LOS ANGELES The Defense Department said Tuesday it wasn't responsible for the mysterious "missile" that streaked across the sky off the Southern California coast Monday night and said it had no clue who could have launched it.
Los Angeles TV station KCBS, whose traffic helicopter captured the device on video, said the missile's location was 35 miles out to sea north of Catalina Island.
The Defense Department stressed that it didn't appear to be a military missile and said it wasn't alarmed. But a spokesman acknowledged that the Pentagon still had no idea who launched the missile.
The spokesman, Marine Col. Dave Lapan, said the Pentagon was talking to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the Federal Aviation Administration and other government agencies that could track who launched this missile. But "so far, we've come up empty with any explanation," he said.
Other government officials told NBC News it was possible the missile was a commercial launch or even an amateur device.