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I never said it was a a Navy shot. It could have been, and, no, the only SAM shooter wasn't 200 miles away, but, I do believe, only 35 miles away.

Wrong. Nearest US Navy surface combatant was the USS Normandy, 200 miles away.

Question for you: What was the purpose of the Navy operation being conducted that evening?

Good question. W-105 and W-106 were active, which are AVIATION warning areas only, not NAUTICAL warning areas.

Supposedly, this was a low-altitude CEC engagement gone sour, but the story doesn't add up if you know anything about how SM-2 actually works. Normandy would have been well over the horizon from TWA 800, so they would've needed another networked sensor to "see" the intended target.

Many classified test, and I have participated in way more than one, have normal looking covers. "Rumor" has it that this was a test of a sub capability. The Navy denied there were any subs in the area. Once proven to be lying, the Navy fessed up.

This isn't to prove that the Navy conducted a live missile firing, but to ensure that the fact that the Navy had more assest in play than they admit is kept about.

If a missile was fired from a terrorist boat, the Navy had enough assets to know the boat was there and where it went. Sonar, as I am sure you know, can detect a private class of boat many, many miles away. If 800 went down, the Navy must have known within seconds or minutes of the downing and searched for all craft.

If this was a live fire mission, the Navy and a few other assests would have been on watch.

Either way, I see the Navy playing a role in the answer.

I don't buy a center tank theory, at least as far as it has been presented so far.