So yesterday evening, not long after sundown, we drove out to our usual spot in the countryside west of Santa Barbara to watch a big launch of a big rocket — NROL-71 — from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch had been scrubbed three times already, the last one only seven seconds from ignition. Just before we arrived, there was a bright light in the western sky, exactly above the launch site. A trail was visible, and I thought maybe they had already launched the rocket… or a rocket, perhaps to test winds at high altitudes or something.
So I shot the trail. That’s the photo above. And here’s my 3-shot photo album of the event.
Turns out it was a meteor. This tweeted video, shot in San Francisco, makes that clear. Cool, huh?
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