Missile Destroyed Seconds After Vandenberg Launch

SANTA BARBARA — An unarmed Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile was intentionally destroyed when it veered off course just seconds after liftoff Monday evening at Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 60 miles northwest of here, military officials said.

Base spokesman Darryl Gehly said the 6:10 p.m. launch was aborted because of an “anomaly,” but he did not elaborate.

The explosion, spewing fiery debris near the launch pad, touched off a small fire, but base firefighters contained the blaze in short order, Gehly said. No injuries were reported.

Countdown on Phone

An Air Force official counted down the seconds to the launch via telephone to the Associated Press:

“Four, three, two, one . . . I guess it has launched. Wait. Oops. I’m going to have to call you back,” the official said before hanging up.

Then word came of the aborted launch.

Jon Bull of Santa Barbara, a passenger on a commuter plane that was flying near the base when the explosion occurred, said it was “pretty, pretty spectacular . . . just like a big star fireworks.”

“The missile started to veer pretty crazily (just after launching) . . . and it exploded almost immediately,” he said.

The three-stage missile was scheduled to make a 30-minute flight of about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Missile Range in the South Pacific, the base spokesman said.

Timed for Colorful Sky

The launch had been timed to create a so-called twilight phenomenon, which occurs when unburned missile propellant particles freeze in the upper atmosphere. The effect is a bright evening sky with colorful trails visible for miles.

Many residents along the Central California Coast were outdoors Monday evening. They were expecting to see a display similar to a spectacle on the night of Oct. 28 when a Minuteman II was launched from Vandenberg.