SOCIAL MEDIA WENT nuts last night because of reports of a bright light that appeared in the sky over the West Coast.
The light appeared to be trailing an object before eventually burning out. It was seen from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area. A Navy spokesperson told The San Diego Union-Tribune it was part of an unarmed Trident II missile the Navy test-fired from a submarine in the Pacific. It was planned, and no one was in any danger.
However, when locals first began seeing the light, theories ran wild.
Local news outlets first suggested the light may have been the result of a meteor shower.
There were other reports that it was a plane or a rocket.
San Diego news station NBC 7 later reported the light was the result of a missile test that took place in coastal Southern California.
Similar occurrences have been noted when the US armed services conduct exercises in local airspace. Reuters reported late yesterday afternoon that nighttime flights into and out of Los Angeles International Airport would be diverted away from airspace over the Pacific Ocean for precisely that reason.
The armed services and FAA usually do not disclose the specific nature of such exercises beyond an acknowledgment that it happened, but Reuters reports that airspace over the Pacific Ocean was “activated” Friday night for the naval exercise.
It’s expected to remain off-limits to other aircraft until Thursday.
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