I was fixing dinner at 19:40 when I got a text from my son. “Hearing something about a launch (Unannounced?) out of Vandenberg within the last few minutes?”
I stuck my head out the front door, facing west.
Well, that would be a big ol’ confirmation, right there!
The lower part of the exhaust trail, deep in the sunset atmosphere, is orange and red, turning white as it climbs up higher in the atmosphere where it’s still fully illuminated by the sun off in the west.
It’s odd that there wasn’t any announcement or webcast, so that rules out a SpaceX or ULA launch. A Minuteman III test, possibly?
Nope, turns out to have been the Firefly Alpha 3 launch at 19:27 PDT carrying a top secret Space Force payload named Victus Nox.
Great job, everyone! Let the conspiracy theory and calls to the police about alien invasions start!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 
Why the spiral effect?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Winds at different altitudes will be blowing in different directions, plus the plume arching over to horizontal as it climbs.
LikeLike