Timo wrote:

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Spock's torpedo casket did do a short initial glow before it glided into the Genesis atmosphere.
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One wonders if the glow, with its atypical tail, wasn't purely for show...
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Perhaps something like the decorative smoke that trails behind a fighter plane during a airshow. The red glow was ceremonial and deliberate. It was the same general color as the officer's uniform jacket.
Traditionally employed during funerals.