Robert Salas
Before the sighting
Born in Chandler, Arizona. Graduated USAFA 1964. Withdrew from pilot training at Laughlin AFB (cited air-sickness and personal difficulties). Reassigned as aircraft weapons controller at Tyndall AFB, Florida. Transferred to Malmstrom AFB in 1966 as Minuteman I missile launch officer, 341st Strategic Missile Wing.
During the sighting
Salas's account: while serving as Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander 60 feet underground at Oscar Flight LCC near Roy, Montana, a security guard on the surface reported flying objects performing strange maneuvers and a glowing red object hovering over the front gate. Salas states that within minutes all ten Minuteman I missiles in his flight went to No-Go status. He places the incident on March 16, 1967; USAF records document a parallel ten-missile shutdown at Echo Flight on March 16, 1967 (with Captain Eric Carlson as commander, not Salas), and separately reference a March 24, 1967 security event at Oscar Flight.
After the sighting
Honorably discharged from USAF 1971. Worked Space Shuttle proposals (Martin-Marietta, Rockwell), then 22 years FAA aircraft certification. Began public UFO advocacy circa 1996. Co-authored Faded Giant with James Klotz (2005, Authorhouse). Headlined the September 27, 2010 National Press Club press conference with Robert Hastings (author of UFOs and Nukes, 2008), which was streamed by CNN and featured seven former USAF officers describing UAP-correlated nuclear weapon incidents. Continued lecture and media circuit. Has appeared on Coast to Coast AM multiple times.
Research notes
Credibility 6.0 reflects the tension between a genuine documented USAF officer with verifiable credentials (USAFA 1964, AFIT MS) reporting a partially corroborated event (declassified records do show Echo Flight's ten-missile simultaneous shutdown March 16, 1967), and the documented contradictions in his own account over time (Echo vs Oscar, date confusion, evolving narrative). The 2010 Press Club event and Hastings's collected affidavits from other former USAF missile officers (over a dozen) lend supporting context that UAP-correlated incidents at missile sites are documented in the broader record, but Salas's specific personal account remains the most contested element. Birth year not confirmed in open sources reviewed; left null per 'don't pretend to know' rule.