Sounds to me like a cover up for something that they didn't know what the frig it was. Ease the people's minds by telling them it was a test launch, but really, they don't know, or they do know and it wasn't a missile they were testing. I think it was a ship or something they were sending for a test flight. It would seem it took them a little bit to stable it out, hence the trail. Just the fact that it hovered there for half and hour, that's not a missile.
Test launch, alright. Test of a secret something they don't want to disclose.
Saying it was a missile launch is like saying it was a weather balloon or swamp gas.