UFO Hovering Over Minot AFB MIKE Flight — Missile Shutdown
On August 25, 1966, an operations officer at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota filed a report documenting extraordinary events at the MIKE Flight missile launch station. According to a leaked confidential assessment by Air Force scientific advisor J. Allen Hynek, Captain Smith — on duty 20 meters underground in the MIKE Flight launch capsule — reported that radio communications were disrupted by heavy static as an unidentified object approached the facility. The object hovered over the station for approximately 15 minutes; when it ascended and departed, communications were immediately restored.
A field team reported the UFO in a diving maneuver at 5:12 AM, confirmed by radar. The object appeared to land some 15 to 25 kilometers south of the MIKE 6 launch station. A second team dispatched to the landing site lost radio contact at approximately 15 kilometers distance due to static interference. A second UFO was subsequently detected and confirmed by radar. The first object flew north while the second disappeared with a red glow. Both observations were corroborated by the southern radar station. An F-106 interceptor was scrambled two and a half hours after the initial sighting but could not locate the objects. The search was called off at 6:45 AM.
Captain David D. Schindele, deputy commander of the 724th Strategic Missile Squadron at Minot AFB, later testified to researcher Robert Hastings that missiles had been deactivated during the incident — mirroring earlier events at Malmstrom AFB. Schindele recalled a morning briefing where crews reported losing missile control after observing a large, silent, hovering object with bright blinking lights near the facility. The following morning his commanding officer ordered him never to speak about the incident again.
Background
In 1966, at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, a UFO was observed hovering directly over the MIKE Flight missile launch facility, part of the Minuteman ICBM complex. Security personnel and missile crew members reported an unidentified luminous object that maintained position over the site for an extended period.
The Incident
Security personnel and missile crew members reported observing a luminous, unidentified object positioned directly above the MIKE Flight launch facility. The object maintained its position over the site for an extended period during the encounter.
Anomalous Disruptions
During the encounter, multiple missile systems experienced anomalous disruptions:
- Multiple Minuteman ICBM systems affected
- Disruptions occurred during the object's presence
- Systems returned to normal operation after the incident
Documentation and Witnesses
The incident was documented by Captain David Schindele, a key witness who later broke his silence about the events at Minot AFB. The case represents one of several UAP encounters at the facility during the 1960s.
Significance
This incident fits the broader pattern of UAP activity at US nuclear weapons facilities during the Cold War. The case demonstrates the documented nature of such encounters at strategically critical military installations.