I don't know how many people live in areas where missile launches can be seen. Here in SCalifornia we are treated to views of launches from Vandenberg Air Force base up the coast near Lompoc, CA. This one was Thursday, Sep 14th, at about 7:15pm, just as the sun set. KoKo and I were on our evening walk so we had a good view. I have seen a number of launches over the years, the first was sometime in the late 1970s and, like many first timers I couldn't figure out what was happening. It is like a crack in the sky. This is the first time I have seen the missile continuing after it has left the contrail behind.
See it at the top left - it was visible for an amazing amount of time.
Up and up with a sort of cone shaped "mist" following it.
Meanwhile the contrail lingers and twists. I suppose the wind moves it.
It is so high in the air that the sun has completely disappeared around the planet.
The longer it lingers the more distortion happens.
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