Missile test no UFO
First trail a success

Jennifer Johnson, front, Suzette Johnson and Matthew Morgan watch as a Hera missile launches into the sky on its way from Fort Wingate Army Depot to the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces on Wednesday morning. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — That strange light in the eastern skies that Gallupians saw this morning on their way to work wasn’t a UFO.

Instead, it was the federal government getting back to testing the reliability of the Patriot Missile with the launch of an Hera missile from Fort Wingate.

The launch, which took place shortly after 7 a.m. today, was the first test conducted by the officials at the White Sands Missile Range since 2007. Between 2007 and 2004, the military launched 10 missiles from Fort Wingate to be intercepted by Patriot Missiles over the White Sands Missile Range.

Most were successful, but the military stopped doing the tests in November 2007, said Monté Marlin, a spokeswoman at the missile base.

No tests have been done since then, she said, because “the weapons program did not require them to be done.”

The depot is closed for the tests but local residents became used to going out to the area and watching the missile being launched from vantage points along Interstate Highway 40 or near the off-ramp.

This time the military made arrangements to have people watch the launch from Red Rock Park where Marlin said everyone would have a good view and also be able to get some perspective of the event from people connected with the launch who were there to explain what was happening and answer any questions.

People who want the experience will have another opportunity since the military is planning to do another launch later this year, she said.

There were questions up to the launch as to whether it would be conducted today.

Marlin said White Sands was prepared to postpone it because of high winds that have been circulating over the missile range during the past few days. She added that the military was also watching the winds that were present in the Fort Wingate area. If it had been canceled, the plans were to hold it within the next few days.

None of the tests that have been done so far have created any kind of dangers to civilians living between Fort Wingate and the missile range.

“We take a lot of safety precautions,” Marlin said, adding that there have been more than 100 people assigned both at Fort Wingate and at the missile range working to make sure the tests came off safely and successfully.