LOS ANGELES—On Tuesday native residents of Los Angeles were shaken from their daily routine by what appeared to be a missile making for the California coastline. The alleged missile came within 35 miles of Los Angeles before stopping.
There have been various speculative scenarios. Some believe the alleged missile to be foreign, possibly Chinese. China has in the past leveled direct nuclear threats against the United States in response to US policy on Taiwan. One such threat came in the form of a warning in the late ’90s by an unidentified Chinese official that the US might at some point have to choose between Taiwan and Los Angeles. The second warning came in 2001, when a prominent Chinese general remarked, “We […] will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xi’an. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds … of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.”
In 2007, China successfully tested an anti-satellite missile, thought by many to be a show of force designed to intimidate America and discourage the militarization of space. The Congressional Research Service released a report on the test.
Other internet theories range from an accidental launch by US forces, a reverse warning to Asia ahead of President Obama’s trip, and the vapor trails from a large commercial airliner.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is remaining ambiguous in the matter, hinting that the sighting was probably the exhaust from a large jet, but not ruling out other explanations. Col. Dave Laplan with the DoD released this statement to Canyon News and all major news organizations:
“While there is nothing at this time that leads the Department of Defense to believe this is a missile launch, the department and other U.S. government agencies with expertise in aviation and space continue to look into the condensation trail (CONTRAIL) seen and reported off the coast of southern California on Monday evening.
“All DoD entities with rocket and missile programs reported no launches, scheduled or inadvertent, during the time period in the area of the reported contrail. NORAD and USNORTHCOM confirmed that it did not monitor any foreign military missile launch off the California coast yesterday and has determined that there was no threat to the US homeland.
“In addition, the FAA ran radar replays from Monday afternoon of a large area west of Los Angeles. Those replays did not reveal any fast-moving, unidentified targets. The FAA also did not receive reports of any unusual sightings from pilots who were flying in the area Monday afternoon.
“If any new information comes to light in the coming days, we will update the press and public.”
Some have pointed out that the alleged missile was sighted near missile defense testing facilities in Southern California, raising the prospect of a clandestine test.
