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?