was it SI?
I have no specific knowledge of what might have happened - hence the question mark in my earlier post. However, an 0-dark-30 departure, especially if it were good and properly dark, raises the thought of the illusion and back into the ground. The illusion can be overwhelming, especially if one endeavours to fly without reference to an adequate set of dials. Non-aviation eye-witness reporting can be notoriously unreliable as shown by history.