By Robert Salas
© 8-19-10
Sworn To Secrecy
.jpg)
In March 1967, all ten of the
'Minuteman I' missiles under my control were disabled while an oval shaped UFO hovered at close range over the front gate of my launch control center in Montana. I was sworn to secrecy about this incident until 1994 when the U.S. Air Force declassified a similar incident at the request of my investigator, Jim Klotz under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). At that time, I believed the declassified incident of ‘Echo Flight’ to be the one in which I was involved. As a result of receiving declassified documents from AF records about the Echo incident, I began to publicly disclose what I recalled.
Later, after contacting other witnesses regarding these events, I realized I had been at an entirely different Launch Control Center, Oscar Flight, at the time of my incident; during my assignment at Malmstrom AFB I was not aware of the Echo Flight incident. I did recall that a similar incident had occurred because of a vivid memory of my crew commander, Fred Meiwald: he turned to me and said, “The same thing happened at another flight” after reporting our incident to the Base Command Post. Because of remembering that statement I wrote in
Faded Giant that both flights of missiles went inoperative on the same day. However, I later learned that what he meant to say was that the same thing had happened on a
previous date. My evidence of the facts of these events follows:
The Echo Flight Incident
On March 16, 1967 at around 8:30 local time, all ten of Echo Flight’s missiles went inoperative during reports of UFOs over missile launch facilities (LFs). The factual account of the loss of ten missiles at “Echo” due to some unknown cause is verified by an official declassified telex from Strategic Air Command headquarters (see appendix in Faded Giant). This was one of several documents retrieved from FOIA requests.
The verity that UFOs were reported to the Launch Control Center (LCC) crew just prior to the missile shutdowns is supported by statements of Col. (ret.) Walter Figel, the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander (DMCCC) and Capt. Eric Carlson the Missile Combat Crew Commander (MCCC); both men were on duty at that time. Col. Figel’s statements have been recorded on audiotape and he has agreed to their public release.
In 2007, Col. Figel attended my presentation of these incidents at the International MUFON conference in Denver, Colorado. After my presentation Col. Figel concurred with my representation of events with regard to the Echo Flight incident. Here is a photo of Jim Klotz, Walt Figel, and myself taken after my presentation.
Capt. Carlson’s statements are in letters to me and he has agreed to the release of his identity in this incident. To my knowledge these two witnesses are still living as of this date. In addition, I have the written statement of Mr. Robert Kaminski, the Boeing engineer who led their investigative team on the Echo Flight shutdowns.
In that statement, Mr. Kaminski states that, after extensive investigation of the incident, the team could find no rational explanation for the shutdowns. He also stated that the Echo Flight shutdown was reported to him to be an incident involving UFOs over the LFs. Mr. Kaminski is now deceased.
Additionally, Lt. Col. (ret.) Arne Arneson has testified publicly that, as cryptographic officer at Malmstrom AFB, he saw a telex in March 1967, which stated categorically that UFOs were observed over missile sites during the loss (of alert status) of ten Minuteman missiles.
Col. Arneson has signed a notarized affidavit of his statement and will be speaking publicly about this incident in an upcoming press conference. The telex that he saw could be a reference to either the Echo or Oscar shutdowns. This message could not be retrieved under FOIA. The telex mentioned above which was received under FOIA referenced a previous (SECRET) telex which detailed the Echo shutdowns.
The Oscar Flight Incident
On March 24, 1967 (time unknown) I was on alert duty in the Launch Control Center (LCC) of Oscar Flight when all ten missiles under my control went into an inoperative (NO-GO) condition while a reported UFO hovered directly above the Launch Control Facility. I have written and signed a notarized affidavit stating the details of this incident. I have spoken publicly about this incident for over fourteen years.
Further confirmation that Oscar Flight’s missiles were disabled during UFO sightings around Oscar LCF is also supported by written statements of Col (ret.) Frederick Meiwald, who was the MCCC during this incident. Col. Meiwald has agreed to the public release of his statement. To my knowledge Col. Meiwald is still living as of this date.
The fact that all ten missiles at Oscar Flight were disabled during reported UFO sightings is also supported by the statements of (Capt.) Robert Jamison, a missile targeting officer stationed at Malmstrom AFB at the time of this incident.
In the late evening of March 24, 1967, Capt. Jamison was directed to assist in the re-targeting of all ten of Oscar flight’s missiles. He was also briefed about UFO sightings in the area.
Additional corroboration of UFOs of UFOs reports received on this date is supported by official documentation. Capt. Jamison has written his statement in a signed and notarized affidavit. Capt. Jamison will also present his statement at a forthcoming press conference.
The Air Force Cover-Up
Another facet of vital importance is that there exists ample evidence of an Air Force cover-up of the facts surrounding these incidents. I have presented much of that evidence in an article titled
“Back To Montana” which has been published on
The UFO Chronicles website. It is also noteworthy that in the fourteen years of speaking and writing about these incidents, I have received no official or unofficial statements from the U.S. Air Force regarding my statements of fact about said incidents.
The presentation of sworn witness testimony and documents for the purpose of establishing the facts in a case is common practice in any court of law in the U.S. I have simply summarized the data here, which would be presented as evidence of the validity of these incidents. ‘Proof’ that these phenomenal incidents actually occurred however, is a matter of what is convincing to any particular individual. If it were possible to have a public trial of my case, I am confident that the essential facts would be proven true beyond a reasonable doubt.
+USAF+Captain+(Smlr).jpg)
