27 January 2010

Skywatch 2010: Not French M51

Get out the tinfoil hats.

Stories are circulating – including at voice of the cabinet minister – that the object sighted in the sky over Newfoundland on the evening of January 27th may have been related to a test launch of France’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the M51.

Highly unlikely.

The French test concluded at 0825 hours Greenwich Mean Time on January 27.

That would be Tuesday.

But as CBC reported, the object seen over Harbour Mille was in the sky at dusk on Monday evening.  That would be roughly 12 hours before the French missile flew.

In any event, the French test attracted considerable international attention for reasons other than the insane idea the missile reappeared magically the day after it was fired, on a different trajectory and apparently originating from an area of the world  pretty much the opposite of where it was actually fired from.

-srbp-