Sunday, November 8, 2015

Trident Missile Launch. Some Questions to ask.

From the dirt field where I sleep in my car at night I had a perfect view of the flight path from about 20 seconds after ignition.  What I watched was not a Sub Launched IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile).  I have visually seen a ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) in flight to include booster separation, I have seen a Cruise Missile in flight a couple hundred feet off the ground along the Florida Coast.  All of these things have distinctive exhausts and flight paths.

A Sub Launched IRBM climbs, it climbs on an angle going to its initial course setting, ICBM's launched from land do the same thing just on a much larger scale.  Since both have solid rocket boosters they put out massive amounts of white or grey white exhaust until the individual stages burn out and the next stage takes over.  Which means you can follow that exhaust trail all the way back to the launch platform.

Like I said, I watched the flight from about 20 seconds after ignition.  There was no exhaust trail prior to the blue and white exhaust cloud that was big enough to be seen for miles.  It has been suggested that the blue and white cloud was generated by the first stage separation of the missile.  If that were true there should have been a exhaust trail leading up to that point but there was not.  The blue and white exhaust plume simply started and grew as the vehicle moved on, the blue part of the blue exhaust did not expand but stayed in the core of the white exhaust which expanded quickly reaching all the way to ground level before dissipating with the blue exhaust core dissipating shortly after.

Something I need to mention is that whatever this vehicle was it was traveling on a flat and level path moving inland in a NE direction paralleling the I-15 and I-215,  A Ballistic Missile whether land launched or Sub launched do not fly flat and level paths their solid rocket boosters are designed for one purpose and that is to put a payload into low earth orbit for reentry.  You do not fly things like these in level horizontal flight.

Now when the main exhaust cloud stopped the vehicle kept going but it veered more to the north than east paralleling the San Bernardino Mountains with a slight exhaust trail behind it as it moved north the exhaust trail went nearly vertical and was lost to sight.

Nothing I saw indicated in anyway a Ballistic Missile in flight, what it did remind me of was a in flight launch of a Ram Jet or Scram Jet hyper sonic vehicle.  I wish I had looked for a B52 which is the primary launch platform for such vehicles.  These Hyper sonic vehicles are carried under the wings of B52 bombers at high altitude.  When dropped they have a solid rocket booster that propells it to Mach speeds which are needed before the Ram Jet or Scram Jets to even start.

The solid rocket booster would account for the fireworks display seen last night, a in flight launch would account for why it was in level horizontal flight for most of the flight time before going vertical.  And a Ram or Scram jet kicking in easily explains the hard vertical climb.  The CIA has reported that their test vehicle has reached Mach 15 easily and should be capable of up to Mach 30.  Such vehicles are called Kinetic Energy Kill Weapons.  Good for intercepting airborne threats and ground targets even when heavily reinforced.

I do not know for sure what was in the air last night.  But I do know for a fact that it was not a Sub Launched Ballistic Missile.  

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