Also from Chalker's very informative blogsite, with much more available at the full report he links.]
"Early in 2011 an amazing mother load of material appeared under the title of “Investigation of UFO Events at Minot AFB on 24 October 1968” compiled by Thomas Tulien as part of his Sign Oral History Project. It can be explored in extraordinary detail at: http://www.minotb52ufo.com
Tom Tulien introduces the case in this way:
“In the early morning hours on 24 October 1968, United States Air Force (USAF) maintenance and security personnel within the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) complex surrounding Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, observed one, and at times, two UFOs. The Minot Base Operations dispatcher established radio communications with personnel reporting in the field, Minot AFB, Radar Approach Control (RAPCON), and the crew of a returning B-52H aircraft.“RAPCON alerted the pilots to the location of the UFO, which they observed on the B-52 radarscope maintaining a three-mile distance throughout a standard 180° turnaround. As the B-52 initiated the descent back to Minot AFB, the UFO appeared to close distance to one mile at a high-rate of speed, pacing the aircraft for about 20 miles before disappearing off the radarscope. During the close radar encounter, the B-52 UHF radios would not transmit, and radarscope film was recorded.“Following, RAPCON provided vectors for the B-52 to overfly a stationary UFO on or near the ground. The pilots observed an illuminated UFO ahead of the aircraft during the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, before turning onto the base leg over the large UFO while observing it at close range. After the B-52 landed, both outer and inner-zone intrusions alarms were activated at the remote missile Launch Facility Oscar-7. The duration of reported observations was over three hours.“Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska, initiated investigations. In the weeks following, staff at USAF Project Blue Book, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, completed a final case report as required by Air Force Regulation 80-17.”
Tom Tulien described the context of this remarkable study:
“In May 2000, we interviewed Minot AFB, B-52 co-pilot, Bradford Runyon. This resulted in years of research, and various collaborations in order to present the 24 October 1968, Minot AFB case study online. This offers the opportunity to critically examine an extraordinary UFO event in some detail, and to learn in the process.“That UFOs exist is indisputable.” A four-year intelligence study by Britain’s Ministry of Defense (“Condign Report”) also notes that UFOs occur on a daily, world-wide basis, are credited with distinguishing attributes, “and clearly can exhibit aerodynamic characteristics well beyond those of any known aircraft or missile – either manned or unmanned.” The report concludes that UFOs can be explained as mis-reporting of man-made vehicles, natural phenomenon, or relatively rare and not completely understood natural phenomena. In particular, “the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere.” Some may be triggered by meteor re-entry forming electrically-charged buoyant plasmas, however, “the conditions and method of formation… and the scientific rationale for sustaining them for significant periods is incomplete or not fully understood.”“The UFO phenomenon continues to defy any reasonably justified explanation as to its actual cause. Professors Wendt and Duvall recently commented that in the current state, “the UFO can be ‘known’ only by not asking what it is.” This disregard of UFOs transforms to active denial of their object status. To this extent “one may speak of a ‘UFO taboo,’ a prohibition in the authoritative public sphere on taking UFOs seriously.”
. . . much more at and linked from:
SCIENCE and the UFO CONTROVERSY: The Extraordinary 1968 Minot B52 UFO Encounter – a remarkable example of a latent and almost lost scientific opportunity
"Early in 2011 an amazing mother load of material appeared under the title of “Investigation of UFO Events at Minot AFB on 24 October 1968” compiled by Thomas Tulien as part of his Sign Oral History Project. It can be explored in extraordinary detail at: http://www.minotb52ufo.com
Tom Tulien introduces the case in this way:
“In the early morning hours on 24 October 1968, United States Air Force (USAF) maintenance and security personnel within the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) complex surrounding Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, observed one, and at times, two UFOs. The Minot Base Operations dispatcher established radio communications with personnel reporting in the field, Minot AFB, Radar Approach Control (RAPCON), and the crew of a returning B-52H aircraft.“RAPCON alerted the pilots to the location of the UFO, which they observed on the B-52 radarscope maintaining a three-mile distance throughout a standard 180° turnaround. As the B-52 initiated the descent back to Minot AFB, the UFO appeared to close distance to one mile at a high-rate of speed, pacing the aircraft for about 20 miles before disappearing off the radarscope. During the close radar encounter, the B-52 UHF radios would not transmit, and radarscope film was recorded.“Following, RAPCON provided vectors for the B-52 to overfly a stationary UFO on or near the ground. The pilots observed an illuminated UFO ahead of the aircraft during the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, before turning onto the base leg over the large UFO while observing it at close range. After the B-52 landed, both outer and inner-zone intrusions alarms were activated at the remote missile Launch Facility Oscar-7. The duration of reported observations was over three hours.“Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska, initiated investigations. In the weeks following, staff at USAF Project Blue Book, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, completed a final case report as required by Air Force Regulation 80-17.”
Tom Tulien described the context of this remarkable study:
“In May 2000, we interviewed Minot AFB, B-52 co-pilot, Bradford Runyon. This resulted in years of research, and various collaborations in order to present the 24 October 1968, Minot AFB case study online. This offers the opportunity to critically examine an extraordinary UFO event in some detail, and to learn in the process.“That UFOs exist is indisputable.” A four-year intelligence study by Britain’s Ministry of Defense (“Condign Report”) also notes that UFOs occur on a daily, world-wide basis, are credited with distinguishing attributes, “and clearly can exhibit aerodynamic characteristics well beyond those of any known aircraft or missile – either manned or unmanned.” The report concludes that UFOs can be explained as mis-reporting of man-made vehicles, natural phenomenon, or relatively rare and not completely understood natural phenomena. In particular, “the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere.” Some may be triggered by meteor re-entry forming electrically-charged buoyant plasmas, however, “the conditions and method of formation… and the scientific rationale for sustaining them for significant periods is incomplete or not fully understood.”“The UFO phenomenon continues to defy any reasonably justified explanation as to its actual cause. Professors Wendt and Duvall recently commented that in the current state, “the UFO can be ‘known’ only by not asking what it is.” This disregard of UFOs transforms to active denial of their object status. To this extent “one may speak of a ‘UFO taboo,’ a prohibition in the authoritative public sphere on taking UFOs seriously.”
. . . much more at and linked from:
SCIENCE and the UFO CONTROVERSY: The Extraordinary 1968 Minot B52 UFO Encounter – a remarkable example of a latent and almost lost scientific opportunity