What Was That Light In The Sky Above SoCal? It's Top Secret

LOS ANGELES, CA — Another SpaceX rocket shot into space from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday leaving a glowing curlicue contrail that could be seen in the night sky for hundreds of miles across Southern California.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched the NROL-186 mission on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office. According to SpaceFlightNow.com, "The spy agency described the classified mission as “the second launch of NRO’s proliferated architecture, delivering critical space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) to the nation.”

According to SpaceX, it was the eighth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, EarthCARE, and two Starlink missions.

The rocket launched at 8:14 p.m., and the Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship not long afterward.

Most rocket launches take place from the East Coast because the Earth rotates from west to east, giving a rocket launching in an easterly direction the added benefit of the Earth's rotational speed.