© 2018 Oscar Martin
At approximately 5:45 PM Pacific Standard Time on December 19, 2018, a large meteor exploded in the sky off the coast of San Francisco. Of course “large” is a relative term here - most meteors are pebble sized or smaller, whereas this was likely the size of a closed fist according to Dr. Edwin C. Krupp of the Griffith Observatory. The smoke trail and resulting cloud formation was visible as far south as Los Angeles, high enough in the atmosphere to catch the sunlight even after the sun had set on the ground. I was on the Larkspur Ferry, heading north from San Francisco, when I saw the trail. The initial trajectory was parabolic, but the trail was soon twisted by high altitude air currents into what many described as a corkscrew or question mark. This unusual shape led many to believe it was an accident involving a spacecraft; however, both launches scheduled for the day, one at Vandenberg and another at Cape Canaveral, had been scrubbed only hours prior.
Launch Alert: we have declared a scrub for today's launch of the #DeltaIVHeavy. We will set up for a 24 hour recycle and the next launch attempt will be 12/20 at 5:31pm PST.
— ULA (@ulalaunch) December 20, 2018
Standing down from today’s launch attempt of GPS III SV01 to further evaluate out of family reading on first stage sensors; will confirm a new launch date once complete.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 19, 2018