Mystery Missile!: "In Conclusion"

Okay, what have we learned about the object the took-off November 8, 2010, "out of the Sea" and over the Western Sky? Two things, really: there are those who believe it was the contrail of a jetliner and those who believe it was a missile. For your convenience, UFO Blog has analyzed these two theories for you.

It could not have been the contrail of a jetliner because the plume had a spiral or corkscrew shape. Conversely, it could not have been a missile because it moved too slowly and—for what it's worth—the Military knew nothing about it (but missiles can have spiral contrails and Militarys can, well, fib). So, what was it?

It was a UFO; there is no explanation. It seemed so likely it was a contrail, but if you really look at the footage it's clear the object was spinning, and the shape of the contrail itself proves this. Also, if it were a missile, then where did it go? What's it's purpose? It's a Mystery!

In conclusion, it seems that—hey what's this?

What is this?

A mystery within a mystery? Yes, this image actually appears in the Mystery Missile clips that were shown on various news programs at the time, but not in all of them. Knowingly or not, "UFO2" was excluded by some news organizations. It's not clear whether this was intentional. But this has spurred some conspiracy theorists to ring alarm bells.

Notice this video shows only one enlarged still. This makes the object seem bigger, ominous, more UFO-y. Also, the author claims the UFO2 "intercepts" the Mystery Missile. But this is not the case.

Here is the "complete" UFO2 footage (take a good look at it, enlarge with the "X" in right corner):

UFO2, looks a lot like a helicopter at first. It even appears to have a rotor on top of the stern (back)—and that's weird. Notice it has a blinking running light but it's in an odd place (and no red lights). Compared to the scale of the footage, this object would have to be very large. Also, it appears to have a constant light on the stern that's very bright.

UFO2 looks more like a plane moving backwards. If this is a helicopter, it would have to be a military model, perhaps an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter, called Chinook. Its top speed of 196 mph. Let's take a look:

Obviously, this helicopter does not resemble UFO2 at all. The Chinook's rotors are it's most obvious feature and don't appear in the Mystery Missile footage.

Also, the shape is all wrong! Why did this object come so close to our Mystery Missile? Lastly, if this is a helicopter it would have to be military, and in that case, the military would know what this is because we sure don't. It will remain another mystery for now. The end.

Mystery Missile!: "Professor: It was a missile, not a plane"

The following video is an excellent segment from CNN, featuring the Mystery Missile. It originally aired soon after the time of the sighting (November 8, 2010). It’s hosted by Josh Levs and presents a discussion about the main crux of the Mystery Missile saga: missile vs. jetliner.


Mr. Levs’ piece presents proponents of both sides, but more importantly, his approach vastly differs from other news show presentations in that the CNN producers take-on the "it was an optical illusion" mantra that became common in the days after the event; especially after the US Military took the position that it was an airplane. In effect, the book was closed on this UFO case— since it was just an airliner contrail.


This CNN segment also features a discussion of the nature of contrails, an explanation of the optics and illusions; but most interestingly it shows Mr. Levs asking the missed but essential question: “if this was an airplane, why can’t U.S. Officials just tell us which one it was? We have records of our aircraft in this country especially since 911!"

Mr. Levs then hands the discussion over to Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence who quotes NORAD as stating “no foreign military launched any missile at that time nor was there any danger to the Homeland” The usual pap! But then he cites the FAA as indicating it…“did radar replays of that time period; they didn’t track any fast-moving unidentified object. Also, none of the Pilots in that area at the time reported seeing anything”.

Finally, Col. David Laplan of the Pentagon chimed in with: “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”.

This is astonishing! This information was missing from UFO Blog’s account of this event. The fact is now clear; there was no official witnessing of this event, despite the massive arsenal of sensitive state-of-the-art tracking equipment. How is that possible when the object was recorded and tracked by conventional photo and video cameras for at least 10-minutes?

Josh Levs closes the segment by throwing it back to the Anchorwoman Kyra Phillips by saying:

She's otta' this world

“In the meantime we here at CNN are calling just about everyone we can think of to find out what the deal is with this aircraft, and Kyra in the end we've got a couple of questions: not only what the deal is with this, but also why doesn’t the Government know what the deal is with this, we’ll get you that as soon as we have it.”Unexpectedly, Ms. Phillips answers with a strange remark: “alright, maybe we want to try calling God, looks like he or she is the only one with the answers right now.” This makes Josh giggle and then mutter under his breath “if only”.

The irony is, this important CNN video was uploaded by a guy who collects videos of "hot newswomen", like Kyra Phillips, and this video was in his YouTube channel (UFO Blog was unwittingly led to the site—honest). Here's the video.

Mystery Missile!: "Theories" III

"

More "Mystery Missile Theories": It was a Hobbyist missile or a "Private Launch"; If the object was coming from the West, as it appeared to be, where would it have been launched from, or more accurately from what?

The only possible "platforms" would be an island, a ship (not a "boat") or a submarine. First of all, can we save a tree and dispense with The "Private Launch" Theory? Isn't it an oxymoron?

UFO Blog believes if it were a "Hobbyist", he would pick an island to fire-off his enormous, mysterious toy missile; but no missiles "mysterious" or otherwise were detected from the local islands, especially Santa Catalina Island. That leaves a ship or submarine.  The coolest theory is a submarine launch! Imagine, that would put it in the category of  Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM). Perhaps it is naive to believe that the US Military would not chime in if it was. But they assert that it was a an airliner.

It was a UFO: There's good news and there's bad news. What's that? You want to hear the good news first. No way. The bad news is UFO Blog could have just blurted-out: "of course it's a freakin' UFO— it's unidentified and it's flying"—in the very beginning! But then you would've missed the plot-twists and surprise ending.

The good news is the Mystery Missile is a UFO, an unidentified flying object. What's not clear is whether it's an alien craft. As UFOs go, it was striking because it appeared above a heavily populated area during daylight for at least 10-minutes. Also, it appeared to include a contrail that looked and behaved like an airplane's but corkscrew-shaped like a missile's; those "cancel each other out". That's the essence of the mystery, and that's what makes it unidentified.

Oh, did UFO Blog mention that there was a plot twist and a surprise ending? You bet!

To be continued!

Mystery Missile!: "The Helicopter"

On Monday evening November 8, 2010, a strange object slowly flew into the western sky off the coast of Southern California. As it shot into the orange-sunset sky, it climbed ever higher leaving an enormous plume. The object itself seemed to pulsate and shimmer; changing from metallic silver to orange to red-hot. This ominous scene filled the sky, and was visible for miles.

Mystery Missile Videographer Gil Leyvas

Fortunately, this dramatic event was caught on tape by a local KCBS/KCAL Chopper 9 TV Cameraman, Gil Leyvas. Said Leyvas “Whatever it was, it was spinning up into the sky kind of like a spiral,” and "was easy to distinguish from condensation trails from jets". He then added “It was quite a sight to see, it was spectacular”.


Leyvas, an experienced Videographer, must have seen thousands of contrails and cloud formations of all shapes and colors. As such, consider the significance of his words: "It was spinning like a spiral" and he "can distinguish it from the contrail of a jet", then added he could do it "easily". Even the statements, "it was quite a sight to see" and "It was spectacular", indicate this event was unique.





Check out the spiral throughout this clip

But let's get back to his statements about the object being "easy to distinguish from a contrail" and "spinning". Leyvas is an eyewitness in the sky; a seasoned reporter with high-tech video equipment. His experience teaches him to carefully observe objects and events and to capture them "live" or "on-tape". Fortunately a helicopter provides an outstanding vantage point to accomplish this task. If anyone is qualified to characterize this event it's him.

His observation, that it was "easy to distinguish" the Mystery's Missile's plume from that of a jetliner, flies in the face of what is now the commonly accepted explanation that it was, in fact, the contrail of a jetliner. This is significant because the Military, who was late to the party, announced that it concluded that it was probably a contrail.


Contrailscience.com, a website dedicated to contrails (or debunking the "chem-trail" controversy), features an article entitled Los Angeles Missile Contrail Explained in Pictures. This is an exhaustive (get it?) study of the behavior of the Mystery Missile's plume, with an emphasis on debunking the idea that it's a UFO.

From Contrailscience.com

UFO Blog pronounces this evidence "inconclusive". Why? Because as far as we can tell, the Contrailscience.com presentation doesn't prove that it's not a missile or an alien craft, but rather seems only to show that the Mystery Missile's exhaust plume behaves like a contrail; "your answer is blowin' in the wind".


Also, jetliner contrails don't spin or "spiral". When you look closely at the Mystery Missile footage, you clearly see the trail left by the object is a spiral. Below it, the rest of the trail disintegrates into a cloud as it's carried away by natural forces, much like a contrail.


Furthermore, the object actually emitting the exhaust glowed continuously, unlike the normal reflection of the Sun on the body of an aircraft, which flickers and quickly ends as the plane moves on. The Mystery Missile wasn't flickering, it was glowing; pulsating various "hot" colors. It was moving so slowly, that the original tape is actually 10-minutes long!


The closer you look at this event, the stranger it becomes. After all these months, perhaps it's time to look at the evidence again and listen to the eyewitness, but also to ask "where is that 10-minute tape"?

Mystery Missile!: "This is the kind of stuff I love"

Is nothing sacred? The Mystery Missile is a dramatic warning for us to prepare for the coming cosmic alignment and global axis shift. Nothing less than the very survival of Humankind lays in the balance—right?


Meanwhile the "schmexperts" have piously weighed-in and scolded us on the question of whether the Mystery Missile is an airplane or a missile, and proclaimed it to be a contrail from a UPS cargo jet.


Say what? Oh, blah, blah, blah. They've had their say, now let the real "Messengers of Truth" to have theirs. Hey, how bout' these guys?

"Top 10 Dumb Guy Mystery Missile Explanations"

"Missile Toes"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Missile: Impossible
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Mystery Missile!: "Theories" II

More theories about the Mystery Missile: It was a missile fired by China: Frankly this hypothesis is weaker and sillier than any UFO-theory, because a missile launch would have been detected by radar from many military and civilian installations. Also, why? Why would China all of the sudden fire a missile at us? This would have been such a provocative act that it would have sparked a loud response from many, many quarters. Also, how could a Chinese submarine not be detected so close to a major metropolitan area lined with military bases? As much money as we owe China, we would think they would more likely to make sure we stayed in one piece, to be around to repay them.


It was a jetliner contrail: One thing is true, the most spectacular thing about this crazy "Roman Candle" is its plume. Called a Condensation Trail or a "Contrail", the vapor trail behind the object is accordingly smokey and fluffy. Virtually no one disputes the object behind the shiny thing on-top is some kind of contrail.


CBS, who has had the best reporting on this story, features Pentagon Spokesman, Col. Dave Lapan stating: "All of the [sic] factors together leave us pretty confident that this was a contrail left by an aircraft". This, apparently after checking with  the FAA, Department of Homeland Security, Navy, Air force and The North American Aerospace Defense Command  or "NORAD".

UPS MD-11

What do the real experts think? The website ContrailScience.com (I swear, UFO Blog not making this up!) provides an amazingly detailed study and analysis. Looking at every possible angle, they have determined the "Mystery Missile" phenomenon to simply be UPS902, a United Parcel Service Company MD-11, a three-engine plane "that can leave a contrail that looks like it's coming from one engine". Evidently, this airplane flies daily from Honolulu to Phoenix, on occasion scaring the hell out of everybody in L.A. 


Imagine, finally, an explanation! Wait, what about the shiny thing on top? ContrailScience.com further explains this part of the phenomenon as being the reflection of the rays of the setting sun relecting from the body of the aircraft, like the sequence to right. The Mystery Missile is no more! Right?


Continued

Mystery Missile!: "Theories" I

Yes, even though it's 6-months later, even though it was a mass sighting and even though there may be some very good theories out there, this event and the object remain a mystery—a UFO.

What do people think this was? Well, this question prompts a dialog that extends to the weird and improbable. Theories abound but breakdown to these general categories:


It was a missile: When UFO Blog first saw it on TV, it looked like a missile, especially because newscast after newscast repeated that the "missile" originated 35-miles off the coast of California, northeast of Santa Catalina Island. In fact, it looked exactly like a submarine launched ICBM. But UFO Blog was not alone; this thing was was dubbed "Mystery Missile" from the beginning by news organizations.

Delta-II rocket

The main problem with the "Missile Theory" is the object was moving slowly but missiles are fast. Also, the billowing contrail emanating from the object was voluminous. Compare the photo to the right to the image of the "Mystery Missile" above. The picture to the right is a Delta Rocket II, T+ 47-seconds. Despite the thinner contrail, the similarity to the "Mystery Missile" is striking.


Another quirk is the object on-top of the "Mystery Missile appears to glow or shimmer, similar to a missile. This phenomenon will be explained-away in the theory It was a jetliner contrail.


In the final analysis, the "Mystery Missile" appears to not be a missile at all, mainly because no one has claimed it (more on this next episode). All government military agencies immediately denied any knowledge of a launch, except for one 3-days before—a Delta II Rocket fired from Vandenberg.


Also, the Military seemed caught off-guard; if they had launched a missile, it is likely there would have been a quick cover story, Remember, they had just launched that Delta Rocket just a few days before. The Military, our protectors from goofy missiles, was clueless! If it were a missile, it would have been caught on radar. 

It was an accident: The proponents of this theory are oblivious to the fact that there is a careful protocol for initiating a military missile launch; requiring the participation of more than one individual. If it were purposely launched off the coast of Southern California in a crowded airspace next to a gigantic urban center in broad daylight, it would have been no accident. Why would an armed submarine be near Hollywood?


As Fox News put it "If a test missile or an accidental missile was launched in the region it would have either come from Naval Air Station Point Mugu or Vandenberg Air Force Base. At sea it could have come from a U.S. submarine or a surface ship." But  from the get-go all Military or Aeronautic Agencies have denied any knowledge of a missile launch—including NORAD.

Continued

Mystery Missile!: "But Nobody Could Say What it Was"

On Monday evening, November 8, 2010, a UFO was sighted in the sky off the coast of Los Angeles. The object appeared shiny and emitted what appeared to be a large condensation trail (or "contrail").

This amazing sight was caught on tape by a local KCBS News helicopter Cameraman.

The following story about this event aired November 9, 2010, and was presented by CBS News through Good Morning America's Harry Smith and reported by CBS News National Security Correspondent, David Martin. It features the actual edited footage of the event (the uncut footage is said to be 10-minutes long!).

 

Mr. Martin starts-off by making it clear the Pentagon said they "still didn't know what it was" but then said "except, it wasn't a missile fired by the U.S. or another country". Skeptically, he then remarks "the video of, what looks for all the world, like the contrail of a missile...was shot...over Los Angeles"   The story goes on: both Navy and Air force indicated they had not launched any missiles. Mr. Martin quotes the North American Air Defense Command as stating that it had not been fired by "any other military". Again, an incredulous David Martin states "but nobody could say what it was".


The North American Air Defense Command further stated the object was not a missile because it didn't "travel fast enough" nor "have a big enough exhaust plume to be a military missile".


The comparison of the object, constant in CBS News' coverage, is to a missile. In fact, the phenomenon has been dubbed "Mystery Missile". The segment ends with an interesting exchange between Harry Smith and David Martin. Martin comments "The best guess now, Harry, is that it's either an airliner or an amateur rocket, but we may never know for certain." Smith then pointed to comments indicating the importance of the "perspective" or "angle" between the helicopter and the object. (These types of arguments promote the idea the contrail is from a jetliner.) Smith then asks "is there any scuttlebutt consensus around the Pentagon"? Martin replies "scuttlebutt says airplane, but nobody is willing to make a definitive statement because they just don't have the data to prove it was an airplane.  Finally, Martin sarcastically sums it all up: "they have the data to demonstrate that it was not a missile, but they can't prove what it was". This cracks Harry up.


CBS News' tone throughout the story is, curiously, a tad derisive. The implication being: The Military should have known about this-but didn't. And if they did, they're covering it up stupidly. But the Military may be only be a bit-player in this saga. Stay tuned.