Yeah, but if the location of the launch was out to sea and the navy claims not have any ships there that just leaves a sub, and unless it was an SSGN with a Tomahawk aimed at the moon, TLAMs and TASMs don't usually go to that kind of altitude, or indeed, leave such a thick contrail immediately behind them.
So, if it was an empty SLBM then either someone isn't doing the stores properly, or this was a planned fire mission and someone hasn't sent out the memos to the right sources.
Or, indeed, there is the frightening possibility that someone did just try to light up the US west coast, be it either from a freighter or a hostile boomer, although in the latters case it is doubly frightening that it managed to get so close to the US coastline undetected.
However, one would have thought that the US would not still be sitting pretty on DEFCON4 if that missile had hostile intentions.
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