
by the Navy.

Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted the scheduled Trident II (D5) 
missile test flight at sea from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic 
missile submarine, in the Pacific Test Range off the coast of Southern 
California, a Navy spokesman said. 

The test was part of a scheduled, on-going system evaluation test, said 
Cmdr. Ryan Perry with the Navy's Third Fleet.

Perry said launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure 
the continued reliability of the system. "Each test activity provides 
valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance 
in our capabilities," he said in a statement.

The missile was not armed and Strategic Systems Programs does not routinely 
announce missile testing. Information regarding the test launch of such 
missiles is classified prior to the launch, Perry said.

The test range is a massive area northwest of Los Angeles. The Navy periodically 
uses the range to test fire Tomahawk and Standard cruise from surface 
ships and submarines.

Law agencies and news media in San Diego were flooded with calls about 
6 p.m. from people reporting everything from a flare to a comet to a nuclear 
bomb in the western sky.

Some people saw it fade from bright red to white or blue, and thought 
it traveled from south to north.

It's not clear if the test has anything to do with flight restrictions 
issued for Los Angeles International Airport for the coming week.

Nighttime flights into and out of the Los Angeles airport are to avoid 
passing over the Pacific Ocean just the west of the airport because the 
U.S. military has activated airspace there, Reuters reported.

The FAA and the military did not disclose the nature of the activities 
taking place near the second-busiest U.S. airport.

Airplanes normally fly over the ocean when arriving and departing the 
coastal Los Angeles International Airport during the night to avoid disturbing 
nearby residents, airport officials said in a statement to the news service.

But the FAA has indicated that military airspace over that patch of ocean 
was activated beginning on Friday night and continuing through Thursday 
night, airport officials said.

As a result, the airport will need to deviate from normal flight patterns 
during the next six nights, the statement said.

Many witnesses to the explosion speculated it was part of the annual Taurid 
meteor shower, which is reaching its peak. But Brian Keating, an astrophysicist 
at UC San Diego, quickly dismissed that.

"The Taurid meteors would be coming from the east - and this light 
came from the west," Keating said. "We'd also be more likely to see 
meteors about midnight, and the flash came near sunset."