Kirtland AFB: Golden Oblate Sphere Hovers Over Manzano Nuclear Weapons Storage, F-101s Scrambled
At 9:45 p.m., November 6, 1973, air police at Kirtland AFB East were alerted to a breach in the Manzano Laboratory area — America's atomic weapons research, design, testing, and storage facility. An 'oblate spherical, 150 feet in diameter, golden' object hovered 100 feet over Plant No. 3, which stored atomic weapons. Four F-101 Voodoo interceptors were scrambled; the UFO fled at treetop level over the Manzano Mountains. Officials treated the incident 'as if it never happened.'
Background
At 9:45 p.m., air police at Kirtland AFB East were alerted to a breach of security in the Manzano Laboratory area. (Manzano carried on America's atomic weapons research, development, design, testing, and storage following the Manhattan Project.)
The Object
The intruder was later described by an APRO investigator as 'oblate spherical in shape, 150 feet in diameter, golden in color, and absolutely silent.'
Over Nuclear Weapons
The object hovered 100 feet over Plant No. 3, which stored atomic weapons. In moments, four F-101 Voodoo interceptors of the New Mexico Air National Guard were scrambled at the far end of the base. As those were assembling in the sky, the UFO began moving away at treetop level (under the radar floor). It quickly crossed over the Manzano Mountains east of the base. By the time the Voodoos arrived, there was nothing to intercept.
Cover-Up
Per one of the MPs in a later interview, officials at the base were greatly upset at coming up empty and chose to treat the incident as if it never happened. Intelligence briefs thereafter made no mention of it.
Significance
UFO hovering directly over nuclear weapons storage at one of America's most sensitive facilities, followed by institutional cover-up.