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This Black Vault release contains the Air Force's 2001 response from the 341st Space Wing FOIA office at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, to a request about the 16 March 1967 Echo Flight missile shutdown, with excerpts from 341st Strategic Missile Wing histories covering 1967 to early 1968. The histories say all ten Echo Flight launch facilities lost strategic alert almost simultaneously. Investigators could not find a logical cause and found rumors of UFOs near Echo Flight to be unfounded.
“Seattle”11 pages
situation occurred while the 341st MIMS Re-entry Vehicle Branch team was being evaluated by the 3901st SMES in performance of a 97 Dash 1 A maintenance on a W-56-Mod 1 warhead. (U) During the operation a T-290A (instrument to register gaseous air contamination) gave an alarm. The area was immediately evacuated and those present were sent to the Hospital, Decomtamina tion station, for observation of possible contamination. (U) A Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team entered the area wearing protective clothing and equipped with a T-290A, plastic bags, and cotton swabs. The warhead was checked with swipe tests for radiation with all results showing negative. (U) A check was made on the T-290A which gave the alarm and was determined to be faulty. The area was again checked by the team for radiation with no results. The alert was then ended at 1150 hours on 12 January 67. (U)
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