A Narrative of UFO Events at Minot Air Force Base

Thomas Tulien

In the early morning hours of 24 Oct. 1968, United States Air Force (USAF) maintenance and security personnel stationed within the Minuteman, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) complex surrounding Minot AFB, North Dakota, observed one—and at times—two UFOs. The Minot Base Operations dispatcher initiated radio communications with personnel reporting in the field, Minot, Radar Approach Control (RAPCON), and the crew of a returning B-52H aircraft.

RAPCON alerted the pilots to the location of a UFO, which the B-52 navigator observed on the radarscope maintaining a three-mile distance throughout a standard 180° turnaround. As the B-52 started its descent back to Minot AFB, the UFO appeared to close distance to one mile at a high-rate of speed, pacing the aircraft for nearly 20 miles before disappearing off the radarscope. Both B-52 UHF radios would not transmit during the close radar encounter with the UFO and radarscope film was recorded.

Shortly afterwards, RAPCON provided vectors for the B-52 to overfly a stationary UFO on or near the ground. After turning onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilots observed a large, illuminated UFO ahead of the aircraft for several minutes, before turning onto the base leg over the UFO while observing it at close range. After the B-52 landed, both outer and inner-zone intrusions alarms were activated at the remote missile Launch Facility Oscar-7. The duration of reported observations was over three hours.

USAF Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, initiated inquiries. In the weeks following, staff at USAF Project Blue Book, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, completed a final case report mandated by Air Force Regulation 80-17.

INTRODUCTION ››