The United States Army destroyed a prototype hypersonic weapon just seconds after it launched from a base in Alaska because something had gone wrong.

According to Space.com, the test launch managers noticed an anomaly with the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, as it is called. The launch took place at four a.m. EDT Monday at the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska.

Maureen Schumann, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, told Space.com "the flight was terminated in the first four seconds" and an investigation is now taking place. The prototype weapon was mounted on a three-stage STARS rocket.

Schumann said the weapon was part of the Pentagon's Conventional Prompt Global Strike, a weapons technology development program meant to demonstrate the potential of future land and sea weapons. Hypersonic is defined as traveling at speeds of Mach 5 and higher, which would mean five times the speed of sound and beyond.

"I think it was about a minute or so before the roar of the takeoff made it to us followed shortly after by the sound of the explosion," Scott Wight, an Alaska-based photographer who wanted to capture the Milky Way behind the hypersonic weapon, told Space.com. "I didn't notice any shock wave although I've heard others say they felt something."

The Pentagon released an official statement on the launch failure and indicated the weapon was destroyed as a public safety measure.

"Shortly after 4 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, as part of the Defense Department's Conventional Prompt Global Strike technology development program, conducted a flight test of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska," read the statement. "Due to an anomaly, the test was terminated near the launch pad shortly after lift-off to ensure public safety. There were no injuries to any personnel.

"Program officials are conducting an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the flight anomaly."