Condensed water vapor trailing a missile that was launched off Kauai drew quite a bit of attention Tuesday, prompting speculation about a strange light in the night sky.
The Pacific Missile Range Facility had announced earlier this month that it would be conducting a missile test, but the unusual light was a mystery for some who weren’t aware.
The Defense Department conducted a test of a land-based missile system at about the same time the light was spotted and photographed in the skies above Hawaii.
The Missile Defense Agency, the Navy and sailors at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex and Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai launched a land-based Aegis Standard Missile 3 Block IB guided missile. It was the first test of the new Aegis Ashore system.
During the test, a simulated ballistic missile target was acquired, tracked and engaged by the Aegis Weapon System at about 7:35 p.m. Hawaii time Tuesday.
At about the same time, Hawaii residents reported seeing a strange light in the sky.
"It looked like a zigzagging meteor threading in and out of the night sky," said Paul Javier, who took pictures and sent them to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
David Putnam, who saw the light from Kapaa, described a "phosphorescent, brilliant white light" high in the sky to the west about 7:45 p.m.
"It started off straight, but it just went totally erratic," he said. "I almost thought that it was a guided missile trying to track something it couldn’t find."
Stefan Alford, a spokesman for the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, said the lines were condensed water vapor trailing the missile twisted by upper-level winds.
Mililani resident Kathy Whalen, who also sent pictures to the Star-Advertiser, was watching the sunset from an oceanfront home on the North Shore when she saw what appeared to be the edge of a cloud illuminated by moonlight. The light was in the northwest, above where the sun set at 7:04 p.m.
Watching the light, Whalen noticed it wasn’t a cloud, but something moving in the distance, drifting downward.
After a few minutes, the light began looping and slowly moving side to side. It crossed back and forth six or seven times, she said. After about 10 minutes, the light faded and disappeared.
"It was very bright," Whalen said.
A test missile target was not launched.
The purpose of the missile test was to confirm that the Aegis Ashore system works by launching a land-based SM-3. The Aegis Ashore system is planned to be deployed in Romania in 2015 as part of the European missile defense shield.
Tuesday’s test was the first of several planned at the Barking Sands, Kauai facility for the land-based Aegis system.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
