On October 23, 2010, FE Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, temporarily lost the ability to communicate with 50 of its Minuteman III missiles.
Officials described it as a “communication failure between the control centre and the weapons”, and claimed that the breakdown had lasted a mere 59 minutes.
They even insisted that there was never any danger of an accidental launch, although the incident was deemed serious enough for President Barack Obama to be briefed on it.
Now, three missile technicians stationed at the base have raised fresh questions in the case, amid reports that UFO sightings coincided with the incident, reports the Daily Mail.
UFO researcher Robert Hastings says eyewitnesses claim the interruption to the power supply also lasted much longer than the Air Force admits, and that one-ninth of America’s nuclear arsenal went offline for almost an hour.
A US Air Force spokesperson said there had been a 'hardware issue' relating to an underground cable linking the command centre with the missiles.
But Robert Hastings says more was involved.
According to him, three missile maintenance technicians had agreed to speak to him on the condition of anonymity, revealing the military has kept UFO sightings that occurred during the power outage under wraps.
The witnesses, he said, reported sightings of 'a large cigar-shaped object high above the missile field'.
And he told AOL that his witnesses claim the power outage lasted several hours longer than officials reported.
“I have detailed information about the events. The Air Force said this (missile) disruption lasted 59 minutes. It actually lasted the better part of 26 hours,” he said.
“It was intermittent and involved a very specific sequence of these five missile alert facilities going on and offline. I have all of that down to the most minute detail,” he added.
