By Charles Lear
One commonly reported characteristic of UFOs is that they are often seen near nuclear weapons facilities. One would think that this would get the attention of government authorities, and it seems it has. Robert Hastings is a researcher who looked into this aspect of the UFO mystery, and his work caused many people, including those in the media, to take a serious look at it. Then, at the risk of casting doubt on his credibility, Hastings came forward with the claim that he had had an abduction experience. While this upset some of the people who had been encouraged by Hastings to come forward with their stories of UFOs at nuclear facilities, one man told Hastings of abductions reported by men stationed at such facilities.
According to Hastings, he was sixteen when he first became interested in UFOs. He was working as a janitor in the air traffic control tower at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where his father was stationed. A supervisor called him over to look at a radarscope. When Hastings came over, the supervisor told him they were looking at returns of UFOs. Hastings was intrigued and was told to come back later if he wanted to talk about them, but when he did, the supervisor no longer wanted to discuss the matter.
Hastings later learned from his father that fighter jets had chased the UFOs over the Minuteman missiles that were housed at the base. He then read an article in the Saturday Evening Post about UFOs reported over other nuclear missile sites. He got the impression that what happened at Malmstrom was something real and not unique. He felt there was a connection between UFOs and nuclear weapons, and he began reaching out to military personnel to find evidence.
While some of those he contacted refused to talk, others were eager to do so, feeling that the public had a right to know. Along with the witness testimony, Hastings also found documents that supported what he was being told. He learned that not only had UFOs been sighted over nuclear weapons facilities, but there also seemed to be weapons malfunctions caused by them. With a large body of evidence in hand, Hastings wrote “UFOs and Nukes,” which was published in 2008 and updated in 2017.
The two most dramatic cases Hastings examines happened in 1967. Two missile wings known as “flights,” within the Malmstrom AFB missile field, experienced what seemed to be UFO related malfunctions. On March 16, all ten Minuteman I missiles at Echo Flight went offline. On March 24, at least six to eight, or possibly all ten missiles, went offline at Oscar Flight.
The event at Echo Flight is recorded in documents. One is a declassified Strategic Air Command teletype message relating to maintenance by personnel from Boeing, the primary company contracted to build the systems. According to the message, two checks were run and no conclusions were made. The teletype states that “The fact that no apparent reason for the loss of ten missiles can be readily identified is cause of great concern to this headquarters.”
The other document is part of a history written by 341st Strategic Missile Wing Historian David E. Gamble. Pages 32 through 38 discuss the missile shut down. According to Gamble, a possible cause was identified: “a coupler self test command occurred along with a partial reset within the coupler.” However, Gamble describes the possibility that all ten couplers could have been partially reset in the same manner as “remote.” Gamble ends the discussion of the event with this: “Rumors of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) around the area of Echo Flight during the time of the fault were disproven.”
The incident at Oscar Flight was investigated in the 1990s by Jim Klotz and Robert Salas. Salas was the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander on alert duty at Oscar Flight at that time. Klotz filed Freedom of Information Act requests and retrieved the documents written by Gamble as well as the SAC teletype. According to Salas, a UFO sighting and the malfunction at Oscar Flight were reported by Col. Frederick C. Meiwald who also said “It happened at another flight.” According to Hastings, Salas had forgotten the other flight’s designation “with the passage of time,” but Hastings assumes it was Echo.
Klotz interviewed Gamble, and Gamble told him that, while compiling his material, he learned of UFO activity being reported within the missile field. According to Gamble, he received “no cooperation” from those who might have knowledge pertaining to such reports, and written changes were made by his superiors regarding “the UFO aspect of the missile shutdown incident.” Salas affirmed that there were indeed UFO reports at the time of the Oscar shutdown and this was confirmed by Meiwald.
On Sept. 27, 2010, Hastings and Salas held a press conference at the National Press Club in Wash. D. C. Former Air Force personnel spoke to the press along with Hastings and Salas. The press conference encouraged others to come forward with their stories, and Hastings got enough material that he was moved to publish a second, updated version of his book.
Hasting’s book is well researched and full of references. His efforts gained the respect of both the UFO community and the general media. Then, in 2019, Hastings published the book, “Confession: Our Hidden Alien Encounters Revealed,” co-written with Dr. Robert Jacobs. With his credibility on the line, for Hastings to come forward as an abductee would seem to be the height of foolishness, especially in 2019, when abductee reports were looked upon with a great deal of suspicion by researchers. In cynical terms, abductee reports were out of fashion in 2019.
Hastings acknowledges in his introduction that, for the sake of his reputation, he was advised by “friends and acquaintances” not to write the book. He writes that he chose to do so after “much hesitation and reflection.”
Hastings “confession” is that he was abducted in 1988 during a camping trip, along with others who were with him. He started having nightmares within two months after that. In the nightmares, he was walking towards a large, bright, oval-shaped object against his will. Hastings recalls that he had his first experience in 1952 and speculates that this is what led to his fascination with the subject of UFOs.
Before Hastings, Robert Salas had “shocked many of his former military colleagues” by coming forward with his own abduction experiences in 2013. Some of those inspired by Salas to talk about their UFO sightings, felt betrayed and shared their feelings with Hastings. As Hastings was preparing to write “Confession” he wrote to these same people to give them a “heads-up.” According to Hastings, most did not respond. An exception was retired Air Force Lt. Col. Phillip E. Moore, who wrote Hastings a letter. He encouraged Hastings and told him that he’d interviewed personnel who’d reported encounters with “these beings” both on and off-duty.
Moore shared three stories with Hastings and describes one of these as being particularly dramatic. Moore provided a summary of the incident written by USAF veteran Mario A. Woods Jr. According to Woods, in November 1977, he was assigned to the November Launch Control Facility and was a Security Alert Team member. He spotted a UFO and brought it to the attention of the Flight Security Controller, but no action was taken.
Later, an alert was received that there had been a perimeter breach at a nearby LCF, and an alarm had been triggered. Woods and a partner went to investigate and saw a glowing, reddish-orange sphere hovering over the site that was “roughly the width of a Walmart building.” Suddenly there was a “pressure” that made it hard to breath. Woods opened his window, sat on the door, flashed his flashlight at the object, and the pressure went away.
Woods remembers hearing a voice in his head repeating “Do not fear.” He “thinks” he remembers five or six small figures walking towards the car with a taller one behind. Then, he believes, he lost consciousness.
When he awoke, the FSC was on the radio asking about their status and location. Wood’s partner was staring into space and unresponsive, so Woods replied. He asked the FSC to wait and stepped outside the car to get his bearings. He realized they were now nowhere near where he thought they should have been. He was also sunburned. The rest of Woods’ story reads like a classic abduction case with nightmares, puncture wounds, and his partner describing being out of the vehicle and lying down somewhere while hearing voices.