America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

[Mega]

http://jalopnik.com/5685331/what-mys...oast-yesterday

The games afoot!
Mike

[blazespinnaker]

Re: America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

WASHINGTON — The US military has so far been unable to explain an apparent missile contrail off the coast of California and is still trying to determine its cause, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

Pentagon says they have no idea.

[FrankL]

Re: America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

http://jalopnik.com/5685331/what-mys...oast-yesterday

The games afoot!
Mike

the US intimidates China by scaring its own citizen, shooting a missile just 35km off their own coast? sure, makes a lot of sense! What about the other way round?

Might also explain the stuff in the precious metals markets, where silver is just gaining way too much over a few days to appear to be regular market moves... someone is not happy...

now for some background knowledge, does anyone know what kind of anti-missile defense systems are operational on US soil, and if they work if a missile is launched 35km off their own coast?

[ASH]

Re: America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

the US intimidates China by scaring its own citizen, shooting a missile just 35km off their own coast? sure, makes a lot of sense! What about the other way round?

Might also explain the stuff in the precious metals markets, where silver is just gaining way too much over a few days to appear to be regular market moves... someone is not happy...

I was going to say... worst case this is a demonstration by "someone" that they can get a boomer past SOSUS. But launching an SLBM off our coast would be suicidally provocative. Only the North Koreans are that reckless. I'd say it is unlikely that this will turn out to be a long-range military missile. More likely a sounding rocket or some other non-military experiment or test that wasn't well publicized. But I'm very curious.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

I wouldn't make too much of a rocket launch, ICBM or otherwise.
The Pacific Test Range is our main rocket test range, we use it often and all such launches are towards China, vaguely.

[ASH]

Re: America fires a ICBM at CHINA! ?

I wouldn't make too much of a rocket launch, ICBM or otherwise.
The Pacific Test Range is our main rocket test range, we use it often and all such launches are towards China, vaguely.

I think the only unusual thing is that those launches are announced, and the Pentagon doesn't act coy about them.

When I lived in Santa Barbara, we saw a lot of launches from Vandenburg AFB -- usually tests of missile defense hardware in Kwajalein. Here is someone's photo of a satellite launch from Vandenburg:



When they launch at dusk, it can be dark on the ground, but the contrail gets lit up by bright sunlight when the rocket rises above the earth's shadow.