The U.S. Navy Test-Fired A Trident II And California Freaked Out

Hey…let’s launch this test missile at night. Everyone will lose their minds! *presses button*

Earlier this evening the U.S. Navy chose a clear night to dust off its ballistic missle procedures and launch a Trident II  to make sure all systems were firing in the event we actually had to use one. It looks like everyone and their mother from the Bay Area to San Diego saw the bright light streaking across the sky and took to social media to document the nighttime phenomena. Some thought it was a UFO, others thought it was the second coming of Christ but one thing’s for sure, it was definitely “lit.” Check out some of the more humorous pieces of social media that made the web.

According to KTLA, John Wayne Airport confirmed that the U.S> Nay was test firing off the coast of California. The luminous object was most likely an unarmed Trident missile from a submarine somewhere in Southern California waters.

If it was a Trident missile, then what Californians witnessed was more than $37 million being blasted into the night sky (the unit cost for every missile launch.) With a range of 4867 miles, a Trident II missile can technically reach the East Coast and beyond if launched from California in a matter of minutes.

Next time the U.S. Navy does decide to test one of their missiles out, they might consider giving the rest of the United States a heads up before we all start freaking out all over again.