Incident · 27 October 1975 – 11 November 1975 · Loring AFB, Maine; Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan; Malmstrom AFB, Montana; Minot AFB, North Dakota; CFS Falconbridge, Ontario (map: Malmstrom missile field near Lewistown)
Unknowns over SAC bases on the northern tier (October–November 1975)
Also known as Northern Tier incursions, 1975 SAC base incursions, Loring AFB 1975, Wurtsmith AFB 1975, Malmstrom 1975, Falconbridge 1975
For about two weeks from the night of 27–28 October 1975, Strategic Air Command bases along the northern United States reported unidentified aircraft or lights over or near their weapons areas: first Loring AFB in Maine, where intruders were taken to be helicopters coming from Canada, then Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan, Malmstrom AFB and its Minuteman missile field in Montana, Minot AFB in North Dakota, and the Canadian Forces radar station at Falconbridge, Ontario. The National Military Command Center relayed the reports, and they reached the CIA's Operations Center the first morning.
The best documented night is 7–8 November at Malmstrom. NORAD's height-finder radar tracked slow-moving targets over Lewistown while missile-site crews reported lights and jet-like noise, the FAA had no aircraft in the area, and two F-106 interceptors, kept high by the terrain, never made contact. Site crews said the lights went out as the fighters arrived and came back when they left. NORAD ruled out northern lights and carried the track as a fade, "remaining UNKNOWN".
The record leaves the incursions unexplained. The Loring and Wurtsmith intruders were described as helicopters but never identified, and the Air Force's search with helicopters and fighters produced no identification. Records of the incursions were released under the Freedom of Information Act from the late 1970s; our copies are the NMCC memorandum of 8 November, a DDO update and a CIA watch log, and the 11 November message is known here only through the 1979 New York Times Magazine quotation.
Sources: NMCC memorandum for record and DDO update, 8 November 1975 (OASD FOIA case 97-F-1677) · CIA Operations Center log, 28 October 1975 · The New York Times Magazine, 14 October 1979 (CIA-RDP88-01315R000300070001-4)
Facts and claims
- documented A CIA Operations Center log of 28 October 1975 records at 0610 that the National Military Command Center's representative reported an update on the penetration of Loring AFB, Maine, by unidentified helicopter(s) “flying out of Canada”. Source: CIA Operations Center log: penetration of Loring AFB (28 October 1975)
- documented The NMCC's memorandum for record of 8 November 1975 relays the NORAD Command Director: at 0253 EST “Malmstrom AFB Montana received seven radar cuts on the height-finder radar at altitudes between 9,500' and 15,500'”, while ground witnesses saw lights and heard sounds like jet fighters; “Cross-tell with FAA revealed no jet aircraft within 100NM of the sightings.” Source: NMCC memorandum: unidentified sightings at Malmstrom AFB (8 November 1975)
- documented Two F-106s of the 24th NORAD Region were scrambled but the objects “could not be intercepted”: the fighters had to stay above 12,000 ft over mountainous terrain. Personnel at four SAC sites reported that the “sighted objects turned off their lights upon arrival of interceptors, and back on upon their departure.” Source: NMCC memorandum: unidentified sightings at Malmstrom AFB (8 November 1975)
- documented NORAD said Northern Lights sometimes cause such phenomena on height-finder radars, “but their check with weather services revealed no possibility of Northern Lights.” It would “carry this incident as a FADE remaining UNKNOWN at 0320 EST, since after that time only visual sightings occurred.” Source: NMCC memorandum: unidentified sightings at Malmstrom AFB (8 November 1975)
- claimed A Defense Department message dated 11 November 1975, as quoted by The New York Times Magazine of 14 October 1979 (a copy is in CIA files), says reports of suspicious objects had come in since 28 October from reliable military personnel at Loring, Wurtsmith, Malmstrom, Minot and CFS Falconbridge, Ontario; “Objects at Loring and Wurtsmith were characterized to be helicopters.” Source: doc-cia-nyt-magazine-1979-10-14.pdf
- claimed The same message, as quoted there, says the writer had asked the Air Force information office for a proposed answer to press queries “to prevent overreaction by the public”, and that efforts by Air Guard helicopters, SAC helicopters and NORAD F-106s “have failed to produce positive ID.” Source: doc-cia-nyt-magazine-1979-10-14.pdf
Connected files
Documents
- CIA Operations Center log: penetration of Loring AFB (28 October 1975) (documented in)
- NMCC memorandum: unidentified sightings at Malmstrom AFB (8 November 1975) (documented in)
Incidents
- Malmstrom AFB missile shutdown (same base as) — Malmstrom AFB, Montana: missile sites reporting lights eight years after the 1967 shutdown
Mentioned in this file
- Central Intelligence Agency (Organization)
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