Captain Swoop's Virtual ICBM Tour presents...
MISSILE MOVIES

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Star Wars Test? / 1.2 Mb

"...Maybe they aren't telling us everything ...?"

This test launch of a Minuteman missile for the SDI Program, called "Brilliant Stars" officially but known publicly as the "Star Wars" defense, began normally enough. But after Stage 3 separation, it appeared to go out of control, and then winked out. Launch Support crews watching video through tracking telescopes and binoculars saw what looked like the missile arcing in a circular spin as though it had suffered a nozzle control failure, then an expected flash when the Range Safety Officer destroyed the spiraling missile in flight. We waited for questions to surface about faulty maintenance that may have caused the failure, but none ever did. Just a "routine" failure of some aging hardware, perhaps. Or so we thought.....

A few months later, one official actually tried to explain the clip as an optical illusion, but the camera is mounted on a stable platform and the clip is not sped up - the missile went out of control rapidly, then winked out as if destroyed. Comparisons made with other launches at the same point in flight do not show the same behaviour. In a conversation with some Launch Analysis Group personnel about that flight, the comment was made that the launch test had been a complete success, so exactly what was really tested....?

In this clip, which picks up just after Stage 3 has separated, you can see a the missile exhaust flare (showing a 4-pointed star pattern) suddenly go into a rapid clockwise spin. Then it appears to regain control for a short time before beginning a slow, wide counter-clockwise spiral; after a few rotations it suddenly winks out.