” The next thought is why?”
I would say 1 of 3 things. Either a Civil defense drill to test public perception of a crisis, a propulsion test or something happened to the missile and they removed the warhead and shot the missile off for safety reasons.
What we do know is it came from the ocean so the assumption would have to be it was launched from a sub.
“Either a Civil defense drill to test public perception of a crisis”
No need for orchestrated tests. They have plenty of real life experience to draw upon and don’t want to be blamed for potentially dampening the stock market.
“... a propulsion test or something happened to the missile and they removed the warhead and shot the missile off for safety reasons.”
That only makes sense if BO told them not to explain themselves. Otherwise, they would gladly have cleared this up and not look like they’re embarrassed.