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Flying towards Alaska south of the Kamchatka peninsula... I bet he saw this hypersonic vehicle being blown up and the lights from a massive observation fleet.

Flying towards Alaska south of the Kamchatka peninsula... I bet he saw this hypersonic vehicle being blown up and the lights from a massive observation fleet. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimental-us-hypersonic-weapon-explodes-four-seconds-after-test-launch-in-alaska-9690586.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimenta... "An experimental hypersonic weapon developed to reach targets anywhere in the world within an hour has been destroyed by the US military four seconds after its launch for “public safety”. The test in Alaska in the early hours of Monday morning was aborted after controllers detected a problem with the system, the Pentagon said, and the launcher is believed to have detonated before the missile was deployed."

chippy 12y ago
I think this has hit it on the nose. It also fits in with his earlier observation of the launch or crash (but no photos) "Then, very far in the distance ahead of us, just over the horizon an intense lightflash shot up from the ground. It looked like a lightning bolt, but way more intense and directed vertically up in the air. " Bravo sir!
- deleted 12y ago
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- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  The timing seems right, they were firing south, and that photo from The Independent matches his description very well. edit - I've posted the suggestion to his blog thingy, am going to keep an eye to see what the Flying Dutchman makes of it, if anything. Also, is a suitable handle really, given the context.
jeletonskelly 12y ago
While there is a chance it was an observation fleet, the prototype itself was aborted during takeoff, so it's unlikely it was light from the prototype itself: “The weapon exploded during takeoff and fell back down in the range complex.”
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  It was very bright and over the horizon so he cannot see where it is exactly, the flash could easily be much further away than the lights he then passed over.
alexirobbins 12y ago
Simple, explains almost everything. Dangling question: why were the lights red?
- rwhitman 12y ago
  From the pics the light looks like something on fire. I'd speculate what he observed was a flaming oil slick on the water surface after the detonation. Also if that's true it means that they lied about it being "in the range complex" - looks like it almost made its way to Russia.. explains why they detonated it.. nice little engineer/QA conspiracy theory
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  Not all of them were. Many white lights, many red lights, some yellow and one green. Them all being red at first could just be a color code for 'Oh shit, something unexpected has occurred with the immensely dangerous thing that we are downrange of'.
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madaxe_again 12y ago
So, this seemed conceivable, but it's the wrong side of the pacific. Vertical lightning bolt + thin layer of cloud + red and green glows = MIRV re-entry, underwater nuclear detonation, excited oxygen ions bashed loose from seawater. The Russians have been bragging about their new SS-27 variants domestically and internationally quite a bit. Geopolitically everything's currently a bit up in the air. Also, any radiation from this could be written off as Fukushima spill-over. Just a thought. Hope I'm wrong.

chippy 12y ago

I think this has hit it on the nose. It also fits in with his earlier observation of the launch or crash (but no photos) "Then, very far in the distance ahead of us, just over the horizon an intense lightflash shot up from the ground. It looked like a lightning bolt, but way more intense and directed vertically up in the air. " Bravo sir!

deleted 12y ago
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lotsofmangos 12y ago
The timing seems right, they were firing south, and that photo from The Independent matches his description very well. edit - I've posted the suggestion to his blog thingy, am going to keep an eye to see what the Flying Dutchman makes of it, if anything. Also, is a suitable handle really, given the context.

jeletonskelly 12y ago

While there is a chance it was an observation fleet, the prototype itself was aborted during takeoff, so it's unlikely it was light from the prototype itself: “The weapon exploded during takeoff and fell back down in the range complex.”

lotsofmangos 12y ago
It was very bright and over the horizon so he cannot see where it is exactly, the flash could easily be much further away than the lights he then passed over.

alexirobbins 12y ago

Simple, explains almost everything. Dangling question: why were the lights red?

rwhitman 12y ago
From the pics the light looks like something on fire. I'd speculate what he observed was a flaming oil slick on the water surface after the detonation. Also if that's true it means that they lied about it being "in the range complex" - looks like it almost made its way to Russia.. explains why they detonated it.. nice little engineer/QA conspiracy theory
lotsofmangos 12y ago
Not all of them were. Many white lights, many red lights, some yellow and one green. Them all being red at first could just be a color code for 'Oh shit, something unexpected has occurred with the immensely dangerous thing that we are downrange of'.

deleted 12y ago

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madaxe_again 12y ago

So, this seemed conceivable, but it's the wrong side of the pacific. Vertical lightning bolt + thin layer of cloud + red and green glows = MIRV re-entry, underwater nuclear detonation, excited oxygen ions bashed loose from seawater. The Russians have been bragging about their new SS-27 variants domestically and internationally quite a bit. Geopolitically everything's currently a bit up in the air. Also, any radiation from this could be written off as Fukushima spill-over. Just a thought. Hope I'm wrong.