Launch Lights Up Sky--and Switchboard

Ventura County residents were startled Saturday evening to see a streak of bright orange, then purple, flash across the sky--caused by the latest launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The arc of brilliant color was a Boeing Delta II rocket carrying five Motorola satellites. It was launched from the Santa Barbara County base about 5:30 p.m.

“I’ve never seen such a bright, wide streak,” said Thousand Oaks resident Richard Whitmire, who saw the smoke and fire while driving on Avenida de Las Flores.

The rocket launch was part of a wireless telecommunications network designed to provide hand-held telephone services worldwide, said Vandenberg Lt. Carol Kanode.

Motorola’s plan is to put 72 satellites in orbit and have the system working by 1998. So far, the company has put 39 satellites in outer space.

The next launch is scheduled to occur somewhere in China, Kanode said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force and the Boeing Co. are scheduled to make the next Vandenberg launch Dec. 16.

After Saturday’s launch, sky gazers congregated in downtown Ventura, trying to guess whether the bright light was a meteor, a shooting star, a flaming plane or a rocket.

The trail was bright even in eastern Ventura County. “I didn’t know what it was,” said Paul Cooper of Simi Valley, who called his family outside to witness the spectacle. “I thought it maybe was an asteroid.”

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department reported that deputies received 20 calls in about 10 minutes inquiring about the streak in the sky.