Vandenberg AFB Minuteman Test Disruption 1969

On September 15, 1969, during a Minuteman ICBM test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California — the primary test launch site for US ballistic missiles — a disc-shaped object was observed in proximity to the test missile during its ascent phase. Ground-based tracking radar followed both the test missile and the unidentified contact. The disc appeared to pace the ascending missile before departing at high speed as the missile reached high altitude. Vandenberg launch control personnel and SAC security staff observed the craft. The encounter was classified at the highest level given the extraordinarily sensitive context of an ICBM test trajectory. The case was referenced in connection with the broader pattern of documented UAP interest in US nuclear delivery systems and was included in a classified summary of UAP-nuclear program encounters compiled in the early 1970s.