Robert Salas on the 1967 Malmstrom AFB UFO Incident

In this episode, Jason and Michael welcome Robert Salas, a retired U.S. Air Force captain and key witness to one of the most compelling UFO incidents in history—the 1967 Malmstrom Air Force Base event. With only one prior presentation of this presentation, Salas delivers a rare and detailed recounting of the night that forever changed his perspective on unidentified aerial phenomena and their implications for national security.

On March 24, 1967, Salas was stationed 60 feet underground at Malmstrom AFB in Montana, serving as a deputy missile combat crew commander overseeing ten Minuteman nuclear missiles. What began as a routine night shift turned surreal when security personnel reported strange lights maneuvering silently in the sky. Moments later, a panicked guard described a glowing, red, oval-shaped object—approximately 30 to 40 feet in diameter—hovering directly above the facility’s front gate. As Salas processed the report, alarms blared in the control room, indicating that all ten missiles had simultaneously gone offline, rendered inoperable in an unprecedented system failure. The UFO departed, and the missiles remained disabled for nearly 24 hours, with no physical damage but a clear message left behind. Drawing from his firsthand experience, declassified documents, and decades of research, Salas details the incident, which was followed by a similar event just eight days earlier at another Malmstrom site.

He discusses the Air Force’s initial classification of the event, the non-disclosure agreement he was bound by until 1996, and the broader pattern of UAP activity near nuclear facilities worldwide. Salas also shares insights from his 2023 testimony to the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and his advocacy for public congressional hearings to address these national security concerns. Was this a demonstration of advanced technology? A warning about nuclear weapons? Or something else entirely? 

About Robert Salas: A 1964 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, Robert Salas served seven years on active duty as a weapons controller, missile launch officer, and engineer on the Titan III program.

He has authored books including Faded Giant and Unidentified: The UFO Phenomenon and remains a prominent advocate for UAP disclosure.