Russian missile failure sparks UFO frenzy

• Source: Global Times
• [01:42 December 11 2009]
• Comments

Russia's new nuclear-capable Bulava missile has suffered another failure in testing, producing a spectacular plume of white light over Norway that sparked speculation of a UFO, reports said Thursday.

The submarine-launched Bulava missile was test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi sub-marine in the White Sea early Wednesday but failed in its third stage, Russia's Kommersant and Vedomosti newspa-pers reported, quoting defense sources.

The Russian defense ministry declined to comment on the failure or even confirm that the test launch of the intercontinental missile had taken place, the reports added.

The pre-dawn morning launch coincided with the appearance of an extraordinary light over northern Norway that captivated observers.

Images of the white light that appeared in the sky above the Norwegian city of Tromso prompted explanations ranging from a meteor, northern lights, a failed missile or even a UFO.

Truls Lynne Hansen, the head of Troms Geophysical Observatory in Norway told CNN that missile launches were a common sight in the area.

"We have seen rockets being launched from northwest Russia, and the rocket range in Kiruna in northern Sweden, but nothing like this," Hansen said.

Leading Russian defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said the reports of the failed missile test "were fully true" and that the images seen over Norway were consistent with a missile failure.

"Such lights and clouds appear from time to time when a missile fails in the upper layers of the atmosphere and have been reported before," he told AFP.

"At least this failed test made some nice fireworks for the Norwegians," he joked.

The White Sea lies close to Norway's own Arctic region.

Further details on the circumstances of the launch were not immediately available.

The missile is central to Russia's plan to revamp its aging weapons arsenal but is struggling with development problems.

The problems with the Bulava have become an agonizing issue for the defense ministry, which has ploughed a large proportion of its procurement budget into ensuring the missile becomes the key element of its revamped rocket forces.

Agencies