Anybody know the story behind this?

Morgans wrote:

Looks like good photo editing. Why would someone be taking a picture
forward, (second shot) and happen to get a perfectly framed sidewinder in
the shot, and second, how would they get it in the perfect shot.

Any decent autofocus 35mm (such as my Nikon N6006). You could probably get one
that would take those shots for about $300 at the PX. Any mediocre or better
photographer can "pan" the shots and get those results.

Also, where is the fire coming out of the missile?

It very obviously didn't fire. It appears that the missile broke loose when the
aircraft stopped and skipped down the deck.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."