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Contrail Spotted In Phoenix After Missile Launch In North New Mexico

An early morning missile test in New Mexico left a white contrail plainly visible in the Arizona sky Thursday morning.

The unarmed Juno target missile was launched about 6:55 a.m. from an old military depot in northwestern New Mexico.

It was aimed at the White Sand Missile Range, some 215 miles away, but a White Sands spokesman says it was successfully intercepted over the range by a Patriot missile and disintegrated in midair.

Range spokesman Luciano Vera says a second Patriot fired from White Sands self-destructed after the first Patriot hit the target.

The corkscrew-shaped contrail was visible in Phoenix, more than 400 miles west of the launch site.

Dennis Lambert was a morning host at KJZZ.