You're right, that doesn't look like a supersonic impact. I could have sworn I saw a picture with a much bigger impact site.
notice the crater...that does NOT look like a crater created by a missile traveling down at over mach 3, it is pretty small. looks like a normal crater created by any object that fell outta the sky from 40k feet and fell to the ground with gravitational acceleration.
this is what a crater made by an actual, targeted missile hit looks like, notice the huge size difference...
I've heard it throttle but not sure. I don't think it was a malfunction. high speed interceptions have taken place against scuds and albeit then did get stopped, did not get annihilated.
they weren't prepared for an escalation because they were convinced that their brahmos would be extremely hard to detect if not impossible to detect. Kinda like when someone unexpectedly turns around takes a swing at you but you successfully block that swing, he quickly changes his tone and says "oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you where there, I was just trying to shoo a fly away"!
an "accidental" launch that followed a well known civil air traffic route down to near perfection...yeah okay.
