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Person

Robert Salas

Former ICBM launch officer; links the 1967 missile shutdown to a UFO

1967–2025 · Historical figures (1933–2007) · Witness

A graduate of the USAF Academy and former intercontinental missile launch officer, he left the service in 1971. In 1994, after reading a book by Timothy Good, he became convinced that a 1967 incident at Malmstrom Air Force Base was linked to a UFO, and in 1996 he told the Great Falls Tribune that the guards had seen a glowing red object above the gate before the missiles went out of service. The shutdown of the Echo Flight missiles on March 16, 1967 is documented, but the chronology of the 341st Missile Wing describes the UFO rumors as refuted; in 2025 the Wall Street Journal attributed the incident to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) test.

Key claims
  • Maintains that in 1967 at Malmstrom the guards saw a glowing red object above the gate shortly before the missiles went out of service (Great Falls Tribune, August 13, 1996).
  • Repeated the account at the National Press Club on September 27, 2010, together with other former military personnel.
  • According to the journalist Nick Cook (2025), he disputes the EMP test explanation reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Controversies
  • The official chronology of the 341st Strategic Missile Wing (1967) describes the rumors of unidentified flying objects as refuted.
  • Skeptics propose the planet Mars as an explanation for the lights (Sheaffer); in 2025 the Wall Street Journal attributed the shutdown to an EMP test, described by the sources now as a device, now as a simulator.
Today
He appears in the documentary The Age of Disclosure (2025), narrated by Elizondo. AARO's historical report (2024) reports conversations with former personnel of the ICBM bases, and in 2025 the Wall Street Journal attributed the incident to an EMP test, an explanation that Salas disputes according to Nick Cook.

Documented authority

It measures how documented and verifiable what the person claims is, not their honesty. Each criterion is scored from 0 to 2.

Credentials 2/2
USAF Academy graduate and former ICBM launch officer: documented role.
Direct access 1/2
He was on duty in 1967, but the luminous object was reported by the guards and the link to a UFO dates from 1994.
Evidence provided 1/2
The missile shutdown is documented, but the same document describes the UFO rumors as refuted.
Claims track record 1/2
The core of the account (the shutdown) is confirmed; the UFO cause is contradicted by the 1967 chronology and by the 2025 investigation.
Conflicts of interest not applicable
Insufficient data in the sources collected.

Sources

  1. Robert Salas, English Wikipedia (other)
  2. Malmstrom UFO incident, English Wikipedia (other)
  3. CBS News: former military personnel, UFOs and deactivated missiles (September 28, 2010) (press)
  4. Wall Street Journal: “The Pentagon Disinformation That Fueled America's UFO Mythology” (June 2025) (press)
  5. Nick Cook, “Disclosure by other means,” Substack (June 15, 2025) (analysis, pro-disclosure)

On this site

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