Big Sur UFO Filmed Shooting at Nuclear Warhead
In September 1964, Lieutenant Robert M. Jacobs, chief photo-optical instrumentation officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, was tasked with filming an Atlas missile test launch carrying a dummy nuclear warhead from a tracking station at Big Sur, using a high-powered telescope with a 2,000-inch focal length. Two days after the routine filming, Major Florence Mansmann summoned Jacobs to view the developed footage alongside two men in civilian clothing. The film showed the warhead streaking through the upper atmosphere when a disc-shaped object entered the frame from the same trajectory, circled the warhead, and fired four beams of light at it from different angles. The warhead then tumbled out of its sub-orbital arc and fell into the Pacific Ocean. Mansmann ordered Jacobs to never discuss the incident and the two civilians confiscated the original film. When Jacobs broke his silence decades later through a MUFON journal article, he received death threats including the destruction of his mailbox with explosives. Mansmann eventually confirmed the account in writing, describing the object as a classic saucer shape that appeared to rotate while firing the beams. The US Air Force categorically denied the existence of both the telescope and Jacobs' service record, claims later disproven through archival research.
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Background
In September 1964, during a test launch of an Atlas missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a high-speed tracking telescope filmed a disc-shaped object circling the nuclear warhead dummy. The object emitted beams of light that struck the warhead, causing it to tumble out of sub-orbital space, and the film was confiscated by CIA agents.
The Incident
A high-speed tracking telescope captured footage during the Atlas missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 1964.
The film showed a disc-shaped object circling the nuclear warhead dummy in flight.
Witness Accounts
First Lieutenant Robert Jacobs and his superior Major Florenze Mansmann confirmed the film's content.
It clearly depicted the object emitting beams of light that struck the warhead, after which the dummy tumbled out of sub-orbital space.
Both went public decades later despite professional consequences.
Investigation
The film was reportedly confiscated by CIA agents who visited the base.
Significance
The incident is considered one of the most significant alleged UAP interactions with nuclear weapons delivery systems.