It was a stunning sight for some people up during the early morning hours Wednesday in the Tri-Counties.
The Air Force conducted the latest in a series of intercontinental ballistic missile test launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Minuteman III missile lifted off at 1:13 a.m. It carried a dummy payload to a test range in the South Pacific.
The Air Force conducts these launches regularly to test equipment and crew readiness. A similar test launch occurred in August, but officials delayed that one because they didn't want to inflame tense relations with the Chinese government which existed at the time.
