Army missile exercise phenomena (1973–74)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 17 July 1974 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic), Military encounters (topic) |
| People | Robert Hastings |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 79 |
| Year | 1974 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1974 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
In June 1974 newspapers around the world reported that an unidentified object had been tracked by radar alongside the nose cone of a Minuteman missile during a test in August 1973, and that an Army spokesman, Major Dallas Van Hoose, had confirmed that "some unexplained aerial phenomena" were observed. No detailed report has been released.[1][2]
The test
.jpg)
According to the reports, in August 1973 the Air Force launched a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California towards the test range at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, used by the Army, Air Force and Navy. Radar in the Pacific tracked an unidentified object beside the missile's nose cone, described as shaped like an inverted saucer, about 10 feet high and 40 feet long; three other similar objects were reportedly seen nearby. Two separate radar systems saw it at the same time, reducing the chance of a malfunction.[1]
The reaction
Scientists at the Army's ballistic missile defence centre in Huntsville, Alabama, were quoted as saying they could not explain the sightings, that no expert believed the object was a natural phenomenon or a radar artefact, and that the data suggested it flew under its own power; one missile-defence expert said they had never seen anything precisely like it. The Army's missile-defence program, which ran interceptor tests at Kwajalein against dummy warheads fired from California, culminated in the short-lived Safeguard system in North Dakota.[1][3]
Aftermath
.jpg)
UFO researchers who later filed Freedom of Information requests were referred to Vandenberg, which said the requested documents had been destroyed. The testimony calls the Army's statement a remarkable admission at a time when the Air Force was relying on Blue Book's conclusions to dismiss UFOs, and researchers such as Robert Hastings have linked it to other reports of unknown objects near missile tests.[1][4]
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Robert Hastings — Researcher who has collected accounts of UFOs at nuclear weapons sites, author of UFOs and Nukes.
On the Timeline
- Vallée's doubts about Kit Green (1974) (16 June 1974) — Vallée wonders whether his UAP talks with Kit Green are a CIA cover story.
- Midwest engineers group claim (1974) (10 December 1974) — Kit Green tells Vallée 15 engineers in the Midwest secretly research UAP for the CIA.
See every 1974 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Patrick Gross, Hobart Mercury, 17 June 1974, UFOs at close sight · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- "UAP indications analysis 1945–1975: United States atomic warfare complex" (PDF), Zenodo · zenodo.org · archived copy
- Vandenberg Space Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Robert Hastings, "UFOs are stalking and intercepting dummy nuclear warheads during test flights" · ufohastings.com · archived copy
- ufohastings.com · ufohastings.com · archived copy
- ufohastings.com · ufohastings.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Vandenberg Space Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
No discussion yet.