minuteman 1966

The second generation of the Minuteman missile, Minuteman II, differed from its predecessor in several important ways. It was a larger missile designed to accommodate increased engine and warhead size, measuring 57.6 feet long and weighing seventy thousand pounds. As with its predecessor, Minuteman II was capable of reaching speeds in excess of fifteen thousand miles per hour. Minuteman II offered an improved second-stage engine manufactured by Aerojet-General, improved targeting system, extended range, electronic autopilot, all-inertial guidance system, and an Avco Mark IIC reentry body with a one- to two-megaton nuclear warhead. [124] These improvements allowed the Minuteman II to strike targets from a greater distance with greater precision. New anti-missile technology increased the chances of the missile avoiding an enemy's defenses and delivering its warhead. The missile gap had become a thing of the past by the mid-1960s, as American intelligence proved beyond doubt the superiority of American missiles over their Soviet counterparts. However, this fact did not keep the Air Force from continuing to improve its product. [125]

The first operational Minuteman II squadron, the 447^th Strategic Missile Squadron, went on alert at Grand Forks Air Force Base in 1966. Minuteman II ICBMs eventually went in the ground at another five SAC bases (Malmstrom Air Force Base, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Minot Air Force Base, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, and Whiteman Air Force Base). Malmstrom Air Force Base was also selected as the location for an additional Minuteman squadron, and LFs and LCFs were consequently constructed at this base. [126]

UFO tracked on USAF radar over Minuteman ICBM complex.. Two tracking radar systems that were looking for a Low level B-52 at the time got a lockon to a UFO that was later confirmed to be hovering over a missle silo. Object then reportedly accelerated to 5000 mph when they lost track. It came to within one mile of the site and was observed visually as well on radar track X-Y plotter tape and on video tape. (Magnetic anomaly was experience but not described in report.)

Ted Phillips:
The base commander was flying a B-52 with full crew and all observed a metallic disc in daylight flying very close to them. Two of the crewmen took 35mm photos using up all of their film. He told me of a landing near one of the sites and he dispatched two strike teams and they watched the object with orders to fire on it if anyone got out, there were EM effects - communication between the team and the control tower. I talked (in 1966) to several of the people who guarded the landing site with traces. Several base kids saw the thing come down through the trees behind a housing section on base. After several minutes it ascended leaving behind landing imprints and a lot of tree damage from its descent & ascent. I found and talked with the base photographer who documented the site and traces with a 120 format camera. He told me he turned the negatives and prints over to officers and didn't keep any prints. I located 11 witnesses (including the photographer) who confirned the event.

At approximately 0343Z, Jeannette M. Heline, Reg. Nurse, and Allen N. Heline, A1C, 455th Missile Maintenance Squadron, Minot AFB, Ballistic Missile Analysis Specialist, while driving north, they observed a football-shaped object that was white with an orange tint appear in front of their car about 2000 to 3000 feet. The object appeared to come straight in and straight out. The observation lasted approximately 12 minutes.

Aug. 19, 1966; Donnybrook, North Dakota (BBU 10872)
4:50 p.m. U.S. Border Patrolman Don Flickinger saw a bright, shiny, round disc, 30 ft in diameter and 15 ft high, colored white, silvery or aluminum, floating down the side of a hill wobbling from side to side about 10 ft off the ground. It moved across a valley from the SE climbing to 100 ft height, hovered for 1 min over a reservoir in a horizontal position when a dome on top became visible, appeared about to land in a small field about 250 ft away, then tilted on edge and rose up into clouds at high speed. (Berliner; cf. Vallée Magonia 788; Jan Aldrich, Phillips, 1975, p. 43; witness report to CUFOS; Hynek, 1977, p. 152; Gilmor, Condon report case 8, p. 273.) [Note: This occurred within the Minuteman Missile Launch Facilities area at Minot AFB, North Dakota. Donnybrook is in the Kilo Flight Launch Facilities area.]

Aug. 24, 1966; Minuteman Missile Site, Minot AFB [Grano? Carpio?], North Dakota (BBU)
10 p.m. Airman saw and reported by radio a multi-colored light high in the sky. Strike team sent to his location confirmed the object. Second object, white, was seen to pass in front of clouds. Radar detected and tracked an object. Sightings made by 3 different Minuteman ICBM missile sites. Radio interference was noted by teams sent to locations where object was hovering at ground level. (Vallée Magonia 791; FUFOR Index)

Daniel Wilson...