Missile Fired?!

Last night, I was watching the news and saw this story about a mysterious vapor trail that was spotted off of the southern coast of California. Now, my first reaction was, hmm…are we under attack or something? I mean, at first, it does kind of look like a rocket or missile going through the sky. The very first answers was that it was “more likely caused by an airplane than anything else,” according to a senior military official. Yet, another official said authorities are continuing to investigate to rule out a possible missile launch.

This possible missile (or plane contrail) just happened to be caught on a helicopter camera in California. The contrail caught on video by a news helicopter “was more likely caused by an airplane than anything else, because the other possibilities of rockets or missile are turning up negative,” the senior military official said. But, according to a US Defense Department official "a missile has not been ruled out.” The US Strategic Command (Stratcom) and US Northern Command (Northcom) have both been asked to “count noses,” or ensure all missiles are in their arsenals. The official did not rule out the possibility that a missile could have been launched as part of a covert operation.

Now, based on all of this information above, what I have seen from watching the actual clip and analyzing this situation a bit more, I feel that this IS simply just caused from a plane contrail. I mean, first off: a rocket or missile would be going at a MUCH more faster pace than what we see in the video. I feel that the speed in which the object is moving at, is more similar to that of a plane moving in the sky. 


As to why the tail looks as if it is moving straight up, I am still not really sure how to explain that. My guess is, that the plane is flying away from the direction of the helicopter camera, which, correctly if I am wrong, can create an illusion that the plane is actually moving straight up, versus away from the camera, as it really is. I mean, we have seen this before when we look at plane contrails before...haven't we? I'm pretty sure I learned something about this in like 8th grade science class.

Plus, according to ContrailScience.com, (which is a website that debunks conspiracy theories linked to contrails,) the sighting was an optical illusion. It said a "contrail streaming horizontally from the exhaust of an approaching aircraft can look like a vertical missile shot if the end of the plume is hidden by the curvature of the earth." 

SO, I my opinion, I feel that is true and people got worried over nothing. What are your thoughts on this possible missile launch?