Happy Hour Vid: Who Launched the Mystery Missile?

Pentagon silent on projectile launched off California's coast

Somebody launched a missile off the coast amid a gorgeous Southern California sunset Monday, and the Pentagon’s silence on the incident has fueled conspiracy theories, of course. The Navy told local TV news station KCBS that it wasn’t their rocket.

The nearby Air Force base said nothing had been launched since Friday. Former Ambassador to NATO Robert Ellsworth speculated that the military might have run a missile test to show the world America still has huge guns as President Obama tours Asia. Ellsworth said that during the Cold War, the U.S. tested intercontinental ballistic missiles from submarines in the Atlantic to intimidate the Soviet Union, but he knew of no such tests off the Left Coast. He cautioned that it was best to wait for official comment.