Narrative of UFO Events at Minot AFB
on 24 October 1968
In the early morning hours of 24 October 1968, United States Air Force maintenance and security personnel within the Minuteman, ICBM missile complex surrounding Minot AFB, North Dakota, observed one—and at times—two UFOs. The Base Operations Dispatcher established radio communications with ground personnel reporting in the field; Minot AFB, Radar Approach Control (RAPCON); and the crew of a returning B-52H Stratofortress aircraft.
RAPCON alerted the B-52 pilots to the location of the UFO high in the northwest, which was observed on the B-52 radarscope maintaining a three-mile distance throughout a standard 180° turnaround. As the B-52 initiated the descent back to Minot AFB, the UFO appeared to close distance to one-mile, and continued pacing the aircraft for nearly 20 miles before disappearing off the radarscope. During the close radar encounter the B-52 UHF radios would not transmit. Radarscope film was recorded.
Shortly afterward, RAPCON provided vectors for the B-52 to fly over a stationary UFO. During the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilots observed an illuminated, stationary UFO ahead of the aircraft on or near the ground, before turning onto the base leg over the large UFO and observing it at close range. After the B-52 landed, both outer and inner-zone intrusion alarms activated at the missile Launch Facility designated Oscar-7. Altogether, reported observations continued over a period of about three hours.
In the weeks following, staff at USAF Project Blue Book completed a final case report mandated by Air Force Regulation 80-17.[1]