Norwegian Rocket Incident - Detection

Detection

As the Black Brant XII rocket gained altitude, it was detected by the Olenegorsk early warning radar station in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. To the radar operators, the rocket appeared similar in speed and flight pattern to a U.S. Navy submarine-launched Trident missile, leading the Russian military to initially misinterpret the rocket's trajectory as representing the precursor to a possible attack by missiles from submarines.