In the early morning hours of October 24, 1968, the quiet expanse of North Dakota’s Minot Air Force Base transformed into the setting for one of the most compelling UFO encounters in military history. Minot AFB, a key installation for the United States’ Strategic Air Command (SAC), housed nuclear-armed B-52 bombers and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles. The base was crucial to maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrence during the Cold War, its personnel trained to deal with threats from enemy nations. But on this night, they faced something entirely unexpected—an event that, even decades later, continues to raise questions that remain unanswered.

The crew of a B-52 Stratofortress bomber was conducting routine training exercises when the first indication of something unusual appeared. The bomber’s radarscope picked up an object, unlike any they had encountered before. It moved at high speed and exhibited flight characteristics that defied explanation. What the crew first saw on their radar soon became a visual reality. A glowing object appeared in the distance, closing in with a speed that left the crew no doubt they were witnessing something extraordinary.

The UFO seemed to pulse with light, changing color as it hovered near the aircraft. The crew, trained to observe and evaluate potential threats, struggled to make sense of what they were seeing. It wasn’t just the object’s appearance that baffled them—it was how it moved. The object darted across the sky with rapid shifts in direction and speed, behavior unlike anything known to military or civilian aviation. One moment it would appear stationary, the next it would zoom away at speeds that radar later estimated to be upwards of 3,900 miles per hour.