240, there have been other ones, trust me. And most would go unreported unless something like this happened where it's caught on film.....there is a shitload the govt doesn't tell the general public. And if it was anything with a payload, you wouldn't want to detonate it if its headed out to sea, where I presume this one ended up.
Hugo, they will pick and choose which events to report. Our public is so scared of its own shadow, combined with do you really think the way politicians operate in this day and time that they would risk getting blamed for this in some way? There are a shitload of military bases in San Diego, so to think that somehow this launch would happen without someones imagery system picking it up, is HIGHLY unlikely.
the only other scenario I could see is it being possible terrorists, and the govt doesn't want a public panic or the bad press.....
It pretty much has to be one of the two, imo.