Malmstrom Air Force Base and the UFO missile shutdowns

About Malmstrom Air Force Base

The full story, section by section

The story of Malmstrom Air Force Base in 4 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.

1. Second World WarFrom 1939 Great Falls leaders lobbied for a military base.Read this part → The first B-17 landing at Great Falls Army Air Base, 30 November 1942 · Photo: USAAF, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
2. NameOn 1 October 1955 the base, by then Great Falls Air Force Base, was renamed after Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom (1907–1954).Read this part → Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom · Photo: United States Air Force, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
3. Cold War rolesAfter the war the base supported military airlift, hosted fighter and air-refuelling wings, and from 1959 was headquarters of the Great Falls Air Defense Sector.Read this part → 29th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron McDonnell F-101B-110-MC Voodoo Great Falls AFB, Montana March 1964. 0310 last seen on a scrap pile at Fairway Surplus, Tawas City, Michigan in 1972/73. · Photo: United States Air Force, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
4. The 1967 Echo Flight incidentAn Air Force report recorded that at 8:45 am on 16 March 1967 all launch facilities in Echo Flight, located between Hilger and Winifred, "lost strategic alert nearly simultaneously".Read this part → A Minuteman I missile on its launch pad · Photo: US Air Force, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Read the full Malmstrom Air Force Base article →

Key people

The people at the centre of the story — witnesses, investigators, officials and sceptics:

• Robert SalasRobert Salas is a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant who became a prominent voice on the alleged link between UFOs and nuclear weapons.
• Robert HastingsRobert Hastings is an American UFO researcher, author, and filmmaker who has spent decades interviewing military veterans about UFOs appearing at nuclear weapons sites. He compiled these accounts int…
• Mick WestMick West is a science writer, skeptical investigator, and retired video game programmer who co-founded Neversoft before turning to debunking pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. He founded the web…
• Samuel StrattonSamuel Studdiford Stratton was an American politician and Navy intelligence officer who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years and as mayor of Schenectady, New York.
• Ronald MoultrieRonald S. "Ron" Moultrie is an American intelligence official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security from June 2021 to February 2024. Throughout his career, he hel…
• Charles HaltCharles Halt is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who served as deputy base commander at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, England.
• Mike GallagherMike Gallagher is an American Republican politician, former Marine Corps intelligence officer, and former U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district.
• Scott BrayScott W. Bray is an American intelligence official who served as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence and later became NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security. On May 17, 20…

Related cases & events

Events and sightings linked to Malmstrom Air Force Base:

🗓️ Event · 9 min readMalmstrom Romeo-29 incident (1974)The Malmstrom Romeo-29 incident is an anonymous 1974 account involving a glowing object reported over a Minuteman II missile silo at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. According to the source, the site experienced alarms and unauthorized launch sequences wh…🗓️ Event · 8 min readUFOs and Nukes press conferenceThe UFOs and Nukes press conference took place in Washington on September 27, 2010, where former military personnel presented accounts of UFO activity monitoring and disabling nuclear weapons sites. The event drew wide media coverage and featured testimony re…🛸 Case · 9 min readMalmstrom missile incidentsThe Malmstrom missile incidents involve the simultaneous shutdown of ten Minuteman nuclear missiles at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana on March 16, 1967. Former launch officer Robert Salas later claimed that UFOs were seen near the missile sites during th…🗓️ Event · 10 min readSamuel Stratton and the SAC base overflightsThis article covers unidentified aircraft that intruded over nuclear weapons storage and missile sites at several Strategic Air Command bases along the U.S.–Canadian border in October and November 1975.🗓️ Event · 6 min readFergus County sheriff's log sightings (2012)In September 2012, a Fergus County, Montana sheriff's log recorded a resident's report of low-flying V-shaped objects with orange lights near Roy, located within the missile field of Malmstrom Air Force Base. Researcher Robert Hastings subsequently publicized…🗓️ Event · 10 min read2022 House UAP hearingThe 2022 House UAP hearing was held on May 17, 2022, by a congressional subcommittee in Washington, D.C., marking the first public hearing on UFOs in over 50 years.🛸 Case · 25 min readRendlesham Forest incidentThe Rendlesham Forest incident involved reported sightings of unexplained lights and an alleged craft landing by U.S. Air Force personnel in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, in late December 1980.🗓️ Event · 13 min readUSS Ronald Reagan orange orbIn early 2004, several U.S. Navy veterans reported seeing a large, glowing orange object hovering over and pacing the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan off the U.🛸 Case · 7 min readRB-47 UFO encounterThe RB-47 UFO encounter occurred on July 17, 1957, when the crew of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft reported being followed for over 700 miles across several southern states by an unidentified luminous object that was simultaneously detected by groun…

Programs, organizations & documents

The official programs, groups and papers involved:

🏢 Organization · 6 min readNORADThe North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint defense organization established by the United States and Canada in 1957 to provide aerospace warning and control for North America. Headquartered in Colorado, its responsibilities have expanded over tim…🏢 Organization · 13 min readU.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.🏢 Organization · 7 min readStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Air Force command that managed America's long-range nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles from 1946 until it was disestablished in 1992. Operating during the Cold War, it became the center …📄 Document · 13 min readFreedom of Information ActThe Freedom of Information Act is a United States law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, requiring federal executive agencies to release records upon request unless they fall under specific exemptions. The statute allows federal courts to …🏢 Organization · 8 min readHouse Armed Services CommitteeThe House Armed Services Committee is a standing committee of the US House of Representatives responsible for funding and overseeing the Department of Defense, the armed forces, and much of the Department of Energy. Created by the Legislative Reorganization A…

Books, films & documentaries

Where to read and watch more:

🎬 Book or film · 6 min readUFOs and NukesThe article discusses the 2008 book and 2016 documentary UFOs and Nukes by Robert Hastings, which argues that UFOs have repeatedly appeared over and interfered with nuclear weapons sites. Drawing on interviews with military veterans and events spanning from 1…🎬 Book or film · 5 min readThe New York TimesThe New York Times is a major American daily newspaper best known in UFO history for its December 2017 article revealing the Pentagon's secret Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and publishing Navy videos of unidentified objects. This coverage a…

Related topics & places

Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:

📖 Term · 13 min readUnidentified anomalous phenomenaUnidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects or events in the air, space, or underwater.📖 Term · 17 min readUnidentified flying objectAn unidentified flying object, or UFO, is an unexplained phenomenon or object seen in the sky, with the modern craze originating in the United States in June 1947. While popular culture often equates UFOs with alien spacecraft, most investigations reveal them…🧭 Topic overview · 12 min readNuclear & missile sites (topic)This text is about reported UFO and unidentified anomalous phenomena sightings and incidents at nuclear weapons sites, missile bases, and laboratories between 1947 and 2022. While researchers like Robert Hastings argue that these events show a link between UF…📍 Place · 5 min readF.E. Warren Air Force BaseF.E. Warren Air Force Base is a United States strategic missile base located near Cheyenne, Wyoming, that was founded in 1867.📍 Place · 5 min readRendlesham ForestRendlesham Forest is a mixed woodland in Suffolk, England, that became famous as the site of an alleged UFO incident in December 1980. During this event, US Air Force personnel reported seeing strange lights and a possible landed craft among the trees over mu…📖 Term · 4 min readYankee BlueYankee Blue is a fake program used in a U.S. Air Force induction briefing where certain new commanders of highly classified programs were shown a photo of a supposed flying saucer and told they were trying to reverse-engineer it.

🗓️ Malmstrom Air Force Base on the UAP timeline

1. October 1947An unknown missile allegedly crashes in Mexico and the State Department is said to seek the wreckage. Read the article →
2. Late 1963An Atlas missile launch officer's affidavit describes a glowing round UAP over his site in New Mexico. Read the article →
3. Late 1964An Atlas launch officer reports a UAP near his missile site in New Mexico. Read the article →
4. 31 July 1965-2 August 1965An Air Force memo logs 148 objects reported by 143 personnel at F.E. Warren missile sites. Read the article →
5. June 1973A Navy instructor claims a UAP was shot down by a missile and secretly moved by rail to Great Lakes. Read the article →
6. March 1974A large glowing object hovers over a Minuteman launch facility at Malmstrom AFB, Montana. Read the article →
7. 17 July 1974An Army spokesman says unexplained aerial phenomena were seen during missile exercises. Read the article →
8. 23-24 October 2010F.E. Warren AFB personnel see a cigar-shaped UAP; 50 Minuteman missiles briefly lose contact. Read the article →
9. 19 September 2012A sheriff's log records a report of two silent V-shaped UAP near a Montana missile site. Read the article →
10. 20 February 2020Christopher Mellon says a missile-warning satellite system has recorded unidentified objects. Read the article →

Search the timeline →

🏛️ Official records

• Briefing Notes for Mr. Walter ElderCIA · Released Aug 7, 2026This document contains briefing material prepared for Mr. Walter N. Elder, Executive Assistant to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), regarding a November 19, 1964, incident allegedly involving uniden…
• Mission Report, Iraq, September 2024Department of War · 2024-09-20This document is a Mission Report (MISREP), a standardized reporting form the U.S. Military uses to record the circumstances surrounding its operations. U.S. military services often use MISREPs to report Unidentified An…
• Mission Report, Middle East, May 2022Department of War · 2022-05-06This document is a Mission Report (MISREP), a standardized reporting form the U.S. Military uses to record the circumstances surrounding its operations. U.S. military services often use MISREPs to report Unidentified An…
• AAWSAP DIRD, Ultracapacitors as Energy and Power Storage Devices, November 2010Department of War · 2010-11-01This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIR…
• AAWSAP DIRD, Space Access: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could Go, March 2010Department of War · 2010-03-08This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIR…
• AAWSAP DIRD, Positron Aerospace Propulsion, March 2010Department of War · 2010-03-02This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIR…
• Unidentified Flying Object Reported near Puerto Rico, 1965CIA · 1965-02-01This file contains Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) memoranda exchanged between the Assistant Director for Special Activities (AD/SA) and the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence (AD/SI) regarding an incident…
• Memorandum on Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955CIA · 1955This memorandum summarizes a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) debriefing of a group of four individuals who reported observing a “flying saucer” or “unconventional aircraft” in 1955. The group, which included U.S. Sena…
• Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947Department of War · 1947-01-09This document is a U.S. Department of War General Staff intelligence review assessing incidents involving unidentified “Ghost Rockets” reported over Sweden and other Scandinavian countries beginning in May 1946. The rev…

🛸 UFO sightings near Malmstrom & the missiles

41 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 150 km. The most-upvoted:

Sightings that mention Malmstrom Air Force Base

Open the sightings map → Search sightings →

More in the encyclopedia

Other articles that link to or mention Malmstrom Air Force Base:

• Nellis Air Force BaseNellis Air Force Base is a large United States Air Force base located in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, that originated from a military range established in 1940 and was officially named in 1950. The …
• Vandenberg Space Force BaseVandenberg Space Force Base is a U.S. military and space launch facility located on the coast of Santa Barbara County, California.
• Wright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright-Patterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force facility formed in Ohio in 1948 by merging Wright Field and Patterson Field.
• Elizondo's Space Force contractIn August 2022, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed to the Liberation Times that former intelligence officer Luis Elizondo provides technical advice on classified topics for the U.S. Space Fo…
• Holloman Air Force BaseHolloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force facility established in 1942 near Alamogordo, New Mexico. It became a major center for missile, rocket, and space research, setting multiple speed…
• Kirtland Air Force BaseKirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that serves as a major center for military research, nuclear weapons work, and the largest known …
• Edwards Air Force BaseEdwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation located in the Mojave Desert of California that serves as the military's main center for flight testing new aircraft and aerospace sys…

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