Walter "Walt" Figel

First Lieutenant, United States Air Force

Walter 'Walt' Figel served as a Minuteman I Launch Control Officer with the United States Air Force at Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967. He was assigned to Echo Flight during the missile shutdown incident in which all ten Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missiles under his control unexpectedly entered a 'No-Go' condition.

Figel has stated that while serving in the underground Launch Control Center, he received reports from surface security personnel describing a large, glowing unidentified object hovering near one of the missile launch facilities during the missile outage. Unlike some witnesses, Figel has remained cautious in his public statements, emphasizing what he personally experienced while distinguishing it from information relayed to him by security guards.

Declassified Strategic Air Command records confirm the sudden shutdown of all ten Echo Flight missiles on March 16, 1967. Figel has acknowledged the unusual nature of both the missile failure and the accompanying security reports but has avoided drawing definitive conclusions regarding the cause of the incident.

In later years, Figel became an important witness in historical investigations of the Malmstrom incidents. His testimony is regarded as significant because he was the on-duty missile commander during the documented Echo Flight shutdown and has confirmed that reports of an unidentified aerial object were communicated to the launch control center during the event.