An ICBM of unknown origin was caught on tape last night by a CBS News helicopter over the skies of Los Angeles. The trail of smoke was huge and was clearly a massive missile, but no one is coming forward to claim responsibility. A CBS News affiliate interviewed a former NATO Ambassador who had this to say:
“When asked what he thought it might be, the former ambassador said it could possibly have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama tours Asia. ‘It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine … to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that,’ speculated Ellsworth. Ellsworth said such tests were carried out in the Atlantic to demonstrate America’s power to the Soviets, when there was a Soviet Union, but he doesn’t believe an ICBM has previously been tested by the U.S. over the Pacific.”
No statement by the US Government has been issued.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2qKMchcgzk[/youtube]
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And just for interest’s sake, here’s an infographic showing a time-lapse of all nuclear detonations from 1945 to 1998:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAnqRQg-W0k[/youtube]
Source: Towleroad