To Whom It May Concern,
In two recent interviews, former All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Deputy Director Timothy Phillips stated that AARO will address select reports of incidents involving UFOs and nuclear weapons in a forthcoming historical report. According to Phillips, AARO determined that a “cascading transformer failure” triggered by an “electrical storm”, and not UFO activity, led to the March 1967 shutdown of a 10-missile “flight” of nuclear-armed Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana.
Conversely, a 6 June 2025 Wall Street Journal story, citing AARO officials, states that an unannounced Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) test caused the shutdown.
However, official unit histories of the 341st Strategic Missile Wing (SMW), other U.S. government documents, and witness testimony flatly contradict both explanations.
Phillips also stated that AARO “did not see any evidence of UAP or UFO activity in the journals or logs” of airfields and radar installations in the vicinity of Malmstrom Air Force Base during the incidents in question. This, too, is contradicted by official U.S. government documents, contemporaneous media reporting, and witness testimony.
Of note, there are two incidents in question:
(1) The shutdown of Echo Flight on 16 March 1967
(2) The shutdown of Oscar Flight on 24 March 1967
Significant official documentation exists in the public domain regarding the former, while none exists regarding the latter. This is likely due to the non-disclosure agreements that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) required missile launch officer 1st Lt. Robert Salas, his then-missile commander, 1st Lt. Frederick Meiwald, and, presumably, other witnesses to the 24 March 1967 incident to sign.
Beyond the March 1967 incidents at Malmstrom AFB, official U.S. government documents, contemporaneous media reporting, and witness testimony suggest that at least one other similar incident occurred at Minot AFB in 1966.
Malmstrom AFB:
Immediately after the 16 March 1967 shutdown of Echo Flight, testing began at Malmstrom to determine the cause of the incident. Official 341st SMW unit histories state that, following initial testing, “the investigation teams at Malmstrom were unable to determine a logical cause for the incident.”
Contrary to Phillips’ statements (and AARO’s apparent findings), the 341st SMW unit history spanning 1 January – 31 March 1967 states that, “After performing the tests, it was decided that commercial power switching operations were not the cause of the Echo shutdown.” (Emphasis added; see appendices for full sourcing).
Following additional testing at contractor facilities throughout mid-1967 and final testing again at Malmstrom, official 341st SMW unit histories, some written nearly a year after the incident, rule out an electrical fault or power issue. Instead, engineers and contractors speculated that an Electromagnetic Pulse may have caused the shutdown.
See:
“Due to the fact that the power tests were essentially negative, it appears that the cause of the Echo Flight problem was of the EMP or electrostatic nature.” (Emphasis added) (1 April – 30 June 1967 341st SMW Unit History; PDF p. 38)
“A primary cause always associated with Echo Flight Incident has been connected with some type of adverse power affect [sic]. Tests have been conducted time and time again to determine this, but have always lead [sic] to a negative result.” (Emphasis added) (1 July – 30 September 1967 341st SMW Unit History; PDF p. 51)
“One of the primary theorys [sic] of the Echo Flight incident was connected with some type of adverse power effect. All test [sic] conducted toward this end proved negative results. (Emphasis added) (1 October – 31 December 1967 341st SMW Unit History; PDF p. 77)
“OOAMA thought that the cause of the incident was of the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) noise or electrostatic nature.” (1 July – 30 September 1967 341st SMW Unit History; PDF p. 48)
“The EMP tests at Sierra-39 were considered to be the final series of tests in this area.” (1 October – 31 December 1967 341st SMW Unit History; PDF p. 77)
Additionally, as noted in the 1 January – 31 March 1967 341st SMW unit history, and contrary to Phillips’ assertion, “weather was ruled out as a contributing factor” in the 16 March Echo Flight shutdown. (See also: “Weather condition and Capsule crew have been eliminated as causes of the incident.”)
Similarly, according to the unit history, the Echo Flight shutdown occurred before (at “0845”) any reported transformer malfunctions. The first documented power failure occurred when a “7.2 KV transformer shorted in the line to site E-3 at 1450, 16 March 67.” (Emphasis added)
Beyond official unit histories, former Boeing engineer Robert Kaminski, who served as the Boeing in-house project engineer for the investigation of the Echo Flight shutdown, wrote in a 1 February 1997 letter (attached) to researcher James Klotz that, “After a week in the field the team returned and pooled their data. At the outset the team quickly noticed a lack of anything that would come close to explain why the event occurred. There were no significant failures, engineering data or findings that would explain how ten missiles were knocked off alert.” (Emphasis added)
According to Kaminski, “The use of backup power systems and other technical system circuit operational redundancy strongly suggests that this kind of event is virtually impossible once the system was up and running and on line with other LCF’s and LF’s interconnectivity. The only thing that even came close to a failure was that a transformer on a commercial power pole down the road from one of the sites was in the process of failing. It exhibited a[n] intermittent transient type of failure that could have generated noise spikes on the power line. This in itself could not have caused the problem at E-Flight. The problem was reported to the local power company who took action to replace the transformer. The team met with me to report their findings and it was decided that the final report would have nothing significant in it to explain what happened at E-Flight. In other words there was no technical explanation that could explain the event.” (Emphasis added)
Kaminski continued, “The team went off to do the report. Meanwhile I was contacted by our representative at OOAMA (Don Peterson) and told by him that the incident was reported as being a UFO event – That a UFO was seen by some Airmen over the LCF at the time E-Flight went down. Subsequently, we were notified a few days later, that a stop work order was on the way from OOAMA to stop any further effort on this project. We stopped. We were also told that we were not to submit the final engineering report. This was most unusual since all of our work required review by the customer and the submittal of a final Engineering report to OOAMA.” (Emphasis added)
Beyond Kaminski’s account, Robert Hastings, author of UFOs & Nukes, has documented witness accounts from missile launch control and targeting officers, as well as other persons involved in both the 16 March and 24 March incidents. These include Col Walt Figel (Echo Flight, missile launch deputy commander), T/Sgt N. Henry “Hank” Barlow (Echo Flight, electro-mechanical team), Col Frederick Meiwald (Oscar Flight, missile commander), Capt Robert Jamison (Oscar Flight, missile targeting officer), LtCol Dwynne Arneson (Officer-in-Charge, Malmstrom AFB communications center), and 1st Lt Robert Salas (Oscar Flight, missile launch deputy commander). All of them attest to UFO activity coincident with both the Echo and Oscar missile flight shutdowns. (Robert Hastings)
Moreover, contrary to Phillips’ claim that no UFO activity was reported during the incidents, extensive Project Blue Book files document such activity on 24 March 1967. A Telex from Malmstrom AFB to Wright-Patterson AFB and various Air Force offices in Washington, D.C., for example, states that “Between the hours of 2100 and 0400 MST numerous reports were received by Malmstrom AFB agencies of UFO sightings in the Great Falls, Montana area. Reports of a UFO landing near Belt, Montana were received from several sources including deputies of Cascade County Sheriff’s Office.” (National Archives)
Contemporaneous news reporting also contradicts Phillips’ assertion that no UFO activity was recorded at local airfields or radar stations. A 26 March 1967 Great Falls Tribune article on the reported UFO landing near Belt, MT, titled “UFO Breaks Monotony of Run,” states that “Airmen at Malmstrom Air Force Base reported sighting a UFO about 5 to 10 miles northeast of the base at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. FAA radar picked up the object at 3:42 a.m. to the northwest and reported it was off the radar at 4:26 a.m.” (Emphasis added) (Newspapers.com)
For additional details, see: “Malmstrom Air Force Base Picks Up UFO on Radar; Sabotage Alert Team Located Another UFO Directly Over The Base,” 25 March 1967, Great Falls Leader (The UFO Chronicles)
In short, a significant amount of official U.S. government documentation, contemporaneous media reporting, and witness testimony directly contradicts Phillips’ statements (and, apparently, AARO’s conclusions) regarding the 1967 Malmstrom AFB incidents.
Minot Air Force Base 1966:
Recommend AARO review the following:
19 August 1966: U.S. Border Patrol Officer Donald Flickinger observes a disk-shaped UFO at close range along the western edge of Minot AFB’s Mike missile flight. Flickinger draws detailed sketches (See: National Archives). Note, also, static interference with Flickinger’s radio. (National Archives; Saturday Evening Post; Minot Daily News)
25 August 1966: Minot Air Force Base tracks two UFOs over Mike missile flight. Per official U.S. government documentation, missile commander “on duty at Missile Site (MIKE Flt)… indicated that radio transmission was being interrupted by static, this static was accompanied by the UFO coming close to the missile site (MIKE Flt). When UFO climbed, static stopped.”
Additionally: “Strike team reported UFO descending, checked with Radar Site they also verified this. The UFO then began to swoop and dive. It then appeared to land 10 to 15 miles South of MIKE 6. ‘MIKE 6’ missile site control sent a strike team to check. When the team was about 10 miles from the landing sight [sic], static disrupted radio contact with them [emphasis original]… Another UFO was visually sighted and confirmed by radar. The one that was first sighted passed beneath the second. Radar also confirmed this.” (Saturday Evening Post; Minot Daily News; Robert Hastings)
25 September 1966: Former Minot Air Force Base missile launch control officer Capt. David Schindele arrives at November Flight (adjacent to Mike Flight) Launch Control Facility to see that all 10 November Flight missiles are off-alert status following a close-range UFO incident the previous night. Per Schindele, Air Force OSI instructed him to never speak of the incident. (Schindele testimony)
Sincerely,
Marik von Rennenkampff
Appendix A: Tim Phillips Comments
“There was some work done with the national labs dealing with a cascading transformer failure at one of the missile ranges [Malmstrom]… The missile silos were actually connected to the commercial grid for power. They did have their critical power, they had their own generators but for cost-savings they were connected to the commercial grid; dual-power feeds. There was an electrical disturbance, there were some storms, and the filtering, the capacitors that would have shielded the critical systems in the missile silos from an energy surge coming through the commercial grid failed and actually took some of the missile silos down.” (Interview with Mick West, 17 June 2025)
“There’s been new stories about an EMP test that I was not privy to when I was still in the government. What I knew about was a report of a cascading transformer failure where there was [an] electrical storm and the silos were actually connected to the commercial power grid, however they did have their own generators and critical power and they would switch off to their own generators so power would not be interrupted. There was some electrical disturbance that actually defeated those filters, and the silos themselves were taken offline by a cascading transformer failure.” (Interview with John Michael Godier, 2 July 2025)
“There were also some reports of security personnel who were up above who, in some of the stories, they saw UFOs or things that they could not understand. We were able to get logs at the various towers and we did not see any evidence of UAP or UFO activity in the journals and logs that AARO actually got to investigate.” (Interview with John Michael Godier, 2 July 2025)
Appendix B: Excerpts from 341st Strategic Missile Wing Unit Histories
1 January – 31 March 1967:
“On 16 March 1967 at 0845, all sites in Echo (E) Flight, Malmstrom AFB, shutdown with No-Go Indication of Channels 9 and 12 on Voice Reporting Signal Assemble (VRSA). (PDF p. 7)
“The initial time of the incident, decided by the crew, could be no more than two or three minutes earlier than the official log of 0845.” (PDF p. 11)
“Weather was ruled out as a contributing factor in the incident.” (PDF p. 14)
“Rumors of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) around the area of Echo Flight during the time of the fault were disproven.” (PDF p. 14)
“The power outage that affected E-1 at 1453 on 16 March 67, occurred on the 7.2/12.5 kilo volts (KV) transmission line from Winifred Substation.” (PDF p. 16)
“Weather condition and Capsule crew have been eliminated as causes of the incident.” (PDF p. 16)
“A 7.2 KV transformer shorted in the line to site E-3 at 1450, 16 March 67.” (PDF p. 20)
“On 28 March 67, the 341st SMW in conjunction with the Montana Power Company conducted a switching test on the 50 KV high voltage line between the Harlowton and Glengarry substations. The test was performed at the request of OOAMA/OONE as a part of the initial Echo Flight incident investigation performed at Malmstrom. The intent of the test was to verify correlation, if possible, between high voltage switching and launch facility shutdown or other launch facility faults.” (PDF p. 20)
“After performing the tests, it was decided that commercial power switching operations were not the cause of the Echo shutdown.” (PDF p. 21)
“The investigation teams at Malmstrom, were unable to determine a logical cause for the incident.” (PDF p. 21)
1 April – 30 June 1967:
“A test plan was reviewed to accomplish the transformer failure simulation tests at Malmstrom. Boeing had co-ordinated with the power company, and had received their approval for the tests.” (PDF p. 35)
“The power tests were accomplished at Malmstrom AFB during the week of 15 May 67… Information on the Sensitive Information Network lines and on the commercial primary power lines showed no significant noise propagation as a result of simulating the transformer failure.” (PDF p. 36)
“Due to the fact that the power tests were essentially negative, it appears that the cause of the Echo Flight problem was of the EMP or electrostatic nature.” (PDF p. 38)
1 July – 30 September 1967:
“OOAMA thought that the cause of the incident was of the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) noise or electrostatic nature.” (PDF p. 48)
“A primary cause always associated with Echo Flight Incident has been connected with some type of adverse power affect [sic]. Tests have been conducted time and time again to determine this, but have always lead [sic] to a negative result.” (PDF p. 51)
“On 28 September 1967, Sierra 39, 564th SMS, was depostured and turned over to Boeing for EMP tests.” (PDF p. 51)
1 October – 31 December 1967:
“In direct relation to the Echo Flight incident as covered in the April – June 1967 History of the 341st SMW was the Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) testing conducted throughout the quarter.” (PDF p. 76)
“One of the primary theorys [sic] of the Echo Flight incident was connected with some type of adverse power effect. All test [sic] conducted toward this end proved negative results. The EMP tests at Sierra-39 were considered to be the final series of tests in this area.” (PDF p. 77)
Appendix C: Power Distribution to Echo, Delta, Mike, Oscar Flights
Launch Facilities (LFs) E-2-6, E-9-11 Supplied by Different Substations than E-7, E-8
(PDF p. 17)
