Within Salas
What Did Fred Meiwald Add to the Story?
Fred Meiwald matters because Salas says he helped clarify that the disputed incident was at Oscar Flight, not Echo Flight.
On this page
- Meiwald's position in the capsule
- The Echo to Oscar correction
- Limits of corroboration from fellow officers
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Introduction
Fred Meiwald occupies an unusual place in the debate over Robert Salas’s claims about UFO activity at Malmstrom Air Force Base. He is not the source of the original story, nor is he an independent witness to every detail Salas later described. His importance comes from a narrower but significant role: Meiwald was the missile commander on duty with Salas, and his recollections helped establish that the disputed incident Salas remembered was associated with Oscar Flight rather than the better-documented Echo Flight shutdown. In discussions about Salas’s credibility, Meiwald therefore matters less as proof of a UFO and more as a witness whose testimony affected the identification of the event itself. [USAFA Classes]usafaclasses.orgUSAFA ClassesBob's HistoryOn March 24, 1967 I was on duty at the Oscar Flight (Launch Control Center), located near Roy, MT. There were j…
Understanding what Meiwald did—and did not—corroborate is essential. Supporters often cite him as confirmation that Salas was recalling a genuine Oscar Flight episode. Critics note that Meiwald’s testimony does not independently verify all aspects of Salas’s later narrative. The value of his evidence lies in this distinction. [theufochronicles.com]theufochronicles.comEcho Flight UFO Incident Not Unique: Retired Col17 Jun 2011 — Meiwald, who told me that Salas has reported the UFO-related events at Oscar Flight “very accurately.” During the incident…
What Position Did Meiwald Hold?
On the night Salas later described, Fred Meiwald was the missile combat crew commander and Salas was the deputy commander in the underground launch control capsule. Salas’s own account identifies Meiwald as the senior officer on duty during the alleged Oscar Flight incident. [USAFA Classes]usafaclasses.orgUSAFA ClassesBob's HistoryOn March 24, 1967 I was on duty at the Oscar Flight (Launch Control Center), located near Roy, MT. There were j…
This position gives Meiwald particular relevance. Unlike later commentators, he was not reconstructing events from documents alone. He was one of the two officers assigned to the launch control centre during the alert period. Because the capsule crew consisted of only two officers, any effort to verify Salas’s recollections naturally led researchers and Salas himself back to Meiwald. [USAFA Classes]usafaclasses.orgUSAFA ClassesBob's HistoryOn March 24, 1967 I was on duty at the Oscar Flight (Launch Control Center), located near Roy, MT. There were j…
The question, however, is not merely whether Meiwald was present. It is whether his memory independently supports the same sequence of events Salas described decades later.
The Echo-to-Oscar Correction
One of the most important developments in the history of Salas’s story concerns the location of the incident.
Why the Location Became Controversial
When Salas first began publicly discussing the missile shutdown in the 1990s, he associated his experience with the well-known Echo Flight malfunction of 16 March 1967. That event is documented in Air Force records and involved the simultaneous loss of alert status by ten Minuteman missiles. Later examination of duty assignments and witness accounts raised doubts that Salas had actually been on duty at Echo Flight during that shutdown. [Wikipedia]WikipediaMalmstrom UFO incidentMalmstrom UFO incident
This created a serious credibility problem. If Salas had attached his memory to the wrong incident, critics argued that his account might be a conflation of separate events rather than an accurate recollection. [Wikipedia]WikipediaMalmstrom UFO incidentMalmstrom UFO incident
How Meiwald Became Important
According to multiple accounts of the controversy, Meiwald helped establish that the event Salas remembered occurred at Oscar Flight on 24 March 1967 rather than at Echo Flight on 16 March. Researchers investigating the case found evidence that pointed to a different date and duty assignment, and Salas later consulted Meiwald regarding their crew status and location. Meiwald’s recollections supported the conclusion that the two officers had been paired at Oscar Flight. [timhebert3.blogspot.com]timhebert3.blogspot.comOscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was…30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight…
For supporters of Salas, this was an important correction rather than a contradiction. They argue that the revised identification strengthened the account because it aligned Salas’s memory with the actual crew assignment. Critics, by contrast, see the need for such a correction as evidence that the narrative evolved over time. Either way, Meiwald’s contribution was central to the shift from an Echo Flight story to an Oscar Flight story. [timhebert3.blogspot.com]timhebert3.blogspot.comOscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was…30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight…
What Did Meiwald Actually Corroborate?
The strongest claim made by supporters is that Meiwald confirmed that unusual events occurred during their Oscar Flight alert and that Salas was not inventing the incident outright.
Robert Hastings, a prominent researcher of UFO reports near nuclear weapons facilities, reported that Meiwald said Salas had described the Oscar Flight events “very accurately.” Hastings also presented Meiwald as supporting the existence of a UFO-related episode associated with missile problems at Oscar Flight. [theufochronicles.com]theufochronicles.comEcho Flight UFO Incident Not Unique: Retired Col17 Jun 2011 — Meiwald, who told me that Salas has reported the UFO-related events at Oscar Flight “very accurately.” During the incident…
From the perspective of those who accept the Oscar Flight account, this is significant because it provides testimony from the senior officer who was present in the capsule. Instead of relying solely on Salas’s memory, proponents can point to another participant who generally agreed that something unusual occurred. [theufochronicles.com]theufochronicles.comEcho Flight UFO Incident Not Unique: Retired Col17 Jun 2011 — Meiwald, who told me that Salas has reported the UFO-related events at Oscar Flight “very accurately.” During the incident…
Yet the scope of that corroboration is narrower than it is sometimes portrayed. Available discussions of Meiwald’s statements indicate that some of the information he repeated came from reports relayed to him by security personnel rather than from his own direct observation. As with Salas, much of the UFO element depends on what guards allegedly reported rather than on what Meiwald personally saw. [timhebert3.blogspot.com]timhebert3.blogspot.comOscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was…30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight…
Limits of Corroboration from Fellow Officers
The key question is not whether Meiwald supported Salas in a general sense, but how much independent evidential weight that support carries.
Several limitations are frequently raised:
- Meiwald was part of the same crew and was recalling events decades after they occurred.
- He was not a direct visual witness to the alleged object hovering above the facility.
- Publicly available evidence does not show that he independently documented the event at the time.
- His recollections have largely been circulated through interviews, correspondence and UFO researchers rather than through contemporaneous military records. [timhebert3.blogspot.com]timhebert3.blogspot.comOscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was…30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight…
These limitations do not automatically invalidate his testimony. Witness corroboration often matters even when memories are recorded years later. However, historians and investigators generally place greater weight on independent contemporary documentation than on mutually reinforcing recollections from participants recalling the same event many years afterward. [Wikipedia]WikipediaMalmstrom UFO incidentMalmstrom UFO incident
This is why Meiwald’s testimony occupies a middle ground in the debate. It is stronger than having only Salas’s account, because it comes from another officer who was assigned to the same launch crew. Yet it falls short of providing decisive confirmation that a UFO caused missile malfunctions.
Why Meiwald Remains Relevant
Within the broader discussion of Robert Salas’s credibility, Fred Meiwald’s most important contribution is not proof of a UFO but clarification of the historical record. His recollections helped identify Oscar Flight as the location associated with Salas’s story and provided support for the claim that Salas was remembering a real incident involving their crew rather than simply borrowing the documented Echo Flight shutdown. [timhebert3.blogspot.com]timhebert3.blogspot.comOscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was…30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight…
At the same time, Meiwald’s testimony does not resolve the larger dispute over what actually happened. It strengthens the case that Salas was referring to an Oscar Flight event involving their crew, but it does not independently establish every element of the UFO narrative. For that reason, Meiwald is best understood as a corroborating witness to the existence and location of the episode, not as a conclusive witness to its ultimate cause. [theufochronicles.com+2timhebert3.blogspot.com]theufochronicles.comEcho Flight UFO Incident Not Unique: Retired Col17 Jun 2011 — Meiwald, who told me that Salas has reported the UFO-related events at Oscar Flight “very accurately.” During the incident…
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Further Reading
Books and field guides related to What Did Fred Meiwald Add to the Story?. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
Encounter in Rendlesham Forest
Explores witness corroboration, military testimony, and evidentiary debates similar to those surrounding Meiwald's role.
The Hynek UFO Report
Offers historical context for assessing UFO reports, witness credibility, and competing interpretations of extraordinary claims.
The UFO Enigma
Provides frameworks for evaluating witness testimony and corroboration claims in UFO cases.
UFOs and Nukes
Directly covers nuclear missile incidents, witness testimony, and the broader context surrounding Salas, Meiwald, and Malmstrom discussions.
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Endnotes
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Source: timhebert3.blogspot.com
Link: https://timhebert3.blogspot.com/?m=0Source snippet
Oscar Flight: A Mysterious UFO Tale That Never Was...30 Jan 2014 — Fred Meiwald would set the location of their alert at Oscar Flight...
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Source: theufochronicles.com
Title: Echo Flight UFO Incident Not Unique: Retired Col
Link: https://www.theufochronicles.com/2011/06/echo-flight-ufo-incident-not-unique.htmlSource snippet
17 Jun 2011 — Meiwald, who told me that Salas has reported the UFO-related events at Oscar Flight “very accurately.” During the incident...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Malmstrom UFO incident
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmstrom_UFO_incident -
Source: kevinrandle.blogspot.com
Title: robert salas and me
Link: https://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2013/05/robert-salas-and-me.htmlSource snippet
A Different Perspective: Robert Salas and Me19 May 2013 — Of course, there was a series of UFO sightings near Belt, Montana on the day th...
Published: May 2013
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Source: theufochronicles.com
Title: echooscar witch hunt
Link: https://www.theufochronicles.com/2010/09/echooscar-witch-hunt.htmlSource snippet
The Echo/Oscar Witch Hunt26 Sept 2010 — Credible testimony relating to the incident indicates that all of the flight's Minuteman missiles...
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Source: usafaclasses.org
Link: https://www.usafaclasses.org/1964/Salas_Robert/history.htmSource snippet
USAFA ClassesBob's HistoryOn March 24, 1967 I was on duty at the Oscar Flight (Launch Control Center), located near Roy, MT. There were j...
Published: March 24, 1967
Additional References
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Source: abcnews.com
Link: https://abcnews.com/Technology/airmen-govt-clean-ufos/story?id=11738715Source snippet
Former Airmen to Govt.: Come Clean on UFOsBut Salas said it's a "falsehood" that UFOs are not a national security threat and claims he sp...
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Source: academia.edu
Link: https://www.academia.edu/101922617/The_Reliability_of_UFO_Witness_Testimony -
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/203412665109/posts/10164649887465110/Source snippet
Was anyone there when the UFOs shut down all the sites, I think in 69? I was, we were on our way to a job when Job Control called and...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: Robert Salas’s #UFO story begins as the best ones always do
Link: https://www.facebook.com/coffeeordiemag/posts/robert-salass-ufo-story-begins-as-the-best-ones-always-do-on-night-shift-working/3980723115486904/Source snippet
March 24 1967 Captain Robert Salas USAF (Ret.) was a missile launch officer at Malmstrom AFB in Montana Echo Flight. He and his launch...
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Source: meer.com
Title: 75269 curse of the malmstrom nuclear ufo incident 1967
Link: https://www.meer.com/en/75269-curse-of-the-malmstrom-nuclear-ufo-incident-1967Source snippet
Curse of the Malmstrom Nuclear UFO incident (1967)23 Aug 2023 — Robert Bob Salas not only witnessed the Malmstrom Nuclear UFO incident (1...
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Source: dokumen.pub
Link: https://dokumen.pub/the-outsiders-guide-to-ufos-volume-1-mystery-and-science-1480854573-9781480854574.htmlSource snippet
t of Echo Flight, was Lieutenant Robert Salas (who has since become a...Read more...
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Source: oversight.house.gov
Title: Written Testimony Shellenberger
Link: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Written-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdfSource snippet
house.govWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — [military witnesses]({{ 'witnesses/' | relative_url }}) do present potential safety of flight concerns, and there ar...
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Source: jasoncolavito.com
Title: unexplained files tells us to fear nuclear obsessed ufos
Link: https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/unexplained-files-tells-us-to-fear-nuclear-obsessed-ufosSource snippet
Walter Figel, and Col. Frederick Meiwald) have confirmed bona fide UFO activity during the missile shutdowns. My...Read more...
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/11rwli7/march_24_2023_is_the_56th_anniversary_of_the/Source snippet
March 24, 2023 is the 56th anniversary of the Shutdown...This video includes the audio recording of Colonel Fred Meiwald's testimony to...
Published: March 24, 2023
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Source: scribd.com
Link: https://www.scribd.com/document/130272506/Hoaxes-Involving-Military-IncidentsSource snippet
uring OSCAR Flight Missile Malfunctions". Retrieved 30...Read more...
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