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-   -   Craziness in the western sky tonight (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/major/91600-craziness-western-sky-tonight.html)

Flyby1206 11-10-2015 07:58 AM


Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 2008216)
Here's what it was:

http://youtu.be/qzXXCNhCmME

Whoa, definitely aliens!

I've never seen or heard of a missile making that kind of sight

N19906 11-10-2015 11:15 PM

The most amazing thing I ever saw was a launch out of Vandenburg in '86. I was driving the Angeles Crest Highway about forty miles out of Lancaster one evening about one hour after sunset. Out in the western sky, a giant glowing green orb appeared, in the middle of which was a pinprick of white light, heading up and westwards. (This was the rocket exhaust plume.)
With no way to measure the size, (scale), of the exhaust residue, I pulled off to the side of the road in my '65 Ford, completely gobsmacked. I had no idea of the scale of the vision in front of me. (I actually considered finding some local to verify I hadn't lost my marbles). No one lived on the road nearby, so I had to wait until the next day to find out about the launch, after over half of LA had completely freaked out over it and had called all the radio stations.
A green glowing cloud in the upper atmosphere, with a whitish glowing pinprick rocket exhaust, moving westwards fast.
Amazing.
Never seen anything like it, probably never will again. The funny thing is scale was never an issue; there's nothing you can compare it to. It's otherworldly, quite literally.

Hovernut 11-11-2015 08:17 PM

Yep, I used to sleep between two of those silos in Missile Compartment 2nd Level. The Tennessee lobbed one earlier in the week. Not sure what Boat this one came from. I got to launch torpedoes off Hawaii in the range, but we never did a SLBM launch. The most impressive is a DESO, where multiple birds fly in succession from the Boat...really rocks the Boat from what I hear! I'm always on the lookout for launches from NOTU Canaveral. Met the Command Master Chief some years ago j/s'ing on Alaska...he was going to get me aboard an observation boat for a launch sometime...that would be cool!! My old Boat got converted from SSBN to SSGN, & carries SEALS & a $h1tload of Tomahawks, as well as other 'goodies' in the Drydeck Shelters & two missile tubes converted to lockout chambers!

skater3260 11-12-2015 04:36 AM

Thanks AA73, that was amazing. It should be renamed the Bernoulli Missile.

tomgoodman 11-12-2015 05:44 AM

Kwajalein atoll
 
Here's how it looks at the other end of the flight:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...le-testing.jpg

Dolphinflyer 11-12-2015 06:17 AM


Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 2008216)
Here's what it was:

http://youtu.be/qzXXCNhCmME


Had an recent Atlas launch from Kennedy Space Center that was identical to that in the early am before sunrise.

I didn't hear of any screaming or hysteric calls to life coaches and therapists.

Best one I saw like that was just after sunset, sliver of twilight to west, stars above. We were 450 NM of KSC heading from SJU to BDL. MIA ATC told us the shuttle launch was still a "go" and we thought we might just see a lighted dot.

We were amazed to see the backlight orange trail of the solid boosters, then it appeared to level off and accelerate. It was similar to the video except heading right towards us and above our nose. The trail was incredible and spread out at a 90 deg angle to the nozzles at that point.


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