It's a rocket, it's a missile, no, it's a ...
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
On New Year's Eve, some Florida Keys residents were awed by an unusual sight in the south to southwest skies off Key West.
Recreational boaters, commercial fishermen and others snapped photographs they sent to the Navy, asking what the fast-moving object was that left a thick plume in its long wake, which glowed orange in the setting sun.
Some speculated, and worried, that it was a rocket or missile, or military test.
"To me, at first, it really looked like a missile," said commercial fisherman Lee Starling.
After seeing video of the object on YouTube, Navy officials this week said the sighting was a less nefarious seasonal phenomenon.
"Not until we saw the YouTube video could we really see that it's an airplane," Naval Air Station Key West spokesman Jim Brooks said. "But we get calls all the time over the holidays."
To accommodate the increased air traffic during the holidays, the U.S. government allows international commercial airliners to fly in areas that typically are restricted airspace, Brooks said. The uncommon sight is coupled with the curvature of the Earth, which makes the planes appear to be flying vertically, he said.
"We looked at it and it's a contrail," Brooks said of the visible trail of condensed water vapor made by the exhaust of the aircraft engine. "Not only that, but looking at the direction, it's probably coming from the Yucatan Peninsula. ... Because that's normally restricted airspace, we don't see it all the time. But we see them enough to know that it's not a strange or new phenomenon."
Liberty Clipper Capt. Ron Opiela said he's seen it before. And he and Starling said they saw two more planes in the same general airspace a few days later.
"There's nothing supernatural or covert," Opiela said. "The planes flying from the west use Key West as a way point. It wasn't a missile, but it's always pretty cool to see."
