Text Fwd: Pentagon calls mystery missile 'unexplained,' cannot rule out threat 미 국방부도 모르는 이상한 미사일은 왜?

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* Update (* Informed at Defense News Letter, Nov. 11, 2010)

Los Angeles Times
Pentagon says no evidence vapor trail came from anything but an aircraft
:Spotted just before sunset Monday, the vapor trail set off speculation and conspiracy theories about an unexplained missile. But the military reported no rocket or missile launches.
By David S. Cloud and Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2010
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* Video source: 760 KFMB AM Talk Radio
Mysterious missile lights up the sky over the Pacific
(* Informed at StopNATO)

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* Text informed from the CGL News on Nov. 9, 2010

Herald Sun
Pentagon calls mystery missile 'unexplained,' cannot rule out threat
November 10, 2010

THE Pentagon said a missile launch off the southern coast of California remained "unexplained" and that its mysterious origins meant that it was not possible to rule out any threat to the homeland.

Earlier yesterday, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and NORTHCOM (United States Northern Command) officials told Fox there was no threat.

However, Pentagon Spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan would not confirm that because the military does not know what the missile was or where it came from.

Col Lapan added that the incident did not appear to be a regularly scheduled test, as no warnings to mariners or airmen appeared to be issued ahead of its launch.

The contrail was caught on camera by a KCBS news helicopter at around sunset Monday evening, approximately 50km out to sea and west of Los Angeles.

The missile appeared to be launched from the water, and not from US soil, Col Lapan added.

The military was trying to solve the mystery using the video from KCBS as there was no indication that NORAD and NORTHCOM were able to detect it independently.

According to Fox News, NORAD and NORTHCOM would only say they were aware of the launch.

However one unnamed senior defense official added: "There was no threat to the homeland."

A navy spokesperson previously told KCBS that no navy activity was reported in the region.

A sergeant at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County said a Delta II rocket was launched from the base last Friday, but insisted there were no launches since then.

On viewing the footage, former deputy defense secretary Robert Ellsworth speculated on KCBS that the launch could be a show of military muscle.

"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine ... to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," Mr Ellsworth said.

Related Coverage

• 'Missile' puzzles the Pentagon The Australian, 1 hour ago
• Mystery missile baffles US military Daily Telegraph, 12 hours ago
• US baffled by mystery missile Perth Now, 13 hours ago
• Obama confirms explosives found on plane Herald Sun, 29 Oct 2010
• US official set up own Afghan spies Herald Sun, 29 Oct 2010

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See also

StopNATO

Video/Text: "Mystery" Missile Launch Off Southern California
[Video at URL above]
760 KFMB Radio
November 9, 2010
Mysterious missile lights up the sky over the Pacific

Excerpt

The magnificent images were captured from the KCBS chopper around 5pm. The location of the missile was described as west of Los Angeles, north of Catalina Island, and approximately 35 miles out to sea.

CBS News
November 9, 2010
Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast

Excerpt

A Navy spokesperson told KFMB it wasn't their missile. He said there was no Navy activity reported in the area Monday evening.

On Friday night, Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, launched a Delta II rocket, carrying an Italian satellite into orbit, but a sergeant at the base told KFMB there had been no launches since then.

Ellsworth urged American to wait for definitive answers to come from the military.

When asked, however, what he thought it might be, the former ambassador said it could possibly have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama tours Asia.

"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine … to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," speculated Ellsworth.

Ellsworth said such tests were carried out in the Atlantic to demonstrate America's power to the Soviets, when there was a Soviet Union, but he doesn't believe an ICBM has previously been tested by the U.S. over the Pacific.