Skywatchers on Monday evening were surprised to see more than a colorful sunset when they stepped outdoors. What they saw were colorful loops of gas and ice crystals, rather than relatively low-lying clouds, lit up by the setting sun.
The skyshow became even more dramatic, in fact, as the sun sank farther below the horizon and the sky darkened into twilight.
The planet Venus, hanging low in the western sky, provided a celestial sign post to the large colorful expanse.
No, it wasn’t a UFO.
The culprit turned out to be a test launch of a Trident II (D5) missile from a submarine off the coast of San Diego, and not a rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Rocket exhaust creates much the same spectacle as seen on Monday.
In fact, the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Vandenberg AFB accounted for numerous UFO reports across Southern California in late December.
The colorful swath of tenuous iridescent clouds manifest when water droplets and bits of unburned fuel from the missile’s exhaust froze at extreme heights in the cold upper atmosphere.
Shades of red, yellow, green and even purple could be seen in the wispy veil that presented photographers with a rich palette of colors to record with their cameras.
The display persisted until the sun sank far enough below the horizon to miss irradiating the high floating crystals. The sky then melted into myriad hues of blue due to the waxing gibbous moon high in the sky.
