UFO?? Officials say it wasn't a missile.

Despite UFO reports, officials say no missile crashed in Colorado

Posted on: 12:38 pm, September 13, 2012, by Will C. Holden

The contrail from a missile launch near Gallup, NM. The U.S. Army lauched a test interceptor missile on Sept. 13, 2012. (KPHO)

SAGUACHE COUNTY, Colo. — First it was a plane, then it was a missile. At one point, some even believed it to be a UFO.

Those were all among the rumors when a peculiar white, streaking sight was spotted in the dark, early morning sky in southwestern Colorado on Thursday.

Trooper Josh Lewis said the Colorado State Patrol received the first call on the matter at approximately 6:40 a.m., with the reporting party believing a plane crash had just occurred. As officers were en route, Lewis said the CSP received word from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico that the projectile was not a plane, but instead a failed test missile launch.

Officials with the U.S. Army told FOX31 that the White Sands facility had tested a missile at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, but that all of the debris from the test had been contained to the facility grounds. In contrast to the report from Lewis, Army officials insisted their test had gone as planned, and that they did not believe any of the debris would be visible to residents in Colorado.

Several viewers emailed FOX31 concerned and confused about what they had seen Thursday morning. One individual wrote, “I have no clue what is was, so I guess I’ll just call it a UFO.”

Speaking for the CSP, Lewis said he had no further information about the peculiar sighting. When attempting to investigate the incident further, he said authorities at the White Sands Missile Range informed his office to “stand down.”