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Case · C-026

Malmstrom 1967: the ten missiles of Echo Flight out of service

Echo Flight of the 341st Strategic Missile Wing, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana · United States · Mar 16, 1967

In flight Military witnesses

Disputed explanation

What happened
On the morning of March 16, 1967, the ten Minuteman missiles of Echo Flight lost alert status almost simultaneously and were returned to service within a day. The declassified chronology of the 341st Strategic Missile Wing mentions rumors of UFOs in the Echo Flight area, describing them as disproven, and reports that a team sent to check the sites noticed nothing unusual. The link with a red luminous object seen by the guards was made public in 1996 by the former launch officer Robert Salas, who also places a second shutdown in Oscar Flight; according to Brian Dunning no official document mentions that episode.
Proposed explanation
The unit's official chronology describes the UFO rumors as disproven. A Boeing investigation linked the malfunction to electrical disturbances on an interface line (possibly an electromagnetic pulse) without being able to reproduce it, and the Air Force concluded it was a generic adverse effect on the power supply; according to Brian Dunning the failure followed an interruption of the commercial power grid. In June 2025 the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon attributes it to a secret electromagnetic pulse test; Robert Salas disputes this reconstruction, citing among other things a Strategic Air Command telex that expressed grave concern over a loss with no apparent cause.
Official investigation
U.S. Air Force (341st Strategic Missile Wing, Strategic Air Command), Boeing; AARO (according to the Wall Street Journal)

Official documents

  1. Declassified Unit Histories from Malmstrom Air Force Base (cronologie del reparto, 1967) · U.S. Air Force – 341st Strategic Missile Wing (The Black Vault copy) · 1967

Sources

  1. Skeptoid #842, Brian Dunning – “The Day the UFO Deactivated the Nukes” (2022) (analysis, skeptical)
  2. Ojai Valley News – Robert Salas's reply to the Wall Street Journal (press, pro-disclosure)
  3. Wikipedia – Malmstrom UFO incident (other)

On this site

People 3

Claims 1

Timeline 1

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