Type: Document
Source:
AF Form 117 UFO Sighting Reports – Minot Air Force Base, 1968
The AF Form 117 reports are a collection of official United States Air Force UFO sighting reports completed by multiple military personnel following the October 24, 1968 UFO incident at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. These standardized reports were completed as part of the Air Force's UFO investigation procedures established under Air Force Regulation 80-17, which directed personnel to document and report unidentified aerial phenomena observed during military operations.
The collection contains firsthand accounts from personnel stationed at Minot AFB, including witnesses located at Minuteman missile facilities, security areas, and other operational locations around the base. The reports document individual observations of an unidentified object described as displaying unusual illumination, movement, and flight characteristics. Witnesses recorded details including the date and time of observation, location, weather conditions, estimated distance and altitude, appearance of the object, duration of the sighting, direction of travel, and any additional circumstances surrounding the event.
These reports became a significant component of the official Air Force investigation into the Minot incident and were reviewed alongside radar information, aircraft crew testimony, and other investigative records. The multiple independent reports submitted by different witnesses are notable because they describe related observations occurring across separate locations during the same time period, including reports from personnel associated with Minuteman missile operations and the B-52 bomber crew encounter.
The AF Form 117 documents represent some of the primary source material for understanding the Minot AFB incident and provide direct testimony from military personnel who experienced or observed the event. Together, they form one of the more extensive collections of contemporaneous military UFO witness reports from the Cold War era and remain an important reference set for researchers studying the 1968 Minot AFB case.
[Source: United States Air Force – Project Blue Book investigation files and associated Minot AFB incident documentation.]