Close Encounter: Loring Air Force Base

          If you have been in tune with any sort of UFO news over the past few years, you’ve likely seen the declassified files from the United States military. In these files are documented encounters with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) – including video and audio. Those encounters were fairly recent, often explained away by skeptics and classified technology. Which is possible, but UAP sightings at military installations go way back. Today we will discuss one such incident. What exactly happened on Loring Air Force Base in 1975? Let’s explore.

The Incident

           Loring Air Force Base, located near Limestone, Maine, was a large player in the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command. The SAC was a major part of the United States Military’s response to the cold war. The response included what was known as the “nuclear triad” – the Air Force had control of two parts of the triad – land-based bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Navy had the third component of the triad. The Loring Air Force Base was home to the 42nd Bomb wing.
          The incident in question took place over two days – October 27 and 28 of 1975. Over this period of time, two unidentified aircraft flew into the airspace over Loring Air Force Base. The unidentified craft proceeded to fly at only about 150 ft. It entered the base from the north and hovered near the weapons storage facility on the base. Attempts to make contact with the craft went unanswered before the craft left. The following night, it happened again. The base was on the offensive, believing the craft to be in search of military secrets, hence their interest in the weapons storage facility.

The Craft

           The crafts were sighted in one of two ways, either visually or only on radar. Throughout documentation regarding this spate of sightings, the craft are variably described as “helicopters,” “entities,” or “unidentified craft.” Those who saw the craft in person claimed it resembled a helicopter chassis with no visible lights. Other “corrected” accounts claim that they were actual helicopters with lights on – specifically red navigational lights with a white flashing light – though it should be noted that this “correction” came from the original witness’s commanding officer – which, of course, many people think lends towards a government coverup. Other tellings of the story claim that the craft on the 27th had lights and the craft on the 28th did not have lights. You can find memos and other documentation regarding the incident here, though a lot of it is unreadable and none of it is verified (for what it’s worth, none of these documents have been debunked either).

Other Considerations

          Though the events of October 1975 are considered the main “UAP Incident,” it was not the first or the last. Loring, and Maine as a whole, seem to be a magnet for encounters with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. There have been UAP reports from the state dating back to 1946 – and who knows what has gone unreported. The reported phenomena range from different colored orbs of light streaking across the sky, triangle-shaped aircraft, saucers, and more.
          Infamous UAP encounters also took place in Maine. First, there is the Allagash abductions, in which four men were allegedly abducted on August 20, 1976. It is perhaps responsible for the trope of being abducted by aliens via tractor beam. This subject will be covered in more depth in a future post. The second notable UAP encounter I would like to touch on took place in 1952 at the Loring Air Force Base. A circular orange object with accompanying green spheres was registered on radar higher than any known aircraft could fly. A memo to the CIA director documenting this encounter was said to be one of the inciting factors in the creation of Project Blue Book, a government sanctioned investigation into UAPs and aliens. Project Blue Book will also be explored in an upcoming post.

Sources

1. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35674/the-bizarre-mystery-of-unexplained-aerial-incursions-over-loring-air-force-base
2. https://nytimes.com/1979/10/14/archives/ufo-files-the-untold-story.html
3. https://bangordailynews.com/2009/10/02/opinion/the-loring-ufo-episode-revisited/
4. https://wgme.com/news/local/maine-is-a-ufo-hotspot-newly-declassified-docs-say
5. https://umaine.edu/undiscoveredmaine/itineraries/itineraries-for-aroostook-county/aroostook-county-2-day-fall-itinerary/aroostook-2-day-haunted-itinerary/
6. https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/ufo/what_gov_knows_about_ufos.pdf
7. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/19/what-were-those-mysterious-craft/1b9d1f3d-dddb-4a92-87b3-0143aa5d7a3e/
8. https://www.newsweek.com/ufo-sightings-encounters-credibility-video-1371313
9. https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-history/ufo-sightings-alien-sightings/
10. https://books.google.com/books?id=x1DwAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=%22loring+air+force+base%22+%22blue+book%22&source=bl&ots=RT5WXSbCKA&sig=ACfU3U0kyH6xry2YGvnoPzuCO6GGX-3yDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFiu6N1JzyAhXXAZ0JHZdhBKoQ6AF6BAgOEAM#v=onepage&q=%22loring%20air%20force%20base%22%20%22blue%20book%22&f=false
11. http://www.all-hazards.com/loring/legends/assort1_ufo.pdf
12. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ufos-the-central-intelligence-agency-cia-collection/