This was a TV news helicopter clip from around sunset on November 8, 2010, near Thousand Oaks, California. It showed a bright streak that appeared to climb from the ocean to the west, with a long, sunlit trail. It was briefly reported as a possible missile launch, but officials said there was no sign of a missile. The best-supported explanation is a sunlit contrail, scored at 75 percent. A plane flying almost straight toward the camera can leave a trail that looks like it rises from the horizon, and a high contrail takes on orange color at sunset while the ground below is dark. A camera artifact, such as a lens flare or dust on the lens, is a weaker second candidate at 65 percent, since the streak appeared only on video. Stars and planets scored lower, between 55 and 61 percent. No satellites, launches or Starlink trains were logged for the window. The aircraft check was unavailable, so the contrail reading rests on the scoring and the widely reported flight path rather than confirmed flight data.
From the archive · #k8k9rbktj8nm
The "mystery missile" off Los Angeles: a contrail at sunset
Probably contrailWant answers like this first in Google? Add WTH Was That? as a preferred source.
Sky Snapshot 5:15 PM, give or take 15 minutes
- Sky
- civil twilight
- Moon
- waxing crescent, 17° up
- Planets up
- Jupiter (32°), Mars (9°), Mercury (3°)
- Bright stars
- Arcturus (west 7°), Vega (west 66°), Capella (northeast 2°), Altair (southwest 63°)
- Weather
- clear, wind 23 km/h
- Space weather
- quiet (Kp 0)
- Sunset
- 4:56 PM
Download the snapshot card to share it anywhere.
What people saw
- When
- Nov 8, 2010, 5:15 PM PST
- Where
- Thousand Oaks, California, US
- Looking
- west, low in the sky
- Lasted
- 5 minutes
- Looked like
- one, orange/white, streak, rising, with a trail
- Sound
- none
Around sunset on November 8, 2010, a TV news helicopter filmed what looked like a missile climbing from the ocean about 55 km west of Los Angeles, trailing a long, sunlit plume. The clip led national news as a possible secret missile launch.
The Pentagon said there was no sign of a missile, and the accepted answer is an airliner contrail, most likely from a US Airways flight coming in from Hawaii. The plane was flying almost straight toward the camera, so its trail looked like it was rising from the sea, and the low sun lit it up orange against the darkening sky.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_California_contrail_incident
https://contrailscience.com/los-angeles-missile-contrail-explained-in-pictures/
From above the area, the way they looked, and what was overhead
The map needs JavaScript. The checks below list everything it shows.
The circle is the area the report came from, rounded to about 10 km. We never show a witness's exact spot.
See it in 3D on the Sky Globe, at the moment it was seen
What it could be
-
Sunlit contrail Possible75%
- +30Around sunset and sunrise, contrails light up orange or pink while the ground is dark.
- +10Sunset colors on a high contrail.
- +10Contrails linger for minutes.
- +10A plane flying toward you can make its contrail look like it's rising from the horizon.
-
Camera artifact (lens flare, bokeh, dust) Possible65%
- +55You only saw it in the photo or video, not with your eyes: most of these are lens flares, dust, insects or sensor noise.
- +10Streaks are long-exposure motion, a passing insect or a satellite trail.
- ·Upload the original file (not a screenshot) so the EXIF data can be checked.
-
Bright star (twinkling) Possible61%
- +25Arcturus (magnitude -0.05) was 7° up in that direction.
- +10Low in the sky, where a bright star twinkles hardest.
- +8Twinkling is strongest near the horizon.
- +10Stays for a long time.
-
Mars (bright planet) Possible55%
- -15Mars was up but not especially bright.
- +30It was in the W where you were looking.
- +10Its height above the horizon matches.
- +15Visible for a long time, like a planet.
- +5One steady light.
-
Mercury (bright planet) Possible55%
- -15Mercury was up but not especially bright.
- +30It was in the W where you were looking.
- +10Its height above the horizon matches.
- +15Visible for a long time, like a planet.
- +5One steady light.
-
Balloon Doesn't fit43%
- +15Daytime, when balloons are easiest to spot.
- +15Silver or white and shiny fits a foil or party balloon.
- +20Drifts with the wind.
- +10Stays in view for minutes.
- -25Balloons don't leave a trail or look like a streak.
What we checked
- Satellites: not checked (orbit data missing)
- Starlink trains: not checked
- Launches: none within 90 minutes and 3,000 km
- Aircraft: not checked (no flight history feed yet)
- Planets and Moon: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and the Moon was up
- Space weather: quiet (Kp 0)
- Weather: clear
- Meteor showers: Taurids, Leonids
How we worked this out
We took a snapshot of the sky from 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after Nov 9, 2010, 1:15 AM UTC at 33.75, -118.75, and scored 24 possible explanations. Each one starts from how common it is, then gains or loses points for every detail the witness gave and every record we found. The points are listed next to each reason above. "Likely" means 80% or more and "Possible" means 50 to 79%. Anything lower doesn't fit, and if nothing reaches 50%, the case stays unexplained.
Sources: launch schedule from Launch Library 2; planetary Kp from GFZ Potsdam; weather from Open-Meteo; Sun, Moon and planet positions worked out on our server with astronomy-engine. Engine 0.4.0, snapshot v2, worked out Oct 29, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC.
Not available for this report: satellite passes.
Discussion 0 replies
This reply only uses the sky checks above, so it can't claim more than the data shows. Was it helpful?
