When an impressive contrail was spotted off the California coast last week, it sparked widespread reports of a mystery missile launch in the area – a theory the Pentagon squashed after initial investigations. But, the odd contrail fooled more than the public and media, and was even seen from space. After watching footage of the Nov. 8 contrail, Patrick Minnis, a contrail expert in the Science Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., assumed it came from a missile, as many others did. He even said so in response to a phone call from a reporter.