Malmstrom AFB Echo Flight shutdown

All ten Minuteman I missiles of Echo Flight dropped off strategic alert almost simultaneously. Decades later, former missile officers said guards had reported a glowing red object hovering at the gate. The Air Force’s contemporaneous report found no UFO involvement.

Explanation

The 1967 Air Force report found no UFO link and rumours "disproven". A 2025 Pentagon report stated the shutdown was caused by a classified electromagnetic-pulse test. Later accounts by former officers (Robert Salas) described a red glowing object over the gate.

What was seen

Shape: Reported glowing red object (1990s testimony)
Witnesses: Launch crew; security guards (later testimony)
Duration: —

Browse

• United States
• 1960s
• Explained
• Military encounters
• Official government documents
• Military witnesses
• Lights and fireballs

Similar cases

• Malmstrom AFB — objects over the missile fields, November 1975 7 November 1975
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• White Sands military police patrols 3 November 1957
• Coyne helicopter incident 18 October 1973