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World Affairs Brief, November 12, 2010 Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World. Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen's World Affairs Brief (http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com)

MISSILE TRAIL OVER CALIFORNIA: WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT IS HIDING?
A KCBS news helicopter on Monday evening captured a stunning video shot of a missile launch 35 miles off the California coast, just north of Catalina Island, and within sight of all the coastal towns near Los Angeles. Strangely, the Pentagon immediately went into cover-up mode, at times denying that it was a missile, and at other times denying that it was one of ours. In recent days this was followed by a host of pundits and government shills trying to convince the public it was "just a jet contrail" coming over the horizon or some other normal phenomenon. It reminded me of the TWA 800 shoot down all over again--hundreds witnessing a missile and the government spending millions to falsify evidence to deny the presence of a missile. What is the government trying to hide this time, and why?


First, the facts: let me explain why this wasn't a contrail.


1) The video shows a giant streak moving upward at an angle across the sunset sky, leaving a thick column of white smoke (tinted red by the sun) that was thick right behind its point of origin. Contrails are much thinner to start with and clearly separated from the jet engine by the distance it takes for the water vapor to turn to ice crystals. Contrails only spread out gradually after the jet has flown on. The density of the smoke trail was too thick and fat for contrail or even a cruise missile. This had all the signs of a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) with solid propellant.


2) The object is rising too fast in the sky to be an aircraft. Airplanes leaving contrails 20 miles away move very slowly across the horizon. This object was moving two or three times that speed, seen easily with the naked eye.


3) In the best video shots, you can see the bright spot of flames at the tip of the smoke trail-proof of a rocket motor burning, not a jet. Debunkers claim it is the sun glinting off the jet body, but I've seen that happen before and it looks nothing like the glow seen on the video.


Moreover, the Pentagon has real time surveillance of the whole earth by spy satellites specifically designed to pick up such a missile launch and know by its signature that it is a missile. So, the government is lying when they say they don't know what it is. The fact that NORAD immediately stated that it was no threat to land means that they, indeed, were tracking it.


Every military person (who isn't shilling for the government) that has seen this video, including a former Asst Sec. of Defense, says it is a sub launched missile, so why is the government covering for this? Was it an accidental missile launch that was covered up to avoid embarrassment?


When TWA 800 was shot down by a missile, the Navy was running a missile exercise underneath the flight path, and there was even a white smoke trailing missile drone seen flying horizontally across Long Island (different from the red smoke trailed missile seen rising from the sea). Radar tracks show a half dozen Navy ships quickly exiting the area, instead of helping in the search for victims. It is very likely that a sub or ship launched anti-aircraft missile switched its lock on the target drone to TWA 800 when the drone's path intersected the airliner's path. The US knew this exercise was going on and yet denied all the evidence and covered it up. The FBI even went so far as to pressure witnesses to deny they had seen a missile. The supposedly neutral National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) falsified the mock-up of the airliner from the wreckage and removed all parts that showed missile damage. Finally, the CIA spent millions producing a phony video recreation of events to fool the public into thinking a fuel tank had exploded. That's all proof of a conspiracy, by the way-the collusion of separate entities of government to obstruct justice.


Now, we might surmise that the Clinton administration covered up the downing of TWA 800 to avoid embarrassment and costly compensation claims against the government. But what is the government's motive for a cover-up this time? Fox News said, "A Navy spokesman told CBS affiliate KFMB in San Diego that the missile did not belong to them and that there had been no Navy activity reported in the area."


That may or may not be true. The Naval Air Warfare Center has a Missile Sea Range Military Warning Area off the Coast of California exactly where the missile was fired. In addition, they posted an official notice that the Sea Range was active for live fire missile exercises that entire week, from noon to 6pm Pacific Time, Monday thru Friday. Now, that doesn't mean that they actually had missiles firing during the exercise period--only that the area was reserved and Notice to Mariners (NtM) given to the US Coast Guard.


More specific notice to airmen (NOTAM) would have been given by the FAA when an actual missile is being launched so that the area becomes a prohibited area for overflight. No such notice was given the FAA, so we can assume the Navy did not plan to launch a missile at that specific time. Was this an accidental launch the government was embarrassed about? That's possible but fairly improbable, given that it hasn't ever happened before with a SLBM. Even if it were, since the Navy had given official notice of a live firing exercise, the government could have easily made the issue go away by saying, "Yes, it was a schedule missile test--all according to proper legal channels" and no one would have thought otherwise. So, why the denials if it really was one of our missiles?


"Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Ellsworth told a San Diego station that the missile was 'not a Tomahawk'" and that "it could have been a test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile" from a submarine to serve as a demonstration of American military might to Asia. But that hardly makes sense. The world already knows about US military capabilities with missiles-both land-based and sub-launched. A test launch would hardly be shocking or even surprising to another nation--let alone a warning signal. That reaction only works for a nation like North Korea who is test launching their first missile.


However, the idea that someone was sending a message via this missile shoot is probably correct.Doug Hagmann who has numerous contacts in the Pentagon wrote this:


"The manner in which this story unfolded should be a story by itself... Today, Americans were treated with a number of explanations from our government officials, military pundits, and even media personalities about the incident. Those explanations range from the 'embarrassing if true' to the 'downright insulting,' with numerous variations in between. Ranging from having no information on the incident, to assurances that an investigation is underway, and my personal favorite, it is the contrail from an airplane that caused an optical illusion due to a problem of visual perspective, we are either in a boatload of trouble with regard to our national defense, or the hubris of the power elite is at an all time high.


"As news of the event began to appear in the media, I contacted several well placed and trusted intelligence and military sources in an effort to determine the truth about the incident. These sources, as I was reminded by one during our conversation, are risking their careers to talk to me.


"According to one source within the Pentagon, many of the top brass were in unscheduled, high level meetings throughout the day. Although he was not privy to the information imparted during these meetings, he told me that 'there was an air of deep concern among the officials,' and all participants had a DAWT policy (don't ask because I won't tell) policy. Surreal was just one of the adjectives amply used by my Pentagon source.


"At the very least, according to this source, it was a missile. As to whether it was ours or theirs, he does not know. But he said 'they do,' a reference to the brass. The rumors circulating within the [Pentagon] rings suggest that it was a deliberate launch of a missile from 'Chinese property at sea' intended as a warning to the U.S."


I believe that this is possible. But the intent of the firing would had to have been much more than "we have SLBMs," which the US already knows. Perhaps the Chinese infiltrated one of their newest missile submarines into the California Navy Sea Range to eavesdrop on our missile exercise, and then shot off a missile for shock value, saying "we (the Chinese) can sneak up on your coastline during a military exercise and launch a missile any time we want." That would be enough to disturb the Pentagon brass.


Military types scoff because they claim the Chinese subs are noisy and leave heat, wake and noise signatures that are easy to track. Either the Chinese have become more sophisticated or the Navy should be doubly embarrassed by Chinese infiltrating their midst. This idea sounds very similar to a situation three years ago when a Chinese attack sub surfaced near the US carrier Kitty Hawk during a US Navy exercise near Okinawa flaunting it's ability to sneak around. From an article at the time: "By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier."


If a Chinese missile sub was lingering amidst our own firing exercise off the California coast, that would certainly get the attention of the Pentagon Brass and would require them to engage in a massive cover-up of the missile's origin to keep the American people from clamoring for a missile defense shield. As I have pointed out many times in the WAB, there is a concerted secret plan within government to NOT alert the American people about the real threat we face from either Russia or China. This looks like another confirmation of that intent to cover up for what is really coming in the future.


I'm not saying that most of our military officers are part of this conspiracy, but they do seem to be following orders from the White House not to alert Americans about these threats. Any number of superficial reasons can be given to patriotic military leaders to get their cooperation. Above all, every US general or admiral is a yes-man to government, at least while on active duty. Those that buck the system or disagree with policy don't get promoted that high. Sad.