NUFORC UFO Sighting 197104

Occurred: 1967-03-16 08:45 Local
Reported: 2026-04-16 00:00 Pacific
Duration: Several minutes
No of observers: 6 - Military

Location: Hilger, MT, USA

Shape: Oval
Color: Red/orange, glowing
Estimated Size: 30-60 feet (estimated)
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: Overhead, above fornt gate
Angle of Elevation: 45
Closest Distance: 100 to 200 feet
Estimated Speed: Hovering/stationary
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Electrical or magnetic effects

Glowing red-orange oval hovered over Echo Flight LCF gate; all 10 Minuteman ICBMs went offline within seconds; object departed.

On March 16, 1967, at approximately 08:45 local time, all ten Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missiles assigned to Echo Flight at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, simultaneously lost strategic alert status. The missiles went into No-Go condition within an estimated ten seconds of each other. The shutdown triggered fault indications on Voice Reporting Signal Assembly channels 9 and 12, signaling Guidance and Control No-Go and Logic Coupler No-Go conditions. No command, status line monitor, or power supply faults were detected, indicating the disruption came from an external source overriding missile guidance and logic functions while preserving power supply integrity.

Lt. Robert Salas, a Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, was on duty in the underground Launch Control Center approximately 60 feet below the surface. He received a call from his NCO in charge of site security on the surface, who reported unidentified flying objects in the vicinity performing strange maneuvers. Salas told the guard to continue observing. A subsequent call came from a guard who was, in Salas's words, "quite frightened," reporting that an unidentifiable flying object was hovering immediately above the front gate of the Launch Control Facility. The object was described as oval or disc-shaped, emitting a distinct red-orange glow. Security personnel also lost radio contact with the site immediately after reporting the object.

Within minutes of the second report, the ten Minuteman missiles began going offline one by one. A classified SAC headquarters message sent March 17, 1967, described the event as the loss of strategic alert of all ten missiles within ten seconds of each other for no apparent reason and called it "cause for grave concern to this headquarters."

Salas's commander received a call from another Launch Control Center indicating that a similar incident had occurred at another flight, where all missiles were also disabled while UFOs were observed directly over the launch sites.

Maintenance crews required a full day to restore the missiles to operational status. Boeing engineers who investigated the shutdowns were unable to identify a definitive cause. The 341st Strategic Missile Wing unit history for January-March 1967, which had been classified, contains a brief statement: "Rumors of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) around the area of Echo Flight during the time of fault were disproven." However, the history does not explain what investigation produced that conclusion.

A related incident occurred eight days later on March 24, 1967, at Oscar Flight, also under the 341st Strategic Missile Wing, where additional missiles were reported disabled. UFO sightings were reported in the Belt, Montana area in the days surrounding both incidents.

The event remained classified and largely unknown until 1996, when Salas began speaking publicly. In 2025, a Pentagon report attributed the Echo Flight shutdown to a classified test of an electromagnetic pulse device, a conclusion that Salas and other witnesses have disputed.

Note: This report is compiled from declassified USAF records obtained via FOIA, the sworn public testimony of Lt. Robert Salas (Ret.), SAC headquarters messages, and the 341st Strategic Missile Wing unit histories.

Related articles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmstrom_UFO_incident
https://www.cufon.org/cufon/malmstrom/malm1.htm
http://ufoevidence.org/cases/case1017.htm

Posted 2026-04-16