BAY AREA — The bright light with a large, glowing tail that slowly moved across the early morning sky Tuesday, seen from the East Bay to the Peninsula, was a Navy missile test, a military spokesman said.
Navy Strategic Systems Programs spokesman John Daniels said an Ohio-class submarine off the coast of California, south of the Bay Area, launched two Trident II D-5 missiles, one at 3:30 a.m. and another at 6:20 a.m. The latter was seen by many around the region.
“It was part of a routine missile test that has been planned for a couple of years,” Daniels said. “This was not in response to any ongoing world activities.”
Around 6:20 a.m., the object appeared in the sky for at least 45 seconds, moving slowly and some witnesses said it changed trajectories.
Daniels said such tests are done to provide training and maintain the reliability of the missile system.
“At all times it was flying over the sea. We don’t fly those over inhabited areas,” Daniels said.
The Trident II is a three-stage missile with a 4,000-mile range. Daniels said Bay Area residents likely saw stage one, which lasts about a minute, and possibly part of stage two. By stage three, the missile is well-beyond what the naked eye can see, he said.
Bay Area residents snapped photos and took videos of the strange sight, and others on social media soon began sharing their experiences.
Just spotted this strange light in Palo Alto morning sky for 30 sec. It looked like it was floating with a glowing mist trailing behind. pic.twitter.com/k3wXoDLdFI
— Ryan Orosco (@DrOrosco) February 14, 2017
Oooh! Clear morning sky above MTV with what appears to be a #meteor burning up in the sky! Anyone else see it? Confirmations? pic.twitter.com/9AZQgrhGHL
— 🗑️🦝 needs love too (@trashpandaluvsu) February 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/davidtorrenews/status/831509363021930497
A Bay Area News Group reporter watched the object for at least 20 seconds, initially thinking it was a plane with a light shining from it on the crystal clear morning.
The National Weather Service in the Bay Area tweeted what appeared to be vapor trails from a possible rocket launch.
Possible rocket launch this morning? One of our forecasters took these pics look S from #Monterey of what looks like vapor trails. #cawx pic.twitter.com/WI9Hlg21sX
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) February 14, 2017
Ryan Orosco was taking out the garbage Tuesday morning in Menlo Park when he spotted the object out of the corner of his eye.
“I thought it was a bright star. But when I looked I saw a mist of light trailing below it,” he said. “I was seeing the object through some tree branches so I walked 15 yards to get a better view.”
He pulled his phone out and tried to take a video, but only managed to take one photo.
“After the bright light faded out, there was a residual green glow for a few seconds,” Orosco said.
David Torre, a Half Moon Bay technical business consultant, was leaving his house for work.
“A bit of an astronomy enthusiast, the first thing I do when I walk outside is look upward to see which stars are out,” he said. “This morning was certainly different than most, as I noticed a radiant white ball of light streaming across the early morning sky with an impressive vapor trail in tow.”
Jeff Henderson, of Laguna Hills, was driving to work in Orange County this morning when he spotted the strange light.
“At first I thought it was a helicopter, but then I saw the mist trail that made it look like a comet, but I knew it couldn’t be that and it was too slow to be a meteor,” Henderson said. “The weird thing is that I live in Orange County way south from you, but the pictures that were posted look exactly like what I saw.”
Check back for updates and send your photos or video to mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com.
