...

[tzikeh]

A missile was launched in Los Angeles last night. Nobody knows who launched it.

"A possibility is that the missile was launched unintentionally. It may have been a screwup. Someone may have simply punched the wrong button."

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

So, apparently this is OUR MISSILE, which I BOUGHT? And NOBODY KNOWS WHY IT WAS LAUNCHED, or, possibly more importantly, WHERE IT LANDED?

Nuh-uh!

[ipstenu.livejournal.com]

We don't even know that it WAS a missile. It looks like one. It MIGHT be one, but they're not saying.

I know!

It's SUPERMAN!

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

If only. Superman would be awesome.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm really curious as to why they haven't disclosed where it landed.

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

I know that I leave all my weapons of mass destruction set to LAUNCH with only a single red button needed to make them go boom. One must never be caught unprepared.

*sigh*

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

"You idiot; I said lunch! LUNCH!"

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

*giggles madly*

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

I feel like that macro is the most relevant thing ever.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Seriously. Wat. Also I might make an icon of it.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

...


...

...blame the Romulans?

(Speaking less facetiously, I hope they figure out what happens so there isn't an encore.)

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

I hope they figure out what happens so there isn't an encore.

SECONDED.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Third.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we don't need a repeat performance of this.

[surreal-44.livejournal.com]

I knew I shouldn't have spilled my coffee on that panel. Oooops.

No, srsly. People should be just a teeny bit more careful, yes? Yes.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yes, more careful, please. And it would be both hilarious and sad if it were something like "Soldier spilled Diet Coke."

[surreal-44.livejournal.com]

Whoever is responsible for it is probably in really, really big trouble right now. :/ So I almost feel bad for them. Almost.

[maybethistime.livejournal.com]

I know it's not funny, but it's really funny. Beaker is not helping.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

It's all fun and games until someone loses 45% of their population.

But yes, Beaker does add that extra touch, doesn't he.

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

I think Beaker sums it up nicely.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[nebt-het.livejournal.com]

It's okay Tony Stark lives in Malibu so we are used to this.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

DEAD OF LULZ

[nebt-het.livejournal.com]

the funnier thing is Jon Favreau tweeted the same thing a few minutes later!!

[sethrak.livejournal.com]

Ha! Beat me to it.

[silveraspen]

Exactly!

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

WUT.

(but I cannot stop laughing at Beaker)

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Beaker makes everything better. Even a possible accidental all-out nuclear war.

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

Want to play a game?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

The only winning move is MEEP MEEP MEEP

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords.

[skig.livejournal.com]

Some days it is so worth it to get out of bed in the morning. This made my day--I love living in the 21st Century. It's so utterly ridiculous.

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Now they're saying it was a regular old jet appearing a weird angle, because it was too slow and didn't burn and there's evidence from last year of a jet making the exact same kind of contrail.

Y'know, when we weren't on the millisecond news cycle, people didn't break down into histrionics NEARLY so quickly. I find myself pining for the era of telegraph. (I work in news.)

[thaccian (from livejournal.com)]

And to be cautiously optimistic about this, I have seen exactly the same sort of missile looking contrail arched over Lake Michigan before. I was quite alarmed one day when I looked up and saw what appeared to be a missile trail starting from the S. end of Lake Michigan (like around Gary) and arching overhead toward the NW.

The one I saw was early in the day so it looked very white, rather than the sunset orange of the LA sighting, but it did not look like any airplane contrail I'd ever seen before. I actually went home and turned on the TV to see if there were any reports about missiles being fired off in Indiana and/or Illinois, but apparently no one else was concerned.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

...Point. Information can now flash around the world at the speed of light, but misinformation can spread even faster still. I was mildly amused to see Michio Kaku mentioned as setting the record straight on the news cycle.

The science behind why a jet contrail manages to resemble that of a missile (probably a function of air temperature at different altitudes refracting the light) must be kind of cool, though.

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't think that contrail is remarkable either way. The setting sun catching the cloud made it extremely eye-catching and prompted people to wonder. It's the angle that made people say "missile!" but I've seen craaaaazy minuteman missile contrails that would never be mistaken for jets. That one fell squarely in the normal range of the curve, imo.