um wtf? ok who did it??

[ReconRat]

I don't buy that it was an airplane. Civilian planes don't have flames coming out of the engines, not to mention only 1 engine. A single engine military plane in afterburner would not leave that large of a contrail.

I agree, it gave many of the appearances of a mil-spec launch of a large airframe with a solid fuel engine. I sort of think it's too slow. But air speed at high altitude when viewed from the ground can be very deceptive. And all that's given is a short video.

I mean a shuttle launch is slow, as well as a Delta launch. They both accumulate velocity at a steady pace. That's typically what this should also should look like, to terminate in orbital velocities.

There are things both right and wrong about seeing this as either an aircraft or a missile launch. And things right and wrong about how it's observed as well.

It even appears that the contrail stops when it goes past 30,000 feet. There is little water vapor up there to make a contrail. Leaving only a short smoke trail. Launches can easily be visible to extreme altitudes, till they go out of sight over the horizon.

I'm backing up to the concept of half of everything I hear and read is false.

Edited November 14, 2010 by ReconRat

[ReconRat]

High quality up close video of a Trident launch from the USS Alabama off the coast of California. - February 2009

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1175150827378

Navy video of ripple launch of four Trident missiles. Notice how quickly they are gone over the horizon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TPHQ2GFxMw

And an interesting article, which doesn't determine either way.

http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20101110_3543.php

Edited November 14, 2010 by ReconRat

[ReconRat]

Yes, I'm up in the middle of the night...

DARPA / Lockheed testing of the Falcon HTV-2 began in secret in April, 2010. Launched from Vandenburg AFB, or somewhere secret nearby. About the same time Gates let slip that we have conventional warhead ICBM capability. Test launches are from West coast launch sites, targeted at the test range in the Marshall Islands. If a sub were to test a sub launched variant of this weapon, it would probably be from right there off the coast of California. These launches are not announced ahead of time. Launch vehicles are possibly using a new type of propulsion / motor that I know very little about. Testing of foreign missile technology (Scud) and intercept has also been on going in secrecy from the West coast facilities using the same flight parameters.

The Marshall Islands are directly on the other side of the Hawaiian Islands, from the LA area. The contrail from a flight coming in from Hawaii could be similar in appearance to a launch trail going back the other way. The question is, did the flight 808 from Hawaii go visibly overhead above LA and continue on to Phoenix. A missile trail going the other way would not.

edit: The guy that claims US Airways flight 808 has changed to UPS flight 902, Hawaii to Ontario. A similar time and place and flight.

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9802.0%3Ball

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/slirbm.htm

http://defensetech.org/2010/04/12/gates-says-u-s-has-conventionally-armed-icbms/#axzz0l87v45fQ

Edited November 14, 2010 by ReconRat