Within Ellsworth
What Happened at November 5?
Mario Woods's 1977 account turns on a named missile-site alarm, making it the central test case for Ellsworth's public record.
On this page
- The night shift account in sequence
- Why the named alarm matters
- What remains unsupported publicly
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Introduction
Among the various UFO reports associated with Ellsworth Air Force Base, the account given by former security policeman Mario A. Woods Jr. stands out because it is tied to a specific operational event: an alarm at Launch Facility November-5 in November 1977. Rather than beginning with a sighting alone, the story starts with a named missile-site security alert that allegedly required an armed response. That detail matters because missile-field alarms were part of a documented security system and, in principle, should have generated records, communications and follow-up actions. The November-5 episode therefore serves as a key test case in assessing the broader claim that unusual aerial phenomena were encountered around nuclear weapons sites. At the same time, it illustrates the central problem of the Ellsworth evidence: the public narrative is detailed, but the supporting documentation remains limited. [Oversight Committee+2docs.house.gov]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
What Happened at November-5?
The night-shift account in sequence
According to Woods’s later testimony and interviews, he was serving with the 44th Security Police Squadron at Ellsworth and was assigned to missile-field security duties in November 1977. He has consistently stated that he and another security policeman were on duty in the November Flight area when an alarm was reported at Launch Facility November-5. Woods described the alert as indicating a possible penetration or disturbance of the site’s outer security zone, requiring investigation by a Security Alert Team. [Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
Woods has also said that unusual lights had already attracted attention earlier in the shift. After the alarm was received, he and his partner drove toward November-5 to determine whether an intrusion or equipment malfunction had occurred. As they approached the launch facility, Woods later claimed they observed a large luminous object positioned near or above the missile site. In subsequent retellings he described it as a red-orange spherical object with a constantly changing appearance rather than a conventional aircraft. [Oversight Committee+2docs.house.gov]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
The most controversial portion of the story begins at this point. Woods has stated that as the team approached the object, both men experienced unusual physical effects and a break in conscious memory. He later reported finding himself at a different location several miles away, with a period of time unaccounted for. Various interviews and later presentations expanded on these claims, including descriptions of disorientation, missing time and an incapacitated partner. [Weird Darkness+2theufochronicles.com]weirddarkness.comufos nuclear weapons military witnessesWeird DarknessWhen UFOs Came for Our Nukes9 Jul 2025 — Another compelling case involved Mario Woods, a security policeman at Ellsworth Ai…
Importantly, these details come primarily from Woods’s retrospective testimony. Publicly available accounts were recorded decades after the alleged event rather than through contemporaneous military documents released to researchers. [Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
Why the named alarm matters
The significance of November-5 is not that it was allegedly the location of a UFO. It is that the encounter is anchored to a specific missile facility and a specific security trigger.
Cold War Minuteman facilities operated under established security procedures. Launch facilities were protected by alarmed perimeters, communications links and response protocols. A penetration alarm at a launch facility was not a casual occurrence. It would normally initiate reporting and investigation procedures involving controllers, security personnel and command channels. Documentation of such events would be expected somewhere within the operational system, even if only as routine security paperwork. [Library of Congress Tile Viewer]tile.loc.govLibrary of Congress Tile ViewerEllsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control…Two officers were stationed in the underground l…
That feature distinguishes the November-5 story from many UFO reports. Woods is not simply describing a light seen over rural South Dakota. He is describing an event that allegedly intersected with a functioning nuclear-security network. Because the alarm is attached to a named launch facility, researchers can ask a concrete question: did a security event occur at November-5 that night, and if so, what records survive?
This is why the alarm itself occupies a central place in discussions of Ellsworth. If independent documentation of the alert were found, it would not automatically validate Woods’s UFO interpretation, but it would establish that a real security incident occurred at the time and location he identified. Conversely, the absence of corroborating records leaves the most important operational element of the story unverified. [Library of Congress Tile Viewer]tile.loc.govLibrary of Congress Tile ViewerEllsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control…Two officers were stationed in the underground l…
What remains unsupported publicly
The strongest aspect of the November-5 account is that Woods has provided a detailed and relatively consistent narrative over many years and that his military service at Ellsworth in a missile-security role has been publicly asserted by researchers who examined his service records. [Oversight Committee]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
The weakest aspect is the lack of publicly available contemporaneous evidence. Several categories of potentially important corroboration remain unavailable or have not been publicly produced:
- Security alarm logs showing a November-5 alert on the relevant date.
- Radio transcripts or dispatch records documenting the response.
- Official incident reports describing the alarm investigation.
- Maintenance records indicating whether the alarm was caused by equipment malfunction.
- Medical records supporting later claims of physical effects.
- Statements from all personnel allegedly involved in the response chain. [Library of Congress Tile Viewer]tile.loc.govLibrary of Congress Tile ViewerEllsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control…Two officers were stationed in the underground l…
Some later summaries and UFO researchers have asserted that additional personnel became involved after the event and that military authorities conducted debriefings. However, most of these claims derive from witness testimony, secondary accounts or later compilations rather than publicly released primary records. [ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) UFO Curated Landmark Cases and AnalysisNovember-5 and Woods becoming aware again next to Newell. Lake. Military Response and Corroboration. •Wing Security Control at Ellsworth…
A further complication is that the story evolved over time. Early discussions focused heavily on the alarm response and unusual object. Later interviews incorporated broader claims involving missing time, possible abduction-related experiences and interactions with investigators. Whether these additions represent recovered memories, expanded recollections or later interpretations is a matter of debate. What can be established with confidence is that the evidential foundation becomes thinner as the account moves away from the original alarm response and toward extraordinary personal experiences. [theufochronicles.com]theufochronicles.comunidentifieds extraterrestrialUnidentified's 'Extraterrestrial Encounters' Episode: Robert…30 Aug 2020 — In Mario Woods' case, when I first interviewed him in Augus…
The evidential value of the November-5 case
Within the Ellsworth missile-field narratives, the November-5 alarm is the most concrete element because it points to a potentially verifiable operational event. The case’s importance therefore does not rest primarily on the reported UFO description. It rests on whether an identifiable security incident occurred at a named nuclear missile facility and whether surviving records can confirm key portions of Woods’s account.
At present, the public record supports only part of the story. Woods’s service in missile security and his long-standing account are matters of record in interviews and testimony. The alleged alarm, response and extraordinary encounter remain largely supported by witness recollection rather than independently released military documentation. [Oversight Committee+2docs.house.gov]oversight.house.govWritten Testimony ShellenbergerOversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner…
For that reason, the November-5 incident remains one of the most discussed Ellsworth cases and simultaneously one of the clearest examples of the corroboration gap that runs through much of the UFO-and-nuclear-weapons debate. The alarm provides a specific point of investigation, but the evidence needed to move the case from testimony to documented historical event has not yet emerged publicly. [Library of Congress Tile Viewer]tile.loc.govLibrary of Congress Tile ViewerEllsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control…Two officers were stationed in the underground l…
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Endnotes
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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
Oversight CommitteeWritten-Testimony-Shellenberger.pdf13 Nov 2023 — Woods Jr., stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, Woods and his team partner...
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Source: docs.house.gov
Title: HHRG 118 GO12 Wstate ShellenbergerM 20241113
Link: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO12/20241113/117721/HHRG-118-GO12-Wstate-ShellenbergerM-20241113.pdfSource snippet
site/marcia sm ith story.htm. (PUBLIC DOMAIN) - November 1977 — USAF Security Alert Team member Mario A. Woods Jr., stationed at Ellswort...
Published: November 1977
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Source: theufochronicles.com
Title: unidentifieds extraterrestrial
Link: https://www.theufochronicles.com/2020/08/unidentifieds-extraterrestrial.htmlSource snippet
[Unidentified]({{ 'unidentified/' | relative_url }})'s 'Extraterrestrial Encounters' Episode: Robert...30 Aug 2020 — In Mario Woods' case, when I first interviewed him in Augus...
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Source: researchgate.net
Title: Research Gate(PDF) UFO Curated Landmark Cases and Analysis
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405414715_UFO_Curated_Landmark_Cases_and_AnalysisSource snippet
November-5 and Woods becoming aware again next to Newell. Lake. Military Response and Corroboration. •Wing Security Control at Ellsworth...
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Source: tile.loc.gov
Link: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/sd/sd0000/sd0074/data/sd0074data.pdfSource snippet
Library of Congress Tile ViewerEllsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control...Two officers were stationed in the underground l...
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Source: weirddarkness.com
Title: ufos nuclear weapons [military witnesses]({{ ‘witnesses/’ | relative_url }})
Link: https://weirddarkness.com/ufos-nuclear-weapons-military-witnesses/Source snippet
Weird DarknessWhen UFOs Came for Our Nukes9 Jul 2025 — Another compelling case involved Mario Woods, a security policeman at Ellsworth Ai...
Additional References
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Source: nro.gov
Link: https://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/history/csnr/corona/StarCatchersWeb.pdfSource snippet
CORONA Star CatchersThe Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance (CSNR) is an independent National. Reconnaissance Office (NRO) re...
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Source: cia.gov
Link: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81r00560r000100010001-0Source snippet
THE NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON...Official Speed Records: Aircraft 10,000. November 5, 1957; Gulf of Mexico Just after 5:00 a.m...
Published: November 5, 1957
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Source: minutemanmissile.com
Link: https://minutemanmissile.com/documents/TheMissilePlainsFrontlineOfAmericasColdWar.pdfSource snippet
The Missile Plains: Frontline of America's Cold WarEllsworth Air Force Base, Launch Control Center, Launch Control Facility and Minuteman...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/HiddenFactsss/posts/disc-shaped-ufo-seen-near-vandenberg-missile-test-in-1964-circling-warhead-with-/1614219114038055/Source snippet
September 14, 1964 during a routine test launch of an Atlas D missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a...Read more...
Published: September 14, 1964
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85roqz-GCvsSource snippet
UFO Encounter Freezes Team in Time (Season 2) | History... Mario Woods, shares his frightening encounter with an unidentified object exhi...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/dnaindia/posts/former-usaf-officers-to-present-evidence-of-aliens-tampering-with-nuclear-weapon/10165936053800441/Source snippet
own, his service record proving he was Launch Officer that day...Read more...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/thedailystar/posts/for-whatever-reason-those-piloting-the-ufos-appeared-to-be-very-interested-in-th/958341139668139/Source snippet
ounters, documented multiple cases where UFOs disabled nuclear...Read more...
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Source: reddit.com
Title: meet the nuclear base employee abducted by aliens
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1i312cz/meet_the_nuclear_base_employee_abducted_by_aliens/Source snippet
I sat down with Mario Woods a former US Air Force Security responder in 1977 he was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota...
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Source: scribd.com
Link: https://www.scribd.com/document/663806609/MARIO-WOODS-RICK-DOTY-Experiencer-AFOSI-Interview-Disclosure-Tonight-With-Thomas-FesslerSource snippet
Mario Woods & Rick Doty: UFO Encounter | PDFMario Woods summarizes his UFO encounter in November 1971 at a missile site in South Dakota...
Published: November 1971
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAnRORuCUFESource snippet
UFOs and Nukes: Whistleblower Mario Woods (USAF Retired) testifies to Pentagon's UFO Program [AARO]({{ 'aaro/' | relative_url }})...
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