Navy submarine missile test causes streaking light seen across California

FRESNO, Calif. -- The Navy has fired an unarmed missile from a submarine off the coast of Southern California, creating a bright light that streaked across the state and was visible as far away as Nevada and Arizona.

A Navy spokesman told The San Diego Union-Tribune the Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted the missile test Saturday in the Pacific Test Range northwest of Los Angeles. The test was of a Trident II (D5) missile from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine.

Cmdr. Ryan Perry said the launches are conducted on a frequent basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system and that information about such test launches is classified prior to the launch.

The lack of information about the streak of light led to a flurry of calls to law enforcement agencies and lit up social media as people posted video of the celestial sight.

The phones in the ABC30 newsroom were ringing with hundreds of calls from people wanting to know if we saw this phenomenon and what it was.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.