Jud McCranie wrote:

I've seen the light in other film too, but in those cases it was
already high enough that all you could see were the flames and that
light. The DVD shows it from liftoff, so the location of the light is
visible.



It's visible on the right side of his photo of the launch:
http://www.space.maljonicsdreams.com.../explorer1.jpg
I've always wondered about it also. Is it to aid tracking once the lower
part of the booster separates after engine burn-out?

Pat