Clocks
(a repost, but still haunts me)

I was playing Coldplay's "Clocks" while driving into a California sunset in September 2002, when I suddenly saw a strange contrail rapidly heading west into the sunset. It was the first time I ever saw such a thing: a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile heading from Vandenburg Air Force Base to Kwajalein Atoll, located many thousands of miles away in the Pacific.

The missile was many hundreds of miles away from my car, but because of good visibility in the gloaming, it was possible to see the rocket stage. The missile contrail changed from dense smoke into a translucent glimmering perfect cone, as the upper stages of the missile ripped into the mesosphere. It was gorgeous and scary at the same time.

When I hear "Clocks", I sense nuclear annihilation is near and my time on this Earth is over.
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Thu 28 Jan 2010, 22:14, 6 replies)

I like this because I like missiles...
...although I'm not such a fan of Coldplay.

I did some googling - is this the launch you saw?
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Fri 29 Jan 2010, 2:17, closed)

Excellent Googling!
I'm sure that's the correct launch! Santa Barbara is much closer to the launch site than I was and so this observer had the best of views.

It looks like the observer played with the exposure in order to photograph into a bright sunset sky. Pictures 4 & 5 show the upper stage departing from the smoky, lower-stage contrail. The luminescent shimmering cone of the upper stage exhaust is harder to see in these images than I remember, probably because of blurring.

The end is nigh! 'Clocks' are striking midnight!
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Sat 30 Jan 2010, 1:29, closed)

Obligatory Joke
I feel the same way whenever I hear Coldplay as well.

Seriously though, that sounds like a really cool spectacle to witness.
( Kovacs Slogan free since 2003, Fri 29 Jan 2010, 11:07, closed)

a ex-girlfriend of mine
nicknamed me 'the minuteman'. i've always assumed it was because i could go like a rocket in bed...
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 29 Jan 2010, 12:26, closed)

Back when Clocks came out:
The local radio station siezed upon it (like Oprah and a buffet); and played it about once an hour, regular as... well, clockwork.

At the time I was still working for the Supermarket of Despair. So by recollection to a darker time, Clocks fills me with doom, depression, and foreboding as well.
( The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Mon 1 Feb 2010, 17:27, closed)

Lovely Term - Supermarket of Despair
Googling "Supermarket of Despair" reveals this:

cfd.net.au/home/article/5000-queue-for-supermarket-jobs-in-nz-20100122-35962.html
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Mon 1 Feb 2010, 23:44, closed)