Place · Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Also known as Vandenberg AFB, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Vandenberg
Vandenberg, on the California coast north of Santa Barbara, is the U.S. military's main launch site for missile tests, reconnaissance satellites and, since the 2000s, missile defence. Two of the best-known UAP accounts involve it: the 1964 Big Sur film of an Atlas missile launched from the base, described by the officer who led the camera team, and the 2003–2005 "Red Square" incursions over its missile-defence sites, described under oath to Congress in 2025 by a security-forces veteran.
Sources: September 9, 2025 hearing transcript and video · Big Sur Atlas missile incident (1964)
Facts and claims
- documented In sworn testimony on 9 September 2025, Air Force veteran Jeffrey Nuccetelli told the House Oversight task force that UAP incursions over Vandenberg's missile-defence sites began on 14 October 2003, when Boeing contractors reported a massive glowing red square hovering silently, and that five incidents occurred between 2003 and 2005. Source: Hearing transcript: Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (Sept 9, 2025)
- claimed Nuccetelli said the base was then conducting launches “deemed by the National Reconnaissance Office as the most important in 25 years”. — Jeffrey Nuccetelli Source: Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection at 34:45
- claimed Former Air Force lieutenant Robert Jacobs says his team's telescope film of a September 1964 Atlas missile launched from Vandenberg showed a disc-shaped object circle the dummy warhead and fire beams of light at it. — Robert Jacobs Source: Big Sur Atlas missile incident
Connected files
People
- Robert Jacobs (staff) — He led a photographic instrumentation team that filmed the 1964 Atlas test from Vandenberg
- Jeffrey Nuccetelli (staff) — He described five UAP incidents at Vandenberg between 2003 and 2005 to Congress
- Richard Barth (staff) — He says he guarded a Vandenberg missile site, where he describes an abduction
Organizations
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (used by)
- National Reconnaissance Office (launch site for) — Nuccetelli says the base was conducting launches the NRO deemed “the most important in 25 years”
Incidents
- Vandenberg “Red Square” incident (site of)
- Big Sur Atlas missile incident (site of) — The 1964 Atlas missile was launched from Vandenberg
Hearings & briefings
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (discussed at) — Jeffrey Nuccetelli testified about the 2003 “Red Square” incursions
Mentioned in videos
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection
- Meet the nuclear missile guard abducted by aliens: Richard Barth (American Alchemy, 2026)
Mentioned in documents and records
- Confession: Our Hidden Alien Encounters Revealed
- Hearing transcript: Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (Sept 9, 2025)
- Boeing
- DOW-UAP-D049 — Launch Summary, Vandenberg AFB, 2000