BC-US–Missile Test-Bright Light, 8th Ld-Writethru,455
Naval missile test off California creates streaking light
AP Photo NYSB701, CALOS401
Eds: Changes dateline to Los Angeles. With AP Photos. AP Video.
CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A bright, colorful light that streaked across the California sky, startling residents and leading to a flurry of calls to law enforcement, turned out to be an unarmed missile test-fired from a Navy submarine off the coast Saturday evening, officials said.
Kevin Stack was walking to dinner with his young son in northeastern Los Angeles when he was stopped in his tracks by what he thought was an especially intense light from a police helicopter – except that it was completely silent.
“It intensified then shot across the dark sky, leaving a green trail,” said Stack, 41. “Then it fizzled and appeared like a dying dot on an old television screen.”
Stack’s 5-year-old son, Blackstone, was under no illusions about what he had just seen.
“It was an alien,” Blackstone said.
Not quite, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman. Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted a missile test at sea from the USS Kentucky, a ballistic missile submarine, Perry said in a statement.
US NEWS
Flames rise from a vehicle following a fatal crash Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, in Hyattsville, Md. The accident occurred late Sunday afternoon on a road in Hyattsville just northeast of Washington. (Steve Ramsey via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Officials: 4 killed, 14 hurt in fiery crash near Washington FILE – In this Nov. 9, 1965, file photo, New York City is seen in darkness from the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City during a power failure that left most of the northeastern United States and parts of Canada without power for hours. The buildings with lights had emergency power generators. 10 Things to Know for Monday FILE – In this Friday, April 11, 2014, file photo, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe participates in a news conference in Rolla, Mo. Missouri football players announced Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, on Twitter that they will not participate in team activities until the university president is removed from office. The move aligns the team with campus groups who have been protesting the way Wolfe has dealt with issues of racial harassment during the school year. Latest on Missouri protests: System leaders to meet Monday Tornadoes possible in Arkansas, Missouri, other states Train cars lie overturned outside of Alma, Wis. after derailing on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. BNSF Railway said multiple tanker cars leaked ethanol into the Mississippi River on Saturday. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP) 2nd train derails in Wisconsin in 2 days, spills crude oil
The launches are conducted on a frequent basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system and that information about such test launches is classified prior to the launch, he said.
The lack of information about the streak of light just after sunset led to panicked calls to police and lit up social media as people posted photos and video of the celestial sight.
Julien Solomita just happened to be shooting some video footage in a Los Angeles neighborhood when his group saw something odd up above.
“It was very wild watching this in the sky,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. “I can’t really say what I thought it was because I’ve never experienced anything remotely close to it.”
The light was visible for hundreds of miles, startling people in Nevada and Arizona and as far north as California’s Sonoma Valley wine country.
“Anybody else see the big white ball of light in the sky?” wrote California state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, on Facebook. “Wow.”
It wasn’t clear whether the test was related to the rerouting of nighttime flights into and out of Los Angeles International Airport because of an active military airspace from Friday to Nov. 12.
Flights usually arrive and depart over the ocean from midnight to 6:30 a.m. to minimize noise, but they will have to go over communities east of the airport.
A message seeking comment from the Federal Aviation Administration wasn’t immediately returned.
The test was conducted in the Pacific Test Range, a vast area northwest of Los Angeles where the Navy periodically test-fires Tomahawk and Standard cruise missiles from surface ships and submarines.
—
-- Delivered by Feed43 service
Post a Comment