my uncle used to own Point Sal.... just north of Vandenberg, about 10 miles.
We saw dozens of launches. Before the Challenger disaster they were scheduled to launch the Shuttle from Vandenberg.... for community relations all the land owners were invited to a tour of the facilities. My uncle's son, my cousin, and I attended.
For a few of the launches we were supposed to vacate the property but we didn't.
Even from here at home many of the launches are quite visible. And each time the news media gets hundreds of calls reporting a UFO to the south.