Chassey states that one night in the fall of 1975, he overhead a two-way radio transmission alerting Air Force Security Police about an unknown craft hovering over the base’s Weapons Storage Area.
Chassey said that the incident was widely discussed at the missile mechanical shop the following day. He later heard additional details about it from a friend, who was a helicopter re-fueler.
Apparently, two base helicopters had been scrambled to chase the intruder, which rapidly flew toward Belt, Montana, some ten miles distant. As the pursuing choppers neared the town, the unidentified craft quickly doubled-back to Malmstrom—leaving them far behind—and again hovered over the WSA for a short period of time before finally departing.
Chassey states that the object was described as an extremely bright light and was assumed to have been a bona fide UFO because of its superior capabilities. He emphasized, “It flat outran the helicopters. We heard that it zipped out to Belt and back to the base in no time.”
Chassey, who separated from the Air Force at the end of October, 1975, believes that the incident occurred shortly before he left Malmstrom.
Commentaire : USAF documents from October 1975, declassified via the Freedom of Information Act, confirm other UFO sightings at the Weapons Storage Areas at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan, and Loring AFB, Maine. At the time, each base hosted B-52 nuclear bomber squadrons. At Wurtsmith, initial sighting reports referred to the unidentified craft as a “helicopter”, however, the radar operator aboard a nearby KC-135 aircraft later tracked the craft traveling at approximately 1000 knots, far faster than any known helicopter. At Loring, some reports mentioned an “unidentified helicopter” near the WSA. However, eyewitness accounts from a B-52 ground crew indicated that the “helicopter” was bright orange, football-shaped, and had hovered silently. (For an extended discussion of these cases, consult Lawrence Fawcett and Barry Greenwood’s authoritative book, Clear Intent, later re-named The UFO Cover-Up.)
Peisher has confirmed the accuracy of Joseph Chassey’s account regarding the incident during which an unknown craft hovered above Malmstrom’s nuclear Weapons Storage Area, one night in the fall of 1975. However, Peisher said that even though his unit’s helicopters had indeed been involved in the intercept attempt, he himself had already been transferred to another squadron when the incident occurred, and had only heard about it “much later”.
Peisher also states that he had once been briefed by local civilian law enforcement about a series of cattle mutilations, many of which had occurred near Minuteman missile sites, during the summer and fall of 1975. He states that he and Cascade County deputy sheriff Captain Keith Wolverton determined that more than 80 such mutilations had occurred within Malmstrom’s missile field boundaries, some quite near various ICBM Launch Facilities (silos).
Peisher further states that he had been informally told about multiple UFO incidents at Malmstrom’s Minuteman missile sites, including one event during which a UFO "the size of a football field" had silently flown over the Echo Launch Control Facility one night in the fall of 1975.
Commentaire : The following verbatim excerpts are NORAD log entries from November 1975, declassified via the Freedom of Information Act. My own comments and clarifications follow some of the entries (in parentheses):
24th NORAD Region Senior Director’s Log (Malmstrom AFB, MT):
7 Nov 75 (1035Z) Received a call from the 341st Strategic Air Command Post (SAC CP), saying that the following
missile locations reported seeing a large red to orange to yellow object: M-1, L-3, LIMA, and L-6...Commander and
Deputy for Operations (DO) informed.
7 Nov 75 (1203Z) SAC advised that the LCF at Harlowton, Montana, observed an object which emitted a light which
illuminated the site driveway.
7 Nov 75 (1319Z) SAC advised K-1 says very bright object to their east is now southeast of them and they are
looking at it with 10x50 binoculars. Object seems to have lights (several) on it, but no distinct pattern. The
orange/gold object overhead also seems to have lights on it. SAC also advised female civilian reports having seen an
object bearing south of her position six miles west of Lewistown.
(Note that all of these reports refer to the observation of aerial “objects”. Apparently, the Security Alert Teams could not identify them as either military or civilian aircraft.)
7 Nov 75 (1327Z) L-1 reports that the object to their northeast seems to be issuing a black object from it,
tubular in shape. In all this time, surveillance has not been able to detect any sort of track except for known
traffic.
(In other words, when these sightings were first reported by SATs, “surveillance”—that is, radar personnel—at Malmstrom AFB and Great Falls International Airport could not detect any unknown aerial objects near the missile sites. As we shall see, radar contact with the UFOs was finally established as the sighting reports continued to unfold.)
7 Nov 75 (1355Z) K-1 and L-1 report that as the sun rises, so do the objects they have visual.
7 Nov 75 (1429) From SAC CP: As the sun rose, the UFOs disappeared. Commander and DO notified.
8 Nov 75 (0635Z) A security camper team at K-4 reported UFO with white lights, one red light 50 yards behind white
light. Personnel at K-1 seeing same object.
8 Nov 75 (0645Z) Height personnel picked up objects 10-13,000 feet. Track J330, EKLB 0649, 18 knots, 9,500 feet.
Objects as many as seven, as few as two A/C.
(Height-finding radar finally confirmed that UFOs were present, varying over time between two and seven in number.)
8 Nov 75 (0753Z) J330 unknown 0753. Stationary/seven knots/12,000...two F-106...NCOC notified.
(Radar confirmed that one UFO, at an altitude of 12,000 feet, had hovered—that is, was “stationary”—before resuming flight at a leisurely 7 knots, or 9 mph. Shortly thereafter, two F-106s were scrambled to intercept it.)
8 Nov 75 (0905Z) From SAC CP: L-sites had fighters and objects; fighters did not get down to objects.
8 Nov 75 (0915Z) From SAC CP: From four different points: Observed objects and fighters; when fighters arrived in
the area, the lights went out; when fighters departed, the lights came back on; To NCOC.
(As SAT personnel at four different locations watched, the UFOs played cat-and-mouse with the F-106s, extinguishing their illumination as the jets approached their position and re-illuminating themselves after the fighters returned to base. The NORAD Combat Operations Center—NCOC—in Colorado Springs, was immediately informed of this incident.)
8 Nov 75 (1105Z) From SAC CP: L-5 reported object increased in speed — high velocity, raised in altitude and now
cannot tell the object from stars. To NCOC.
9 Nov 75 (0305Z) SAC CP called and advised SAC crews at Sites L-1, L-6, and M-1 observing UFO. Object yellowish
bright round light 20 miles north of Harlowton, 2 to 4,000 feet.
9 Nov 75 (0320Z) SAC CP reports UFO southeast of Lewistown, orange white disc object. 24th NORAD Region
surveillance checking area. Surveillance unable to get height check.
(Note the reference to the UFO having a “disc” or saucer shape. Several more log entries from November 9th and 10th confirm that UFOs continued to be reported by SAT teams positioned near various missile silos.)
END OF LOG ENTRIES