Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Joyful New Year!

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all a joyful Holiday season and my wishes for the coming new year to equally as joyful and filled with  good health and happiness.

Thanks to all for your support and readership this past year.  Take care and be safe!

Tim Hebert, "The old Cold War Warrior"

Robert Hastings Double Downs on Echo and Oscar Flights

Robert Hastings continues to dig up the decomposed carcass of Echo and Oscar Flights further attempting to apply jumper cables to this folklore.  Recently, on The UFO Chronicles web site, Robert penned the usual "gospel" along with the literary flogging of James Carlson.

Basically, its the same old story.  There is nothing new, nothing has changed....simply it's staled old bread.  Robert attempts to resurrect the same cast of characters as if their story will change the final outcome.  Not a chance.  Question for the reader to ponder:  If Robert is convinced that others are lock-stock in step with his view point, why write another article?  I suspect that not all have drank from Hastings' chalice.

But I urge the reader to read the article and compare notes.  While your at it, view the seemingly obligatory video of the "famed" September 2010 news conference and notice who was not present, or truthfully, who was not invited, then ask the all important question...why?

Robert jams it to Carlson, yet refuses to acknowledge/refute my work on this blog.  Why is that?   Simply, my work stands alone and is correct...or very closely so.  You'll notice that Robert rarely comments on this site, other than the time when he threw a temper tantrum when taken to task on his FE Warren debacle.  Where's that solid research going for him these days?

While I'm at it, Frank Warren was supposed to "correct" some of my facts.  That was back in November 2010 and I've yet to be "schooled" by the master.  Yes Frank, its cognitive bias in all it's glory.

Robert's version of Ufology math concerning Echo and Oscar simply does not add up, no matter how often his attempts to bring it up.  But keep at it Mr. Hastings, practice makes perfect...doubtful as it may be.

Engineering Change Proposal 1221: The Air Force's Success Against UFO Attacks

Let's suppose that it was all true...

Here is a supposition for the reader's consideration.  Let's suppose that the story concerning Echo Flight was true, being that a UFO(s) was indeed responsible for the shut down of the flight's ten ICBMs back on 16 March 1967.  Let's advance this supposition further that Robert Salas and Fred Meiwald were able to connect the dots one week later at Oscar Flight and UFO(s) dropped all ten of Oscar's ICBMs off alert.  Faced with the presence of a highly advanced alien entity, did the DoD, Air Force, and SAC react in a truly logical way?

I've often mentioned, somewhat in passing, the Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) that was submitted by Boeing and subsequently accepted as the solution to the Malmstrom incident, yet I really never delved into the ECP in a descriptive sort of way.  If we make the statement that the Air Force and SAC knew that UFOs were actually the cause of the ICBMs dropping off alert, then we must also state that ECP 1221 was the Air Force's and Boeing's attempt at thwarting a highly technologically advanced alien assault on our ICBM forces.  By most accounts, this would have been a daunting, if not impossible, task based on our known primitive state of technology back in 1967.

After the Echo Flight incident, Boeing and elements of the Engineering Test Facility at Hill AFB conducted an investigation into the cause(s) of the incident.  Going with our supposition, the investigation would have looked at the root cause, being what did the UFO(s) do directly to cause the incident, then eventually coming to a conclusion that an EMP was generated and directed towards all of Echo's ICBM via the extensive underground cabling system called the Hardened Intersite Cable System (HICS).  The fruit of this labor was the institution of ECP 1221 in late October 1967.

Does this seem logical that various Air Force agencies would go through the extensive motions of developing and testing theories of causation only to come up with a simple EMP filter with the hope of defeating the incursions of a highly advanced entity?  To add spice to this question, keep in consideration that the very engineers and technicians that investigated and tested those theories happened to be the very ones whispering that it was UFOs that caused the shut downs, or so we have been lead to believe.

What's an ECP?

I need to add a few words for those who may not be aware of the term Engineering Change Proposal.  During the course of a contracting effort to produce, field and support a given system, problems may occur that require a change to the design and configuration of that system.  The contractor would conduct an analysis and present their findings and solutions in the form of an Engineering Change Proposal.  The customer either accepts or rejects the ECP.  If the customer accepts the ECP, then the contractor produces a schedule of implementation of the changes into the system.

To add background to this subject, I finished my tenure in the Air Force as a program manager assigned to Air Force Systems Command working various radar, airborne radio, and systems for the Air Force Intelligence Agency and some work for the DIA. (No, I was not a spook working in black operations, but merely one looking at off the shelf computer hardware systems for integration of government software)  I had dealt with ECPs on a daily basis as well as worked on configuration management issues due to ECPs.

Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) 1221

Boeing presented ECP 1221 to the Air Force and specifically SAC as an EMP suppression kit that was to be installed at all Minuteman wings, I - V, and the Vandenberg test launch facilities. Wing VI (Grand Forks, ND) was omitted from the ECP since the 321st SMW was yet to be close to operational status and Sylvania was the prime contractor for the Grand Forks LCCs.  Sylvania's command and control setup differed from Boeing's.  Malmstrom's 564th SMS was also constructed with the Sylvania design and would soon be certified for operational status some few months after the Echo incident.  It can be assumed that what was learned from Echo would have been adopted to the 564th's final configuration.  The 341st SMW's Unit History shows that EMP testing in the form of lightening strike effect on topside support equipment was conducted on one of the 564th's launch facility in conjunction with the Echo investigation.  The date of ECP 1221 appears to be around 24 October 1967.

As a side note, I had discussed while back on the Reality Uncovered forum why Raymond Fowler, a Sylvania representative, possibly would have been interested and privy to some of the Echo Flight analysis sans his personal interest in UFOs.  One of the key features of the Sylvania system was the ability to send certain commands out in radio mode as well as via the HICS cable system (redundant capability)...this was strictly a Sylvania feature as the Boeing system did not have this capability.  Again, purely speculation on my part concerning Fowler.

Key description and elements of the ECP 1221:

Unfortunately, I lack the capability of actually posting the ECP, but it can be viewed on theblackvault.com by accessing the declassified 341st SMW's Unit History.  Once the document is accessed, you'll have to scroll down until you come to the form.  I've listed the key areas of the form's sections.  The same is for viewing the Analysis Revision Notice (ARN).

(5)  HIC EM Pulse Suppressor

(6)  "This ECP will provide for Weapon System implementation of a cost effective HIC EMP Fix..."

(7)  "Extensive Electro-Mechanical Pulse (EMP) tests have shown that system anomalies occur in the WS-133A-M (Minuteman) as a result of noise generated from electrical discharge type pulses on the Hardened Intersite Cable (HIC).  Modification of the Weapon System is required to eliminate these anomalies."

The interesting part of the ECP is its lack of description of being specifically for implementation at Malmstrom.  That's in part due to the Echo investigation looking at other possible EMP-like issues at other Minuteman wings.  Noise pulses were proven to have affected some of the ICBMs at Whiteman AFB causing an EMP to travel via the SIN line and causing some of its missiles to drop off alert.  The ECP states that the "Weapon System" and "WS-133A-M", both meaning that the entire Minuteman system was to be targeted for the implementation of the EMP suppression fix.

Analysis Revision Notice

In support of ECP 1221, Boeing provided an Analysis Revision Notice (ARN) dated Oct 24, 1967.  This ARN (MA-338) specified issues at Wing IV (Whiteman), but referenced ECP 1221.

(2)  "...a suppression assembly containing an isolation type transformer, zener diodes and common mode rejection coil will be connected to each Command, HVC, and 494L circuit..."

There is a reference to the SIN circuit which specifically centered around the noise-pulse issue discovered at Whiteman AFB.  The Echo investigation had ruled this out as being an issue at Malmstrom.  ARN (MA-338) shows a distinct correlation of noise pulses generating from the LCC, ie, Command and HVC circuits.  HVC, or Hardened Voice Channel, was the communication phone circuit that allowed each LCC in a given squadron to communicate by voice with each other.  The command circuit was the distinct HICS cabling going from the LCC to each of it's ten launch facilities.  As described in previous posts, the SIN (Secure Intersite Network) allowed for the LCC to talk to maintenance or security personnel on any of the ten launch facilities.

ARN (VMA-138) specified all of the Minuteman launch facilities located at Vandenberg AFB.  As far as issues with Vandenberg's HVC circuits, this appeared not to be of much concern since test launches only required the need for one manned LCC.  But EMP suppression kits were installed at the launch facilities.

So, I've rambled on at length about ECPs and ARNs.  What does this have to do with UFOs and Echo Flight?  Simply, the EMP suppression assemblies were installed at all of the launch facilities to protect against unwarranted noise pulses originating from the LCC which appeared to have the capability of traveling along the pathway of each separate HICS cable going out to a given launch facility.  This was determined after the engineering investigation team had ruled out possible commercial power outages and/or fluctuations affecting the Echo Flight area.  There were other missile flights (Delta and Mike) getting commercial power from the same substation/grid and were unaffected by the Echo event.  The only way for this to have happened was an issue specifically at Echo's LCC sending a power fault signal to it's launch facilities. (341st Unit History, pg 42)


 If one remembers from my earlier blog posts, each launch facility was electrically isolated from one another in the flight which precluded an issue affecting one launch facility from spreading to the remaining nine launch facilities in the flight...there was no inter-connectivity between the sites.

After the installation of the EMP suppression kits at all of SAC's Minuteman wings,  there would be no further full flight shutdowns.  It can also be assumed that the anti-EMP project for Titan II served the same function in Project Loggy Ebb:

"...Loggy Ebb, the other major project, was designed to provide protection against electromagnetic pulse, an effect of nuclear explosions that could damage vital electrical equipment. During the summer of 1967 workers at Little Rock began installing surge arrestors to protect Titan II circuits, generators, and buried cables. USAF plans called for completion of Loggy Ebb in October 1968 at Davis-Monthan AFB..." Barnard C. Nalty

So there we have it.  The Air Force defeated any future efforts from an advance alien technological assualt against our nuclear ICBM forces by using a simple EMP filter.  Not bad considering that we are akin to the "Appalachia" of the galaxy, if not, the universe.  The same can be held as true if one takes the position that a foreign government had possessed the means of doing the same against our forces.

The Reality of the Situation

Now if we shift back to reality, we can see that the Air Force had conducted an extensive investigation into the Echo Flight shutdowns.  From an engineering stand point, a few theories were formulated with some being tossed out.  Eventually the investigation settled on the EMP noise pulse theory with the possibility of a electrostatic cause.

What was revealed by the investigation was that the issues of EMPs were not specifically a solitary issue affecting only Echo Flight.  Other wings were experiencing similar issues though in a different cabling pathway.

ECP 1221 was adopted and implemented.  As of now, no missile wing has ever had a full flight shut down.  The Air Force would not have spent valuable time and resources to correct a system deficit if it knew that the cause resulted from the effects of a UFO(s) incursion.  So going back to the question, "Did DoD, the Air Force and SAC react in a logical way?", the answer is a resounding yes, but not because of UFO incursions.

Passing of Col (Ret) Fred Meiwald

Yesterday, James Carlson posted on RU the passing of Col Fred Meiwald.  This according to family members posting on Fred Meiwald's Face Book page.  Col Meiwald passed away on August 8, 2012.  His obituary can be viewed here.

Col Meiwald was the crew commander on duty with Robert Salas at Malmstrom's Oscar Flight during the 24 March 1967 alleged UFO incident.  I posted about Col Meiwald's version of events here.

Regardless of how one interprets the UFO element of the Oscar story, Col Meiwald should be remembered for the service he gave to his country.

My prayers and thoughts go out to his family.

Former AF Officer's Comments Rankles Robert Hastings?

A few months ago, I had posted a former missile maintenance officer's comments regarding Malmstroms' ICBMs dropping off alert.  Per Grant Taylor, he had been an instructor, as well as had Robert Jamison, at the Missile Maintenance Officer Training Course at Chanute AFB back in 1969.  I had felt, and still do, that he offered a good perspective concerning how such topics as missile sorties dropping off alert, UFOs, and EMPs were viewed by others in the Air Force back in the 1960s.  It seems that Mr. Taylor's comment hit a nerve with Robert Hastings.

I posted a short blurb on the Realityuncovered forum about Mr. Taylor's comment.  This resulted in a brief conversation between myself and James Carlson as to how Taylor's comment effected our on-going theory for Echo Flight's shut down.  Both of us concluded that it helped in one fashion or another.

Earlier in the week Robert Hastings posted on the forum with the following:

Thank you for bringing Mr. Taylor's statement to everyone's attention, Tim. 

So, according to one of his former USAF colleagues, Minuteman targeting officer Bob Jamison was talking about UFOs shutting down missiles at Malmstrom AFB, in 1967, while he was at Chanute AFB in the late 1960s--even though Taylor didn't take that seriously. 

Gee, I'm confused. According to James Carlson, such claims didn't surface until the mid-1990s, when Bob Salas started making them up to help sell books on the topic. 

Predictably, James tries to spin Taylor's statement, saying, "He seems to imply at the very least that Bob Jamison never discussed the incident in any context with UFOs as early as 1969, and that he may, in fact, have gone on the record that early with a complete denial insofar as the whole alien schtick is concerned." 

Only Carlson could come up with that interpretation of Taylor's statement. Such is the smell of desperation. 

Taylor actually says that Jamison's account was not well received: "The UFO part was, to my recollection, never taken seriously--either a practical joke, misunderstood comment or strictly secondhand hearsay."... 

and:

As one will learn, the UFO aspect of the missile shutdown was not a joke or a secondhand account, as Taylor speculates. It was formally mentioned to Jamison and the assembled targeting teams at Malmstrom's MIMS hanger, both during their briefing and debriefing. I have no doubt that Jamison mentioned all of that to Taylor but that he has forgotten it with the passage of time. Or maybe his anti-UFO biases simply made him incapable of hearing what Jamison was telling the group of instructors.

So, in the usual Hastings fashion, first is the obligatory "trashing" of James Carlson.  Those Axis II traits (Narcissism and Arrogance with a dash of Passive Aggressiveness) are hard for Hastings to suppress, but not to be unexpected.

Second, according to Robert, Mr. Taylor's comments are/were the product of a fading memory based on the passage of time, or...his anti-UFO biases has made him "incapable of hearing what Jamison was telling the group of instructors."  Yet, we don't really know what Jamison told the group one way or another.  So Hastings basically "shoots" the messenger because he perceives Taylor's comment as not conforming to his own point of view...cognitive ego centrism at its best.  Ironically, Taylor never states whether he believes in UFOs, or not.

Hastings' handful of witnesses always seem to have cognitive clarity coupled with crystal clear memories, yet when someone in a position to provide counter information comes forward, even with a short blog comment, Hastings views the individual to be suffering from memory distortion due to the "passage of time."  A rather paradoxical problem, one would think?

Here is Mr. Taylor's comments as posted on this blog:

Thanks for a most interesting report. I served with (then Capt.) Bob Jamison at Chanute AFB where we were both instructors in the Minutemnan Missile Maintenance Officer's Course. And I do recall occasional office discussion about a number of missiles suddenly going off Strategic Alert at Malmstrom. Electrical and electronic glitches in the Minuteman System were not all that unique- it was an extremely complex weapons system. The UFO part was, to my recollection, never taken seriously- either a practical joke, misunderstood comment or strictly secondhand hearsay. No one in our instructor group seriously thought extraterrestrials were behind this event. But the Air Force DID take EMP seriously. I was sent TDY to Boeing in 1969 for training on a new EMP detection system to be installed in each LCF. The training message was that ALL EMPs, not just those of a nuclear nature, were cause for concern. Grant Taylor Cabot, VT on Did UFOs Disable Minuteman Missiles at Malmstrom AFB in 1967?

Taylor never specifically says that Jamison talked about UFOs at Malmstrom.  Its possible that it can be inferred that he did, but we don't know if any of the other instructors were at Malmstrom during the time period of the shutdowns and were the sources for the office discussions.  Taylor never revealed what missile wing that he was assigned to prior to his stationing at Chanute.  Wouldn't be important that he might have been assigned to Minot or FE Warren in the mid-1960s, being that he could shed some light on those "UFO" incursions?

Taylor states that there was occasional talk about missiles suddenly dropping off alert at Malmstrom and he provides the insightful qualifier that "electrical and electronic glitches" in the Minuteman system were not that unique.  I might add that this has been a theme that I've talked about in numerous blog postings, so Taylor backs up my assertions.  Things break, especially complex things such as an ICBM.

Taylor gives the impression that the UFO angle was discussed, but not taken seriously by the group of instructors.  This easily follows my past assertions that UFO rumors were very rampant, but not taken seriously.

Mr. Taylor's thoughts tend to back up Eric Carlson's statements to Ryan Dube, in that the Echo shutdown was common knowledge and there was no attempt by the Air Force to suppress the incident.   It was the talk of Great Falls, Mt and evidently was a subject of discussion on Chanute AFB, Il. some two years later.

Given Hastings', and others, claims that Echo Flight was a highly classified UFO event with Carlson and Figel forced to sign non-disclosure documents and coupled with an Air Force cover-up attempt, isn't it strange that a bunch of Air Force officers were freely discussing it at a SAC training school?  This kind of defies common logic that the Malmstrom incident was a cover-up.

Lastly, Mr. Taylor touched on the issue of EMPs, yet it's glossed over by Hastings.  EMPs were areas of interest.  I mentioned this in my "Loggy Ebb" article detailing SAC's efforts to provide enhanced EMP protection for the Titan II ICBM complexes showing a correlation that Malmstrom' EMP noise pulse issue resulted in a SAC-wide review of potential vulnerabilities.

Overall, I had viewed Mr. Taylor's short comment as somewhat refreshing and revealing in its own right.  I hope that other former AF members will feel free to post comments in the future.

Question for Robert:  How many current/former Air Force members contacted you stating that they had never saw or heard of UFOs during their tour of duty?

French Skeptic Gilles Fernandez's New Blog

I want to put a plug in for Gilles Fernandez's new blog, Skeptic Versus The Flying Saucer.  Gilles has been a supporter of my efforts concerning the Malmstrom UFO(s) incidents since the blogs beginnings back in 2010.  Thanks to his efforts, along with others such as Nablator (Nabs), my thoughts have been posted back in the "Old Country", particularly on the French Sceptic Ovni Forum.

Gilles brings an impressive academic resume to the UFO argument.  Gilles holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and has authored a book concerning the 1947 Roswell incident.  He is very active on the Sceptic Ovni forum.

I want to thank Rich Reynolds at UFO Iconoclasts for posting about Gilles' new and much needed outlet.

Merci my friend and best wishes on your new venture.  I anxiously await your postings.


Note:  Poster image from both UFO Iconoclasts and Gilles Fernandez's blog.  TH

Update:  Gilles blog is in french so use Google's translate application.  I'm currently using Google Chrome which will automatically ask if you want to translate. 

UFO ICBM/Nuke Connection: Does It Really Exist?

UFOs causing havoc over US ICBM sites?  This tends to be an off/on subject raised on various Internet sites.  The prevailing thought among a few noted Ufologist is that UFOs have been overflying nuclear weapon sites (ICBMs) for a number of decades.  Do the facts support this premise, or is it merely the case of relying solely on subjective vs. that of the available objective data?

Currently, the most vocal proponent of UFO/Nukes connection is Robert Hastings.  Hastings has devoted almost 40 years developing the theory that UFOs have been overflying our nuclear ICBM sites for years and in some cases deliberately causing operational disruptions.  He bases his "proof" on the statements given by some 130 former active duty personnel.  Hastings has conceded, on some occasions, to provide the qualifier that his work has been based solely on "anecdotal" information, i.e., the unverifiable words of witnesses providing statements.  In short, Hastings has constructed a correlation hypothesis bases on the words of his sources.  Below is  a brief outline of Hastings' work, much from his book, UFOs and Nukes:  Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites.

In UFO and Nukes, Robert Hastings asks the following questions (http://www.ufohastings.com/book):

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union built thousands of the far more destructive hydrogen bombs, some of them a thousand times as destructive as the first atomic bombs dropped on Japan. If the nuclear standoff between the superpowers had erupted into World War III, human civilization—and perhaps the very survival of our species—would have been at risk.
Did this ominous state of affairs come to the attention of outside observers? Was there a connection between the atomic bomber squadron based at Roswell and the reported crash of a UFO nearby? Did those who pilot the UFOs monitor the superpowers' nuclear arms race during the dangerous Cold War era? Do they scrutinze American and Russian weapons sites even now?

The above questions are fair enough for consideration.  For the purpose of this blog post, I'll limit most of my thoughts to the United States' ICBM forces.  With that said, Hastings has posted numerous articles on the Internet with the attempt to prove his UFO/Nuke connection with most being segments from his book.  These articles can be accessed on Hastings' site and The UFO Chronicles web site, as well as, other on-line venues.

Did UFO activity disrupt the operations of our ICBMs at various times during the Cold War?  To attempt to find the answer to that question, one has to look at the various missile systems that were fielded during the time period of the Cold War.  As far as defining "the disruption of ICBM operations", the subject should be looked at from the view point that UFOs may have altered the strategic alert status of our ICBM forces.

Atlas

The Atlas ICBM with its variations (D, E, F models) was placed in 11 base locations through out the continental United States totaling 123 missile/launch sites.  The missile used a combination of RP-1 (high grade kerosene) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) as its fuel.  Prior to launch, the missile had to be raised from its protective enclosure and loaded with the LOX prior to actual launch.  This propellant loading procedure, per SAC protocol, would have taken 15 minutes.  The Atlas missile was operational as an ICBM from 1960 to 1965.  There are four documented major incidents involving the Atlas at operational sites.

The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron located at Walker AFB, NM (Roswell) had three of it's site effectively destroyed during propellant loading exercises on three separate occasions.  Launch complex 579-1 was destroyed on 1 June 1963, site 579-5 suffered an explosion on 13 February 1964, and site 579-2 was destroyed on 9 March 1964.  Again, all three incidents occurred during a propellant loading exercise and no nuclear warheads were mated to the launch vehicle at the time of the explosions. (1)(2)  Of interest, the 579th SMS fielded the Atlas F that was housed in an underground silo, but had to be raised out of the silo for launch.

The 577th Strategic Missile Squadron located at Altus AFB, OK had one of its sites destroyed (577-6, Atlas F' silo housed) on14 May 1964.  As similar to the incidents at Walker AFB,  Altus' accident was a result of a propellant loading exercise. (3)

Based on the four major incidents and the Atlas' vulnerability to Soviet attack, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, in 1964, ordered the phase out of the Atlas ICBM system.  By the end of 1965 all Atlas missile sites were deactivated.  The Atlas ICBM would go on to further glory as an outstanding launch vehicle for NASA.

Titan I

The Titan I ICBM was deployed to 5 bases totaling 54 sites.  Like the Atlas, Titan I relied on RP-1 and LOX as its fuel source.  The missile was housed in an underground silo, but had to be raised to the surface, loaded with LOX prior to launch.  The Titan I system was on alert from 1960 to 1965 the, as Atlas, deactivated as the Titan IIs and Minuteman systems deployed. (4) 

During the operational life of the Titan I, there was two incidents at Beale AFB that occurred prior to the 851st SMS reaching alert status.  On 24 May 1962, during contractor checkout at complex 4C near Chico, CA, two explosions destroyed a missile and heavily damaged the silo.  The two explosions resulted from a blocked vent and blocked valve.  At another site, 6 June 1962, a flash fire damaged the silo killing one worker. (5)  The Beale sites had yet to be certified as operational and had no nuclear RVs mated to the boosters.

Titan II

On August 9, 1965, Titan II launch complex 373-4 (373rd Strategic Missile Squadron) which was located near Searcy, Arkansas, suffered a devastating fire in its silo resulting in the deaths of 53 civilian contractors who were modifying the site under Project YARD FENCE.  This program was designed to increase the hardness of Titan II sites against nuclear blasts.  The fire started from arc welding equipment.  373-4's missile (minus the RV) being fully loaded with propellant was allowed to remain in the silo during the modification program.  There was no major damage to the missile itself.  Had the propellant ignited, one could only wonder how many more would have been killed.(6)

On September 19, 1980, the Titan II launch complex located near Damascus, Arkansas suffered a catastrophic explosion killing at least one AF member and destroying the missile and it's silo.  The site was undergoing routine maintenance and a heavy socket from a wrench was accidently dropped into the bottom of the silo.  The socket bounced off of the silo walls striking and piercing the missile's thin skin causing the leakage of propellant.  After 8 hours of attempts to contain the propellant leak, an explosion rocked the site causing the silo's blast doors to totally dislodge and propelling the missile's RV some 600 feet away from the site.  This single incident forced the Air Force to hasten the deactivation of the entire Titan II system which was fielded at three locations:  Arizona, Arkansas and Kansas.  By the end of 1986, all 54 Titan II ICBM sites would be deactivated.(7)

On a personal note, I had arrived at Vandenberg AFB for my Initial Qualification Training (missile crew training), October 1980, approximately one month after the incident at Damascus, AR.  I recall that I had attended a safety briefing in which the Damascus incident was discussed in detail. What is not told in any of the on-line write-ups is that supposedly the AF had a difficult time finding and recovering the RV.  For an extended period of time, it was effectively "lost."  Whether this was factual or not, it does underscore the intensity of the explosion and the total destruction of the silo.    

Minuteman (I, II, and III)

The only documented incident in the Minuteman I system occurred at Malmstrom's Echo Flight on March 16, 1967.  I'll refrain from going into detail since most of this blog has been devoted to Echo Flight and the reader can "search" this blog for the pertinent articles.  I'm reluctant to list Malmstrom's Oscar Flight due to the lack of any credible evidence supporting an event affecting that flight's operational status.  The reader can draw his/her own conclusions.

In October, 2010, FE Warren AFB's 319th SMS experienced a total squadron communication outage affecting all of the squadron's 50 Minuteman III ICBMs.  Subsequent Air Force investigations revealed that a faulty or improper seated circuit card in the Weapon System Processor at one of the Launch Control Centers resulted in all five LCCs to be "knocked" out of system synchronicity and disrupting time slot round-robin monitoring.  None of the 50 ICBMs were affected operationally and remained on alert.  There is ample evidence that similar events had occurred at both Malmstrom and Minot in the 1990s.(8)

With the exception of the Malmstrom and FE Warren events, none of the Atlas and Titan events had a UFO component to the story.  The only true Broken Arrow event would have been the Damascus, Arkansas incident since it involved a real nuclear RV and again, no one has ever come forward to claim a UFO as it's causation or spotted one in the vicinity of the site.  The UFO story component for the 2010 FE Warren incident only came into being after Robert Hastings had visited the area some two to three months after the incident.  I touched on FE Warren's emergent UFO lore in a couple of previous blog post.

A Hypothetical Look

Going back to Hastings' thoughts that UFOs have attempted to disrupt US ICBM forces, let's hypothetically agree with his premise.  What has been the impact of the various UFO incursions?   If a message was being sent by "outside" observers to discourage the use of nuclear delivery systems, then the US government would have abandoned it's ICBM program since the fielding of those weapon systems would have been deemed as futile.  Yet, despite the supposedly ET interference we see a different response from the government/military.

The early Atlas and Titan I weapon systems were phased out for the more reliable and safer Minuteman and Titan II missiles.  Titan II was eventually phased out due to its complexity and unpredictability with housing a fully propellant loaded missile in it's silo.  Equally important to it's phase out was the enormous costs required to keep the Titan II on constant alert status.  Can we draw the conclusion that UFOs sent a "message" that the Atlas and Titan systems were overly too complicated, unpredictable and economically draining to the treasury?

Since it's deployment in 1962, the Minuteman system has evolved from its initial conception as a potential mobile based weapon to that of a complex command and control weapon system supporting a remotely silo based missile.  This missile system has undergone modifications from that of the Minuteman I, II, III missiles to that of the command and control systems (Modernized, SAS, ILCS, CDB, and the current REACT).  This evolutionary process had progressed unhindered and with out interference regardless of the UFO story component.  IF UFOs and ETs were attempting to send messages of concern, then its obvious that we either were not paying close attention or we were consciously ignoring the threat.

Conclusion

Is there credible evidence that UFO's disrupted the operations of US ICBMs?  The facts appear not to support this hypothesis.   All documented mishaps and problems have been attributed mostly to human error in dealing with complex systems.  The major ICBM weapon systems have evolved solely based on the concepts of system reliability and economic cost factors.  Missiles/rockets that relied on liquid propellants and oxidizers gave way to safer solid propellants thus reducing mishaps.  Individuals such as Robert Hastings have presented anecdotal evidence that "strange" lights of an undetermined nature have been sighted over and near US ICBM sites, but he has failed to demonstrate that this phenomena resulted in the operational disruption of our nuclear missile forces.  We, as humans, have been quite adapt at disrupting our ICBMs with out needing help from ET.    

1.  Walker AFB, 579th Strategic Missile Squadron.
2.  Techbastard, "Atlas at Walker Air Force Base." 
3.  Techbastard, "Atlas at Altus Air Force Base."
4.  Titan I Operational Deployment
5.  Titan I at Beale AFB, CA.
6.  Titan II Accident Searcy, AR, August 9, 1965.
7.  Tian II Accident, Damascus, AR, September 19, 1980.
8.  319 MS (Missile Squadron) LCCs Loses Comm with LFs

A Cinematic Good vs. Evil Morality Play

When you're barely 7 years old, this type of movie was the epitome of cinematography.  No UFOs or government cover-ups here.  Just clear cut good vs. evil...morality play(?) with the US Navy playing the role as the cavalry coming to the rescue.  

Psychologically speaking, the Navy was perceived as being above board as compared to the other military services.  The Vietnam War was ramping up by the time that the film was released so this movie had no social "stain" attached to the Navy.

The Navy vs. the Night Monsters was released in 1966.  I remember seeing this film at the base theater at Dyess AFB, Tx either in 1966 or 1967.  It was shown as a Saturday matinee and the theater was filled to the brim with kids...it was a raucous group high on Hersey bars and soda...no diet sodas back then...pure sugar. 

Here is the plot summary from Wikipedia:

A group of scientists discover biologic specimens dating back to the first Ice Age. A plane carrying the prehistoric trees and plants is scheduled to touch down for refuelling at a naval weather station base on "Gow Island" before continuing on to mainland for further research. Along the way seven of the eight passengers on board mysteriously disappear, and the pilot crash lands the plane on Gow. As the only apparent survivor, the pilot is found in a state of shock, leaving the members of the Naval base to determine what happened.Unloading the trees from the plane, the local scientist Dr. Beecham recommends planting them in local soil to ensure they survive. It is later discovered that the trees are actually acid-secreting monsters that kill, and it is up to the locals to figure out how to stop them.

The cost for the movie ticket, a dime.  Candy bars were a nickle, the Coke was a dime.  To some movie goers today, this would truly be a paranormal phenomena.  CIA conspiracy?...hardly...perhaps a subliminal message that environmentalist wanted to portray... a stretch at most. 

Note:  Movie poster image from Wikipedia. TH 

Better Than Nothing...Wikipedia and Oscar Flight's UFO Saga

Wikipedia has now added a separate category for Oscar Flight's UFO allegation.  At first I was somewhat dismayed, but after looking at the entire entry, I've come to accept it as better than nothing.  Sure, Wiki lists the Oscar incident as an alleged UFO incident, but this may give Hastings, Jamison, Salas, et al, some modicum of legitimacy, but they also allowed a counter-argument so that readers may be able to make up their minds regarding the factual nature of the story. 

I've attached the entire Wikipedia write up.  The way things have been occurring with the editing process of this story (a constant changing story) I wanted to have a written record just in case...

On March 24, 1967, it is alleged that ten of the base's Minuteman ICBMs known as Oscar Flight became inoperative, supposedly after UFOs were seen hovering over them.^[18] Personnel who have reported the UFOs include Captain (then First Lieutenant) Robert Salas,^[19][20] Colonel Frederick Meiwald, First Lieutenant Robert C. Jamison,^[21] and Staff Sergeant Louis D. Kenneweg.^[22 

For the record, it should be noted, however, that none of these men actually saw anything themselves, so all of the information in regard to the alleged UFOs is second-hand. In most cases, the information originated with unnamed individuals who have never come forward to speak on their own behalf, making the claims of these so-called "witnesses" impossible to verify. It's true as well that noneof the men listed reported the alleged UFOs within the first quarter-century after the fact. There is also no evidence whatsoever to support the claim that any of the Oscar Flight missiles actually failed in 1967 (or on any other date, for that matter) 

First Lieutenant Robert C. Jamison claims to have overheard mention by a conveniently unnamed individual that a UFO had been sighted by Air Force Security Police at one of the missile silos. He never voiced this claim prior to 1992, and it wasn't until 2006 that he decided the incident took place at Oscar Flight, having been persuaded to reach that conclusion by UFO researcher Robert Hastings. He asserts as well that he overheard mention on a nearby two-way radio that a second UFO had been "sighted on the ground in a canyon near the town of Belt".^[23]

 Regarding the failure of all ten missiles at the flight, Jamison apparently has no direct knowledge of that alleged "fact", having participated in the restarting of only 3-4 missiles. He claims to have heard from an unnamed NCO that the entire flight had been disabled, but this testimony was never mentioned prior to July 2010, just before Robert Hastings and Robert Salas started openly taking donations for a September 2010 press conference in Washington, DC that Jamison also participated in.^[24] Although Jamison claimed before this that an entire flight of missiles -- which he confidently assigned not merely to Oscar Flight, but to one of fourpossible locations -- had failed, the introduction of the originating source of this information -- the unnamed NCO -- had never been discussed prior to July 2010.

In addition to Jamison, Robert Salas has also claimed that the entire flight of ten missiles failed, but it is a matter of record that his story has changed significantly since he first went public with his claims in 1996. It is no exaggeration to assert that Salas' documented inconsistency is the only consistent aspect of his claims. He has changed the date of the incident, the location of the incident, the number of missiles involved, the time of the incident, the order of events, the details of telephone calls made both during and after the incident, the number as well as the names of the individuals who either initiated or participated in the communication of those details (both during and after the incident), both the personal and official responses to the incident, as well as the complete record of USAF personnel who have allegedly confirmed the claims he has made.^[25] It's also very hard to ignore the fact that Robert Salas' commander at Oscar Flight, Colonel Frederick Meiwald, has stated that he remembers no more than four missiles ever failing while he was on duty.^[26]

 Staff Sergeant Louis D. Kenneweg, who is admittedly uncertain in regard to the date, has not associated the incident he recalls withany specific flight. His entire testimony, in fact, is somewhat ambiguous. He states only that "[o]ne of the guys" mentioned that "some very weird things were going on". It wasn't until later, at the barracks well after completing his assigned tasks, that he "heard a story that [UFOs] were seen on radar, then they were gone.”^[27] His testimony, for the most past, is useless.

Even the Oscar Flight location of the incident is in doubt. Robert Salas originally claimed to have been on duty at Echo Flight, and later at November Flight, when the incident he has affirmed took place.^[28] It should be noted that during the three years he claimed to have been on duty at November Flight, he was notably aware that his commander, Colonel Frederick Meiwald, had -- since October 1996 -- strongly insisted that he, at least, had only served duty at Oscar Flight.^[29] During this entire 3-year period, Salas nonetheless insisted that Meiwald, as his commander, had confirmed his story of a UFO coincident to the failure of missiles at November Flight,where Frederick Meiwald never served.

 As for Jamison, for at least fourteen years he claimed that he could not recall the exact location of the first UFO -- this being the one that was apparently never sighted, reported, or investigated by the USAF. He could only state that he was "certain" the incident occurred at one of the flights near Lewistown, Montana, which could indicate Echo Flight, November Flight, Mike Flight, or Oscar Flight.

All of the above changes to the details of this alleged event does, however, prove without even the slightest doubt one salient fact: Colonel Frederick Meiwald is the only witness testifying to this incident who has insisted from the very beginning that the location was Oscar Flight. None of the other witnesses can make this claim.^[30] Unfortunately, Meiwald also insists that he remembers nothing in regard to a UFO sighted during a missile failures incident, which apparently occurred on a date he also does not recall.^[31]

 It should be noted as well that it was only upon the instigation of UFO researcher Robert Hastings that Jamison and Salas finally agreed that the event they recalled took place at Oscar Flight on March 24, 1967.^[32] This suggests that any analysis of testimony that concludes with an apparent confirmation by Jamison of the story originally presented by Salas reveals a group effort to establish these claims. This in turn suggests that the resultant changes these men eventually adopted could very easily have been applied in order to invent confirmatory testimony that never actually existed prior to 2006.

The fact that there is nothing to indicate or otherwise suggest that the slightest iota of reason supports the claims addressed above does not reflect the same dearth of evidence in regard to contrary arguments. It is very easy, for instance, to establish the falsity of the March 24, 1967 date so clumsily recommended by researcher Robert Hastings. All that's required is the most cursory examination of USAF Project Blue Book records available since July 1967. These records state very clearly that there were no equipment failures throughout Malmstrom AFB on March 24, 1967. These records have been unclassified since their inception.^[33]Add to this the remarkably conflicting details reported by these alleged "witnesses", even between those isolated together within the small, underground capsule of the Oscar Flight launch control center, and the resulting obstacle of utter disbelief becomes excessively difficult for even the most brazenly credulous analyst to overcome. 

If you take the time to review the references for the counter-argument, you'll find that James Carlson has made an admirable attempt to set the record straight.  James is the foremost expert on both Echo and Oscar Flight's and his work carries heavy weight on my blog site.

Food for thought...how do you think Robert Hastings feels knowing that Echo Flight (his tar baby) has been shot down by Wikipedia, but Salas' folklore has been chosen to be told?


James Carlson's listed references:

Carlson, James (13 November 2010)."Echo Flights of Fantasy - Anatomy of a UFO Hoax"

Carlson, James (10 February 2010)."Americans, Credulous"

A Real CIA Debunking Plot from the 1950s?

This really is a follow-up to the last post.  Since Robert Hastings has been alluding to National Geographic possibly being in the tank for the CIA, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to look at one particular cinematic marvel from the late 1950s.

"Plan Nine from Outer Space" has been dubbed the worst movie ever made.  To say that it was shot on a low budget gives one the impression that it had a budget to begin with.  I remember seeing this movie on television back in the early 1960s (I was, and still am, a big fan of old time horror flicks).

For all of its numerous faults and idiotic premises, Plan Nine from Outer Space tells the UFO story as seen from the perspective of the general public back in the mid-50s.  The parallels that can be drawn from the plot are uncanny.  Who ever would have thought Ed Wood being the Nostradamus type? 

Jeff Trent is watching the cemetery with his wife, Paula, and tells her about his flying saucer encounter, stating that the Army has sworn him to secrecy. He suspects the events at the cemetery are related to his encounter with the UFO. A powerful wind knocks everyone to the ground, and a spaceship lands nearby.In the weeks that follow, newspaper headlines report other flying saucer sightings. The military, under the command of Col. Thomas Edwards, Chief of Saucer Operations, attacks the alien spaceships, which flee Earth. Edwards reveals that the government has been covering up the flying saucers, and wonders if the aliens are connected to other disasters on Earth.

The aliens return to Space Station 7 for regeneration. Their commander, Eros, informs their ruler that he has attempted, unsuccessfully, to contact the governments of Earth. He says that to force the people of Earth to acknowledge his people's existence, he is implementing Plan 9, which involves resurrecting the recently dead by stimulating their pituitary and pineal glands. The three alien ships return to Earth. (Wikipedia)

This cinematic pig with lipstick has it all for the UFO crowd: flying saucers, government cover-up, disclosure, and zombies thrown into the mix.  Oh, least I forget, the aliens were here to save the universe from the evil earthlings with their weapons of mass destruction.  If there ever was a real CIA plan to infiltrate Hollywood to debunk UFOs and with very little tax payer expense, Plan Nine from Outer Space had to be it.

BTW, Rene Descartes had to be smiling from his grave knowing that aliens were resurrecting the dead by stimulating the pituitary and pineal glands...dualism alive and well in the Alpha Quadrant.

This movie can be viewed on-line at IMDb.

Update, 8/23/12:  I watched the full movie last night via IMDb.com.  Wow, Ed Wood saved a bundle on the props!   This is actually two movies merged into one.  Bela Lugosi had long died prior to the release of the film, Lugosi's film clips were from another Ed Wood project which he merged into the current film (see Wiki's article).  Does Vampira even have a waist line?...freaky.

Odd clip from the film:  Jeff Trent, the pilot, spots a "flying saucer" near his aircraft, but he tells his wife that it was "cigar" shaped.  True to life inconsistant eye witness statements, but was this really the result of a poor script?

When you get the chance, read up on the Great Criswell, he was a long time radio personality in Hollywood.