NORAD Cheyenne Mountain: Security Option 5 Alert, UFOs Tracked on Radar
According to researcher Francis Ridge, NORAD went on top alert status (Security Option 5) during late October 1975. Ridge's informant, a NORAD employee at Cheyenne Mountain, reported that while off-duty near midnight, personnel saw multiple lights moving in the sky that lined up and headed directly toward Cheyenne Mountain. Alert buzzers sounded, men rushed to their security posts at 2:10 a.m. in hunting gear. A radar operator tracked UFOs for 'a good 20 minutes' and jet interceptors were scrambled. The base stayed on alert until 6 a.m. When personnel later checked security records, nothing was filed. 'Air Force UFO people' interviewed the group one by one, told them they had seen aircraft landing lights, and ordered them to 'never mention it again.' Within two months, each man received false written reprimands for 'drinking on duty.' A letter from Colonel Terrence C. James, USAF Director of Administration, stated the overflight information 'is properly and currently classified and exempt from disclosure.'
Background
On October 25, 1975, off-duty NORAD personnel stationed at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, observed multiple anomalous lights in the sky that triggered a Security Option 5 alert at the facility. The incident involved radar tracking of unidentified objects and the scrambling of jet interceptors, followed by an official investigation that classified the event and imposed reprisals on the witnesses.