I quickly got my binoculars to get a better look, and could not believe what I was seeing. The "orb" was trailing a bright blueish-green tail when it suddenly changed direction. I could then see what appeared to be a trail similar to a comet from the top of the object, as well as from the bottom. What the heck was it??
Well, within an hour information became available through Twitter/Facebook/etc., and apparently, The US Navy launched a Trident II (DB5) missile from somewhere off the southern California coast (unarmed thankfully) as a test. The view from southern California was quite different from what I saw, but looking at the photos, I now understand why it appeared to look like a giant glowing, round, fog-like orb.
This morning, I found a great Blog article accurately detailing what I saw:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/07/california_mystery_light_trident_missile_test_seen_by_thousands.html
 |
| View of the missile from California
From California, the missile was more visible from the side, but you can clearly see the foggy ring and the blueish-green tail emanating from the center.
|
 |
| View from Arizona
I'm not sure where in Arizona this photo was taken, but the angle is more straight-on than from the side. What I saw was similar but different. This photo was probably taken about 5 minutes after the missile first appeared in the sky as a bright light.
I found another photo taken from Arizona in 2005 that showed another missile launch that took place in California from Vandenberg Air Force base. It's another side-view, but imagine looking at it straight on and you'll understand what it was I saw last night. Strangely, what was missing from last night's launch was the tell-tale glowing "launch line" that typically trails behind a missile.
2005 Vandenberg Missile Launch as seen from Arizona
09nov15 ***Corrected original NASA reference to US Navy***
|
