Navy confirms strange light was missile test

(KTVU) - A strange light seen across California Saturday turned out to be a Navy missile test, the military confirmed Saturday night. 

People across the Bay Area and as far south as Mexico saw a strange cone shaped light in the sky around 6:15pm and pictures and video quickly spread across social media.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department said the light was a naval rocket test off the coast of California, but did not elaborate. The agency said the information was confirmed through the control tower at John Wayne Airport. 

A short time later, the Navy released a statement confirming the light was a Trident missile test flight. The Trident II (D5) missile was launched from the USS Kentucky, a submarine off the coast of Southern California. 

"The tests were part of a scheduled, on-going system evaluation test," said Cmdr. Ryan Perry in a statement. "Launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system."

Perry said the missile was not armed. 

The launch was not announced in advance since the test flight was considered classified.  

Initially, many people thought the light was a meteor. The Taurid meteor shower is also peaking now, but it’s unusual for a meteor to be seen across the entire state.

“I’m sure when everybody looked up they said ‘What in the world is that?’ Once it got high enough the sun is actually lighting up that plume. So even though we’re in the dark, there, it’s still in the sunlight,” said Gerald McKeegan, a Chabot Observatory Astronomer.

The launch happened just after sunset which made for perfect viewing.