Why Do So Many UFO sightings Happen Over Missile Bases?
This article was originally
published on Openminds.tv as, “Montana and Military Involvement with UFOs” I also discussed some key points with Martin Willis by podcast. In it, I reviewed some historical cases
that I as well as several unexplained cases that Investigated while State
Director for Montana MUFON.
With the revelation in
2018 by the Pentagon and their admission that there has been an ongoing program
to investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon; the fact that Montana has had
several cases of interest within that context came to mind. First and foremost
is the Mariana UFO incident from August 1950 when Nicolas Mariana filmed 16 mm
color movies of two UFOs which appeared as shiny, circular craft. It has
withstood years of research conducted by a slew of investigators, including
NICAP, the Air Force, and Dr. Robert M. L. Baker as well as others without
being debunked and is believed to be on strongest cases supporting the
existence of unidentified Flying objects and remains unexplained.
Many are familiar with
The Mariana UFO film, which resides in the U.S. National Archives. But for
those not familiar with it, it happened. In August 1950, when Nicolas Mariana, filmed a
16 mm color movie of two UFOs. Mariana was the general manager of a Great Falls
minor league baseball team and was out at the field that day with his
secretary. A bright flash of light caught his eye. He then spotted two shiny
metallic looking objects about 50 feet in diameter which appeared to be
circular craft that rotated while flying
around 400 mph. He ran back to his car and got his movie camera and
managed to get sixteen minutes of film. A reporter picked up the story and the
local newspaper described the event and the movie he had taken. After this,
other media outlets followed suit and the story was picked up by other outlets
around the nation. He was interviewed at Malmstrom AFB about the film. Mariana went around to groups and showed his
film for a few weeks afterward. In 1951, a noted skeptic, Bob Considine, wrote
an article titled, “The Disgraceful
Saucer Hoax, where he included Mariana’s film along with other events he
described as hoaxes. Mariana was not pleased and filed a lawsuit against
Considine, whom he felt had slandered him, though the case was dropped in
1955. This case was investigated by Dr.
Roy Craig and David Saunders, who were part of the Condon study. The two
researchers couldn’t agree; Craig wasn’t convinced the case had merit; Saunders
did and was convinced that there really was something to the whole UFO
thing. It was also investigated by Dr. William
Hartmann, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, who also worked on the
Condon project, also felt that the reflection seen in the film did not
represent airplanes, though he couldn’t rule it out. It is still being
discussed 64 years later for one because it is considered the first film taken
of a UFO and also because it is one case that has withstood years of research,
having been investigated by research organizations, including NICAP, the Air
Force. Captain Ruppelt, of Project
Grudge and Blue Book fame, who also investigated the film, deemed this to
be an “Unknown.” He mentions it in his
book The Report on Unidentified Flying
Objects. The Mariana film is still believed by many to represent a strong
case to support the existence of unidentified Flying objects.
Another extraordinary
case in Montana happened at Malmstrom Air Force base on March 16, 1967 when two
maintenance crews reported seeing UFOS in the early morning hours over the
E-Flight (missile) silos. Strategic Air Command Officers Captain Eric Carlson
and First Lieutenant Walt Figal of the Echo-Flight Missile Combat Crew were
below ground in the E-flight Launch Control Center. During the 8:30 a.m. briefing, it was
reported that the Minutemen missile alarm sounded. One of the Minuteman missiles had gone off
alert; meaning it had become inoperable. This was at one of the two sites where
the maintenance crews had been stationed during the night and had seen the
UFOs. Thinking this to be due to the crews doing maintenance or perhaps even
neglecting their duty, Crew Commander, Figal looked into the incident. Just as
inexplicably, within seconds, the entire flight of ten ICBMS went inoperable
also; with all the missiles being reported a “No-Go” at this point. After a
check was conducted, it was found that each of the missiles had gone off alert
status due to a guidance and control fault and not due to a power outage. As
security and maintenance had seen UFOs hovering over both sites, has been
conjectured that perhaps the UFO had caused the missiles to become inoperable,
as the cause was unknown. It was not due
to power being lost but that each of the guidance and control systems had
malfunctioned. It was felt that the only thing that could have id this was a
pulse of some sort but that it wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the system.
This was closely
followed by another sighting and another inexplicable shut down, this one at
Oscar Flight. Captain Robert L. Salas stated he was present that day, on or
around March 24, 1967 at Malmstrom AFB when it was reported to him that a
large, saucer-shaped craft was directly at the front gates at very close range.
The security guard who had reported this to him had been frightened and
confused by what he had seen and had wanted to talk to Salas about it. But
Salas had taken an oath not to speak about the incident to anyone. At that time
Salas had been unaware that ten Minuteman I missiles had been disabled while
the UFO was observed over the launch facilities of nearby Echo Flight.
Case #55741, became
known to me after I became MUFON’s State Director of the Montana chapter
through the Case Assistance Group. I was doing inventory after taking over State Directorship, getting
some background information on the types of cases that Montana had been dealing
with. Even though I had been a Field Investigator for Michigan for over seven
years, this was my first stint as a State Director, thus I wanted to be as
prepared as I could. Montana with its “big sky” and fewer city lights to block
out the stars, and breath-taking mountain ranges, is a sky-watcher’s dream and
definitely different than what I was used to living in an urban area.
This incident, listed on
the database as a CE-2, happened at around midnight on May 10, 2004 when
an entire Army Special Forces unit saw an unknown spherical shaped object
through night vision goggles while on Security duty in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Kabul, the largest city in Afghanistan, is the capital of Kabul Province and is
located along the eastern sector of the country. It has a population of 3.3
million people and is the largest city in Afghanistan. Geographically it sits
5876 feet above sea level between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul
River. The climate, which tends to be cooler than rest of the Southwest Asia
due to the elevation, is semi-arid with most of the precipitation occurring in
the winter months, usually as snow.
In his report, the
Montana resident stated that while out on detail in Kabul, Afghanistan, he and
an entire Army unit of fifteen men witnessed a UFO. The witness stated he was
unsure of the exact date but felt it was around May 10th of that year. He
stated that this craft was “huge” and was so close they could have thrown a
rock at it and hit it. He said it seemed to come out of nowhere and floated
over one of the mountains from the south which was east of the base they built.
The object made no noise. The bizarre thing was that he could not see it with
the naked eye but could be seen through his night vision goggles. He described
the object has having the appearance of a light bulb but was a sphere and was
about the size of the moon in comparison. He said it had a translucent
appearance but was glowing, lighting up the surrounding area with its lights.
When they did see it, they stopped and looked in amazement and awe. As they
watched it, it was hovering about 50-100 feet in the air, moving slowly about
five to ten mph. It was about 100 yards from the outside perimeter of the base
camp and as they were watching the craft, their commander was at the base camp,
about a quarter of a mile to the southwest of their position. The commander
could also see the object. He got on the radio and announced to the unit to
“get back to work, its nothing,” meaning the craft they were looking at. It was
on the Mark 19 which they had mounted on the back of a Humvee. The squad leader
was in the passenger seat and his friend was driving.
He stated they were “pulling roaming security” from one traffic control point to the other from the south of the base to the north of their base camp. After their commander told them to go back to work, they watched this craft for about ten more minutes before they had to turn around and head back north. The craft stopped about ¼-mile northeast of their position and appeared to stop over campfire that some locals had made. The UFO then shot out a beam at their camp, but they couldn't see the base of the fire from where they were, just the flickering of it on the back of the mountain. They could not see what was happening down on the ground with that beam of light. In the meantime, their squad leader stopped watching and wanted to go back to work, so the specialist turned the Humvee around and they started driving north to the north T.C.P. The witness stated he wanted to keep watching the object, but they lost sight of it when they left because a hill blocked their view; which was the same hill that blocked the beam they had seen. After a minute of driving north he observed that the object had taken off from over the local’s campsite. He stated it took off at a rapid speed, making in a 90-degree angle straight up until they could no longer see it. To him it appeared that the lights on the craft seemed to have a delayed reaction because the craft took off so fast, what he said was an alarming rate. It made dashes of light across the sky as it did, then it was gone. His report to MUFON was the first time that he had told anyone about this incident besides his family.
He stated they were “pulling roaming security” from one traffic control point to the other from the south of the base to the north of their base camp. After their commander told them to go back to work, they watched this craft for about ten more minutes before they had to turn around and head back north. The craft stopped about ¼-mile northeast of their position and appeared to stop over campfire that some locals had made. The UFO then shot out a beam at their camp, but they couldn't see the base of the fire from where they were, just the flickering of it on the back of the mountain. They could not see what was happening down on the ground with that beam of light. In the meantime, their squad leader stopped watching and wanted to go back to work, so the specialist turned the Humvee around and they started driving north to the north T.C.P. The witness stated he wanted to keep watching the object, but they lost sight of it when they left because a hill blocked their view; which was the same hill that blocked the beam they had seen. After a minute of driving north he observed that the object had taken off from over the local’s campsite. He stated it took off at a rapid speed, making in a 90-degree angle straight up until they could no longer see it. To him it appeared that the lights on the craft seemed to have a delayed reaction because the craft took off so fast, what he said was an alarming rate. It made dashes of light across the sky as it did, then it was gone. His report to MUFON was the first time that he had told anyone about this incident besides his family.
The lead investigator
for this case did an excellent job investigating this reported sighting. He
concluded at that time that this was an Unknown and closed the case on April
10, 2014. I looked over the information
that was listed on the report and listened to the audio clip interview given by
the witness. I felt him to be credible, giving good details in a coherent,
factual manner. I didn’t detect anything in his manner of speaking that would
indicate intentional deception. Given the increased interest in cases involving
military personnel with the revelation that the Pentagon has had a program to
investigate UFOs, maybe this next case needs to be looked into further. One
thing that stood out when listening to his interview was that he mentioned
being in the Paktika Province of Afghanistan, not Kabul and that the mission
was secret.
Another question I had was that if the object could only be seen through infrared glasses, were they all wearing them? He states that all fifteen of them saw the object. Also notable is the fact that his commander, who was at the base camp, was seeing the object too a quarter of a mile away, so it’s possible that there were many more witnesses to this object.
Another question I had was that if the object could only be seen through infrared glasses, were they all wearing them? He states that all fifteen of them saw the object. Also notable is the fact that his commander, who was at the base camp, was seeing the object too a quarter of a mile away, so it’s possible that there were many more witnesses to this object.
While the Pentagon’s
release of the video taken by military pilots may appear to be an isolated
case; the fact of the matter is that there have been hundreds of similar cases
reported to MUFON, where the military was somehow involved; by former military
personnel who have either witnessed or interacted with a UFO, or e by witnesses
stating UFOs were seen being chased by military craft, usually F-16s and even
former military personnel reporting their own experiences to MUFON. Thus, this
case remains unknown. It also shows that the missile sights continue to be a
source of UFO activity. Nevertheless,
this case stands out as significant if only for the fact that these men were
Special Forces Security Unit, and by virtue of their training, were excellent
and reliable observers; even if they hadn’t been on duty and on high alert.
While no supporting physical evidence has been found, such as videos or photos;
it might be worthwhile to make further attempt at contacting the four others
listed in the report in an effort to get a clearer picture of this sighting.
While these three cases may be exceptionable, they may not be the last and it
seems that the UAPs are still interested in Malmstrom.
It wasn’t long after
beginning to investigate cases in Montana, that it became clear that the UFO
problem wasn’t just happening in Kabul.
It was also obvious that reports of UFOs over the missile sites, and
around Malmstrom, were not going away either as I encountered several cases of
my own to investigate. Case #30611 was a historical case that was actually
reported twice; the second time being assigned to me in January, 2017. In both reports of this incident, the
narrative is consistent, even though seven years had passed since he had first
reported it. It isn’t clear why he reported it twice; but it was obvious that
this incident had affected the witness enough that he could recall all of the
details exactly as he had reported it earlier, as if it had happened
yesterday. The witness initially contacted
me via the Montana MUFON Facebook Page. After I assured him that it was a real
site, he related a brief statement about the event. I suggested to him that he
should report it to the website, and gave him the information, which he
immediately did.
I
contacted the witness by telephone for the interview on 11/29/2017 and spoke with him for
about an hour, whereby he related the
event and corroborated the account he reported on the CMS website. He spoke very well, seemed
reliable and level-headed and I felt he was
a credible source. He had told me that
he wanted to make sure that we were a legitimate site before he related his
story, as there were a lot of “BS” ones out there. He said that on or about April, 1972 he and five others saw a
large rectangular object with a
reflective, patterned surface that hovered.
This happened near Malmstrom AFB. Weather conditions were clear, temperature
was 50 degrees, and no precipitation. He
had no film or videos of this incident.
When asked if he could
give me the names of the others he was with, he stated that due to the time
interval, he could not remember, although he could remember the vehicle that
they were in; it was a Ford “double deuce.” He said that the craft reminded him
of the craft that was in the movie, Independence Day” because it was that
large. He said it was grey to silver-chrome colored but no exterior light
characteristics were seen, and there were no emissions and no sound. It was 45 degrees above the horizon with the lowest
altitude being over 500 feet away at a distance of 101-500. He said it went in
a southerly direction. He listed the flight path as hovering, with directional
path and directional change. There was no landing observed. He said it was
huge, silverish in color and had pipe-like projections sticking out from it.
It was stationary except that he could see it rotating as it turned through the clouds and could see the edges of it as it kept turning and noted that it was rectangular in shape. It then tilted and he could see the third edge of the craft. He stated he and the others were awestruck by its immense size which was that of an aircraft carrier He said he was frightened by it and felt it was not “one of ours.” The men contacted their commanding officer and told him about the object, as they were unsure of what to do, especially since their vehicle was inoperative. The C.O. said he would look into it and get back to them about it. Later on, he told them that if they valued their career in the military, then they should “keep quiet until you die.” He was in the Military Police at the time and was on duty that day. He also mentioned that he was familiar with the missiles there and that and that he had even been inside of the missile silos in the course of his duties. The witness said he did relate the incident to his wife when he got home. He said he has never forgotten this incident. He also stated he was familiar with the nuclear missiles held there and that they “targeted” the missiles at battery changes and that he had been inside the missiles silos in the performance of his duties. When asked what he meant by targeted, he stated this was part of their duties and not something to do with any craft.
It was stationary except that he could see it rotating as it turned through the clouds and could see the edges of it as it kept turning and noted that it was rectangular in shape. It then tilted and he could see the third edge of the craft. He stated he and the others were awestruck by its immense size which was that of an aircraft carrier He said he was frightened by it and felt it was not “one of ours.” The men contacted their commanding officer and told him about the object, as they were unsure of what to do, especially since their vehicle was inoperative. The C.O. said he would look into it and get back to them about it. Later on, he told them that if they valued their career in the military, then they should “keep quiet until you die.” He was in the Military Police at the time and was on duty that day. He also mentioned that he was familiar with the missiles there and that and that he had even been inside of the missile silos in the course of his duties. The witness said he did relate the incident to his wife when he got home. He said he has never forgotten this incident. He also stated he was familiar with the nuclear missiles held there and that they “targeted” the missiles at battery changes and that he had been inside the missiles silos in the performance of his duties. When asked what he meant by targeted, he stated this was part of their duties and not something to do with any craft.
No
further information on the names of the other witnesses could be obtained, as
witness did not remember any of their names. A check of the CMS database found
no other correlating cases for that date or for the month of April, 1972
besides the one reported previously. In
my investigation, I ruled
out for bolides, meteors, or fireballs as well as weather anomalies. Based on
the fact that he was a trained observer and a credible source (military police
as well as having a Top Secret Clearance), and that he saw it close enough to
see projections coming out of it, I felt I could also rule out mis-identification
of conventional aircraft. Based on a general description and personal interview
revealing a credible witness, I felt confident that I could rule out for
hallucination, as it was also seen by their CO who was at a different base as
well as fifteen others. His report was clear and informative. The massive size
and shape and revolving movement, and speeds exceeding conventional aircraft
making it seem to “disappear”, and flight path and close proximity of the craft
ruled out for known conventional craft of the time period and possibly even
today. Based on this, I closed this case
out as an unknown aerial vehicle.
Malmstrom Air Force Base
is located near Great Falls, Montana, in Cascade County. It was built in 1941.
It is the home of the 341st Missile Wing of the Air Force Strike
Command and is one of three U.S. Air Force bases that operate the Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile. It has a population of 3,472 as of the 2010
census. Malmstrom base was chosen as the command center and control center for
the Minuteman missiles due to strategic Soviet sites being within the
Minuteman’s range for ICBMs. The first
ICBM arrived in 1962. The Strategic Missile Squadron was activated in 1961 and
the three squadrons were activated in 1963 and became fully operational in
1967. Malmstrom played a big part in the Cuban Missile Crisis when the
Strategic Missile Squadron (SMS) launch facility Alph-06 went into “strategic
alert” after it was found that Russia had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. After
the cold war, all Minuteman II missiles were taken off alert status along with
bombers and tankers, with all Minuteman II missiles being removed. The launch
facilities were modified to accommodate the newer Minuteman III missiles. In
1996 after closure of their only fixed-wing flying unit, the traffic control
tower was removed and the runway closed. It is currently the home of the 40th
Helicopter Squadron and UH-1N Twin huey helicopters that support the 341st
Space Wing’s Minuteman III ICBM sites.
Montana
is home to the largest ICBM field in the U.S. covering 23,500 square miles. The LGM-30G Minuteman intercontinentalballistic missile, or ICBM, is under the control of the Air Force Global StrikeCommand. The "L" in LGM is the Department of Defense designation for
silo-launched; "G" means surface attack; "M" stands for
guided missile, the 30 stands for the Minuteman series of missile and the G
after "30" is the current Minuteman III. The current ICBM force
consists of 450 Minuteman III missiles located at the 90th Missile Wing at F.E.
Warren AFB, Wyo.; the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont.; and the 91st
Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D. The Minuteman is a strategic weapon system
using a ballistic missile of intercontinental range. Missiles are dispersed in
hardened silos to protect against attack and connected to an underground launch
control center through a system of cables. Launch crews, consisting of two
officers, perform around-the-clock alert in the launch control center.
A
communication system provides the president and secretary of defense with
immediate direct contact with each launch crew. Should command capability be
lost between the launch control center and remote missile launch facilities,
specially configured E-6B airborne launch control center aircraft would assume
command and control of the isolated missile or missiles. Airborne missile
combat crews aboard airborne launch control center aircraft would then execute
the president's orders. As already mentioned, the Minuteman weapon system has
been in operation since the late 1950s and Minuteman I was deployed in the
early 1960s. As an improvement over
previous designs, the missile and basing components was a significant advance
over the slow-reacting, liquid-fueled, remotely-controlled intercontinental
ballistic missiles of the previous generation. Minuteman missiles provide a
quick-reacting, guided, highly survivable component in America's strategic
deterrent program. Minuteman's maintenance concept is considered highly
reliable with a near 100 percent alert rate according to military
sources…..unless of course there are UFOs involved. Each Minuteman missile carries within
its power plant: three
solid-propellant rocket motors; First Stage ATK refurbished M55A1; Second Stage
ATK refurbished SR-19; Third Stage ATK refurbished SR-73.
These cases are not
isolated incidents. From the Military archive I worked on, there have been many
cases where the military was involved somehow; either by pursuing UAPs, having
their personnel see them or they were seen in close proximity to the military
bases and in some cases directly over them. This is just one of hundreds or
possibly thousands of cases reported by military personnel who have either
witnessed or interacted with a UFO. There have been hundreds of incidents
reported to MUFON by; where UFOs were seen over military installations; or
where witnesses report seeing UFOs being chased by military craft, which are usually
described as F-16s. Former military personnel are reporting their own
experiences to MUFON. While the cases mentioned here may seem exceptionable,
they are certainly not the only ones. Case # 64259 in 1957 at Fort Riley,
Kansas involved a witness who saw five lights in a triangular shape over the
base; Case # 7021 in 1959 in Wisconsin, where
witnesses saw a hovoring craft with a beam of light was reportedly being chased
by the military; Case # 65291 in 1953, at Castle Rock, Colorado, witnesses saw
an oval-shaped object with a red light. A squadron was then dispatched to
search for it and Case # 21408 in 1962 on Ronson Island, California, there was a reported salvage attempt of a UFO while
on a radar ship.
The
most recent case involving Malmstrom AFB and the missile sights happened in
January 24, 2018 and one that Senator Reid might have been aware of, was MUFON Case# 89785. I was the investigator for this case. The person submitting the
report to the CMS database reported that a large black sphere-shaped
object was seen by military personnel over Maelstrom AFB. The submitter stated
the size was larger than 300 feet in diameter and at a distance of more than
one mile. The direction and angular size were unknown with various altitudes. I
contacted the reporting person by email on January 29th, 2018. He
stated that the witness did not wish to come forward as he was an OSI agent and
did not wish to jeopardize his career and that the only reason he came forward
to this extent was that they “made the investigation public.” The reporting person
stated the reason they felt they could report this much was that it was being
publically investigated. He stated that his source
was reliable and confirmed as he was, being a retired police detective, he was
not given to exaggerations. He stated the Media Relations at
Malmstrom would only confirm a power outage at the base for ten minutes but not
the UFO incident and that there would be “no comment,” according to the
submitter. He had been told that Investigators were
on their way to investigate the sighting and that the last siting was in May
2017. He stated his contact’s
version of this event was similar to others in the past. “They” (the UFOs) hang
out over the launch sites and power goes out. “They” only do un-manned sites
since about 20 years ago since they were shot at when they “hit” a manned site.
He also stated that the missiles are moved in the daytime since the 90s solely
because they kept being “harassed” at night. His contact was told this upon
being hired and thought they were joking at the time. He didn’t clarify exactly
what he meant by “harassed.” I contacted the Media Relations Department at Malmstrom on 02/02/18 for request for information but did not receieve a reply. Going only by witness statment, I feel that the reporting person is a credible source, as was his contact based on his account and background. Because these events have occurred on previous occastions over missile sites at Malmstrom, I contacted Mr. Robert Hastings to see if he could work with his contacts in the military to get any further information. Mr. Hastings, who has investigated many such cases involveing military personnel through the years, he agreed it was an interesting case and attempted to contact the reporting person, to no avail. I spoke with Mr. Hastings at length about the case. Eventually I ruled out for astronomical or weather anomalies. I also ruled out for bolides or fireball activity and for obvious hoax. Weather data is unavailable, as no time of occurance was given.
I
concluded that this was an unidentified aerial object due to its immense size,
shape, flight pattern and path that did not fit with known conventional
aircraft; and while this case was compelling and fit into the pattern of
sightings over Malmstrom.
Unfortunately, because this was reported by someone other than the witness, this case has to be filed as an “Information Only” unless further information is forthcoming by the witness. The submitter did not provide any photos or video clips to be used as evidence.
Unfortunately, because this was reported by someone other than the witness, this case has to be filed as an “Information Only” unless further information is forthcoming by the witness. The submitter did not provide any photos or video clips to be used as evidence.
Montana has
a long history with UFO activity. If the UFOs are in fact under intelligent
control, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that
they would be concerned about the
nuclear missiles housed at Malmstrom and at other bases around the world; the
effects of radiation on the area as well as the immense power housed in each
missile; Thrust in the
first Stage at 203,158 pounds; Weight: 79,432 lbs with a range of 6,000 miles
and a ceiling of 700 miles; they could cause a lot of damage and loss of life. For these reasons, investigation and research into the scope of these occurrences is ongoing.
Submitted by MarieCisneros,
Chief Researcher/Investigator, Cygnus Research
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