When I first saw the video, I certainly read the article. That should be clear from my post.
However, I considered it a far less definite identification and more speculative at the time I posted the link to it.
Initially I wondered about the identification because:
1) It's a cool thing that I have never seen before, in video or otherwise. Yet surely rocket stages separating happens regularly enough for this to
have been observed before. Someone posted a nice video in the daytime confirming that indeed, this sort of thing has definitely been seen before.
2) A rocket has a fairly explosive exhaust coming continuously out the back of it, yet there is no visible atmospheric disturbance visible at great
distance (apart from the light of the exhaust and the trail behind of course). Yet we are told that a small charge causing separation of stages is
responsible for this amazing display. I reasoned that if it were the separation charge that caused this, then it must be because there is a shock wave
associated with it. The guy who posted that article also had a question about that. Unless the shock ionizes the air, how does it glow? In this one
regard I am still not sure I understand the mechanism all that well. I can think of some possibilities, but nothing I can be sure of.
Later Phage posted the video of the minuteman launch from Vandenberg.
3) However, notice the disturbance is filmed at night, whereas the rocket launch looks like day. So something didn't add up there. I think someone
answered this.
4) I too noticed that the rocket is not visible where I'd expect it to be visible: in the centre of the disturbance. Yeah, it's far away, but why is
the disturbance visible when the rocket is not. I suppose I don't quite understand that. However, I wouldn't rule out the identification of it as the
minuteman on this basis.
5) I'd like to have seen exact times given and some calculations to show that it is definitely the minuteman. It's not enough that there was a launch
at around about the right time. It needs to be in that exact direction at that exact time, or it is not the right thing. I'm sure it was. But I prefer
to see the details.
I also thought about the conspiratorial elements of this. Why is the US Govt. currently testing a minuteman missile? Is it a routine test, or are they
deliberately trying to show off or irritate someone? What data was collected and how? What was its trajectory (this has since been answered in the
thread). What payload was on it. Of course they say none. But if there was a payload of some sort, it could be anything that fits in the box right?
And it would be classified, right?
What's quite interesting is the fact that the link I posted was a site that is certainly not dedicated to exploring things from an alternative
viewpoint. There's a very straightforward (and probably correct) identification given there (though the article is written well and is enthusiastic).
It's funny to see people on ATS saying "it's just a minuteman", yawn.
So, in summary, I realised quite well that this had already received plenty of conventional analysis, which had been posted on the site I linked to. I
was curious to see whether ATS would look a little deeper. By deeper I don't mean explanations or additional information which completely ignore all
of known reality and the known facts. I simply mean a deeper examination of the circumstances, the mechanism and the explanation that is given.
Whilst I do know what *event* likely caused this phenomenon, I still feel that I have a shallow grasp on the mechanism and the circumstances.
edit on 30-6-2011 by XtraTL because: (no reason given)