Document · 8 November 1975
NMCC memorandum: unidentified sightings at Malmstrom AFB (8 November 1975)
The National Military Command Center's record of the night of 7–8 November 1975 at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, the best-documented night of the autumn 1975 incursions over northern SAC bases. NORAD's height-finder radar tracked slow-moving targets over Lewistown while missile-site crews reported lights and jet-like sounds; two F-106 interceptors were scrambled and never made contact. NORAD ruled out northern lights and carried the track as a fade remaining unknown. The DDO update condenses the memorandum for distribution.
Our copy is three scanned pages from a Department of Defense release (Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Freedom of Information and Security Review, case 97-F-1677, September 1997), as published by The Black Vault, a private archive; parts of the update are redacted.
Sources: OASD FOIA release 97-F-1677 (1997)
Facts and claims
- documented A two-page memorandum for record, “Subject: Unidentified Sightings”, dated 8 November 1975, 0600 EST, signed by Brig. Gen. Wilman D. Barnes, USA, Deputy Director for Operations, National Military Command Center, and copied to all area desks. It logs three phone conferences with the NORAD Command Director about radar and visual sightings at Malmstrom AFB and four SAC missile sites that night. Source: doc-nmcc-malmstrom-1975.pdf
- documented A DDO update as of 081400 EST November 1975, citing the memorandum, summarizes: “Malmstrom AFB MT and four SAC sites reported a series of visual and radar contacts with unidentified flying objects”, and adds that the sightings occurred on an extremely clear night with visibility of 45 miles. Source: doc-nmcc-malmstrom-1975.pdf
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