Project Northern Tier: incursions at northern nuclear bases, 1966-1977
- A DIA contractor listed over a dozen incursions at six nuclear bases, with radar and aircrew.
- The sponsor called it a top priority, then BAASS was denied Need to Know.
- Malmstrom material goes to case/malmstrom.
Project Northern Tier was the study BAASS planned for DIA in 2008-2009 of UFO incursions at northern SAC nuclear bases from 1966 to 1977. Its files list Minot AFB events in 1966/67 (a UFO over the silos relayed to SAC on the open Primary Alerting System, heard by over 300 officers), on 5 March 1967 (truckloads of security police, launch officers and radar, 10 to 20 witnesses), 6 June 1968, 24 October 1968 (a B-52 crew and radar, about 20 witnesses) and 10 November 1975 (a UFO buzzing the base and ICBM sites, NORAD record still classified); Wurtsmith on 30 October 1975 (security police, radar and a KC-135 crew near the weapons storage area); and Loring on 27-31 October 1975 (15 named witnesses). BAASS called SAC's move to a higher alert level "an apparent acknowledgement of the events" and wrote that the project was "one of the sponsor's top priorities", but by November 2009 it was on hold because BAASS "does not have the Need to Know". The Malmstrom material is added to case/malmstrom.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- Nov 1975SACofficialhigher alert level across facilities in late 1975, per BAASS
- 2009BAASS for DIAofficialNorthern Tier plan and incident list
How plausible · Very high
Many military witnesses at several nuclear bases, radar and aircrew confirmation and a SAC alert change are summarised in a DIA contractor's plan, which was then denied access by "Need to Know".
- ●●Access Security police, launch officers, aircrew and radar.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing to gain.
- ●●Character record Air Force nuclear personnel.
- ●●Independent convergence Dozens of witnesses at several bases, with radar.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton Matches Malmstrom 1967 and the nuclear-site pattern.
- ●●Fits secrecy practice NORAD document still classified; BAASS blocked by Need to Know.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-24.
On the record
- D168: "over a dozen potential incidents involving over six AFB's"; "interference with ICBM functional integrity"; Minot October 1968 300-ft vehicle.Minot 1968
- D170: Wurtsmith 30 Oct 1975 "visual and electronic verification"; Loring hover; Falconbridge; Minot Nov 1975 FOIA; SAC higher alert.Minot 1968
- D171: "one of the sponsor's top priorities" (11 Jun 2009); Minot list; Wurtsmith 12 witnesses; Loring 15 named witnesses.Minot 1968
- D173: on hold, "BAASS currently does not have the Need to Know for this information."AAWSAP / AATIP
Claims
In The picture
Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
Connected cases
People and organizations
Sources
- DOW-UAP-D168, BAASS Project Management Plan, December 2008 (war.gov PURSUE Release 07, 23 Oct 2026)
- DOW-UAP-D170, BAASS Monthly Report, April 2009 (war.gov PURSUE Release 07, 23 Oct 2026)
- DOW-UAP-D171, BAASS Monthly Report, June 2009 (war.gov PURSUE Release 07, 23 Oct 2026)
- DOW-UAP-D173, BAASS Monthly Report, November 2009 (war.gov PURSUE Release 07, 23 Oct 2026)
- war.gov PURSUE Release 07 page