STEVE;
REGARDING THE STORIES THAT THE BLUE TINTED LIGHT SEEN AT NIGHT OFF THE
COAST OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WAS DUE TO THE TEST FIRING OF A TRIDENT II D-5
ICBM, I AM HIGHLY SKEPTICAL OF THIS EXPLANATION. I WORKED AS AN ENGINEER
ON THE D-5 PROGRAM FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND THUS, AM QUALIFIED TO COMMENT ON
THIS ISSUE:

1) TEST FIRINGS ARE GENERALLY DONE DURING THE DAY. AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, A
TEST SHOT IS QUITE EXPENSIVE, AND THUS, ONE TRIES TO ACCOMPLISH MULTIPLE
TEST GOALS WITH EACH LAUNCH. ONE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF A TEST FIRING IS
EITHER TO TEST ONE OR MORE MISSILES IN A NEW BLOCK OF HARDWARE TO QUALIFY
THE ENTIRE BLOCK, OR TO TEST ONE OR MORE AGED MISSILES TO DEMONSTRATE THAT
THEY ARE STILL SUITABLE FOR DEPLOYMENT. IN CASE OF A FAILURE, VIDEO
FOOTAGE IS INVALUABLE IN DETERMINING THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE SO THAT
CORRECTIVE ACTION CAN BE TAKEN. FIRING AT NIGHT PREVENTS THIS VITAL VIDEO
RECORDING. NO PROGRAM MANAGER WORTH HIS SALT WOULD OPT FOR A NIGHT
LAUNCH.

2) I WAS INVOLVED IN EARLY STATIC TESTS (WITH THE ROCKET MOTOR STRAPPED
DOWN HORIZONTALLY) TO PROVIDE TARGETS FOR THE "STAR WARS" LAUNCH DETECTION
SATELLITES. THESE EARLY TESTS WERE CONDUCTED AT NIGHT IN ORDER TO PROVIDE
THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE LEVEL OF CONTRAST BETWEEN THE MOTOR EXHAUST AND THE
AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE. THIS COULD BE THE REASON FOR A NIGHT LAUNCH, HOWEVER,
I BELIEVE THAT THE TECHNOLOGY HAS ADVANCED TO THE POINT WHERE THE DETECTION
SYSTEMS CAN SEE PERFECTLY WELL IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. THUS, THERE SHOULD BE NO
NEED TO LOSE VALUABLE VIDEO DATA BY LAUNCHING AT NIGHT.

3) THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A TEST, NOT OF THE D-5 ICBM, BUT OF A SYSTEM BEING
DEVELOPED TO INTERCEPT SUBMARINE BASED ICBM's LAUNCHED NEAR OUR COASTS.
OUR VULNERABILITY TO SUCH AN ATTACK WAS DEMONSTRATED BY THE RECENT LAUNCH
OF A SUBMARINE BASED ICBM OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THE
MOTIVATION FOR A NIGHT LAUNCH MAY THEN HAVE BEEN TO DENY OUR ENEMIES AS
MUCH VISUAL DATA AS POSSIBLE.

4) I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR AN EXPLANATION OF THE BLUE LIGHT NOTED BY
OBSERVERS, AND VISIBLE IN THE PUBLISHED VIDEO CLIPS. I HAVE NEVER OBSERVED
THIS PHENOMENON IN ANY OF THE LAUNCHES THAT I HAVE PERSONALLY OBSERVED.

YOURS IN CHRIST
MARK

Nov 8, 2015