Possible launch west of Key West (12-31-2008)

[NotAnotherStoneAge]

So I'm new to the forum, but I wanted to share these pics I took a little over a year ago -- I was in Key West for New Year's Eve (so this was December 31, 2008), watching the sunset, when I saw what looked like a rocket launch. Unfortunately, I just had my cameraphone rather than a real camera, so these are the best pics I could get.

The strange thing is that this was Key West, and I was looking directly west (you can see where the sun is setting), and as far as I know there's nothing out that way. Any guesses about what it could be? The photos span just a few minutes.

If you want to see the photo uncropped (since this forum seems to be cropping the right edge), just click on this:
http://www.winnphillips.com/px/key.west.launch.jpg

 

[Valcan]

So I'm new to the forum, but I wanted to share these pics I took a little over a year ago -- I was in Key West for New Year's Eve (so this was December 31, 2008), watching the sunset, when I saw what looked like a rocket launch. Unfortunately, I just had my cameraphone rather than a real camera, so these are the best pics I could get.

The strange thing is that this was Key West, and I was looking directly west (you can see where the sun is setting), and as far as I know there's nothing out that way. Any guesses about what it could be? The photos span just a few minutes.

If you want to see the photo uncropped (since this forum seems to be cropping the right edge), just click on this:
http://www.winnphillips.com/px/key.west.launch.jpg

SWEET! PICS!

Though at first i thought you said they were gonna launch kanye west into orbit. Hopefully with no way back.

Kanye the people of boneroo still hate you btw. :twisted:

 

[OleNewt]

1)test launch of a new missile or other tech (ie, anti-missile defense).
2)scuttle launch (something big like a WW2-era destroyer needed to be destroyed, so it'd be towed out to a safe location--such as the middle of the ocean--and missiles/torpedoes would be shot at it)
3)military exercise. Essentially, shooting missile-sized blanks for the flight crew to shoot down.
4)demonstration launch (ie, for a film crew making a movie). The military doesn't just offer to help when UFOs are involved.
5)are space launches done at sea, or do even the small ones launch at a land base like Vandenburg?

Might also have been something dramatic, like an Iranian sub creeping around in our home waters or something that the military generally won't tell us about. Not likely, but fun to imagine. :lol: