I was stationed at Vandenberg for three years. Two memorable launches. One was a solid fuel vehicle that was launched about an hour after dark. As it climbed above the earth shadow the sunlight turned exhaust materials fluorescent, and it was photographed as a strange cloud in Los Angeles.
Second, a kind of "return to launch site story," an Atlas was launched while I was on way home from base late at night. Saw the launch in my rear view mirror, pulled over to watch. There was the common low cloud over the base. Saw the glow in the fog, and it seemed to be going straight up, not moving westward. Then, the glow started getting brighter! Then, just as it was about to come back out of the cloud, they blew it. Interesting view of flaming remains falling back on launch area.