Minot AFB

Minot AFB

In the early hours of 24 October 1968 airmen at missile sites around Minot AFB in North Dakota reported a bright light, and a B-52 flying practice approaches near the base had an unidentified return on its own radar. The crew photographed the scope, and while the return stayed with the aircraft its UHF transmitter would not work. Project Blue Book’s record card gives “Possible (PLASMA)” for the radar and for the sighting from the aircraft, and “Probable (AIRCRAFT)(B-52)” and “Probable Astro (SIRIUS)” for the sightings from the ground (NAID 302580672, image 1). The base’s report had listed among “FOUR OCCURANCES THAT CANNOT BE CORRELATED OR EXPLAINED AT THIS LEVEL” “WHAT CAUSED THE AIRCRAFT RADAR ECHO” and the “AIRCRAFT LOSS OF UHF TRANSMISSION” (image 15). The scope photographs are not in the file as published.

Source document: Original public reference