One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
It's a Missile! It's Iron Man! Or is it Just an Airplane?
The path of US Airways flight 808 (via FlightAware)
After plenty of interesting and amusing speculation, it could be time to file this fleeting mystery as solved: A new, straightforward theory might explain what that "missile" was that was spotted over Los Angeles Monday night.Could it be that what the CBS chopper's camera caught was actually just the contrail from a US Airways flight from Honolulu to Phoenix? So goes the detective work of "Time to Think" blogger Liem Bahneman, who studied which aircraft were in the area at that time, and used a Newport Beach webcam to see the same flight at the same time make a similar contrail 24 hours later.
The Pentagon is endorsing this theory as well, after denying yesterday that it was any military operation. Contrail Science "says such optical illusions are possible when seen from certain angles and under certain conditions," notes USA Today.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
