Loring Air Force Base
Northeastern Maine
27 October 1975

Although it is no longer an active Air Force Base today, in 1975 Loring AFB in Northeastern Maine was a Strategic Air Command Base and one of several bases that were used as storage sites for nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons were stored in a fenced weapons dump consisting of small huts covered with dirt for camouflage from the air. The weapons dump was patrolled day and night by the 42nd Security Police Squadron.

At 7:45 P.M. on 27 October, 1975, Staff Sgt. Danny K. Lewis was patrolling the weapons dump when he saw an unidentified aircraft nearing the north perimeter of Loring at a low altitude of about 300 feet. Lewis noticed what appeared to be a red navigation light and a white strobe light on the aircraft. As Lewis watched, the craft entered the perimeter of the base.

Meanwhile, in the control tower of the air base, Staff Sgt. James P. Sampley of the 2192nd Communications Squadron was on duty at the radar screen. He got a radar return from an unknown aircraft ten to thirteen miles east-northeast of Loring. Sampley made numerous attempts by radio on all available communications bands, civilian and military, to contact the craft, but he got no response. The unidentified craft began to circle, and came to within 300 yards of the restricted nuclear storage area at a low altitude of 150 feet.

Back at the nuclear weapons dump, Lewis notified his Command Post that an unknown aircraft had penetrated the base perimeter and was within 300 yards of the nuclear weapons area. The base was immediately put on a Security Option 3 alert and Security contacted the tower regarding radar tracking of the aircraft.

At 8:45 P.M., Sgt. Grover K. Eggleston began observing the craft on radar from the tower as it began circling ten miles east-northeast of the base. The Wing Commander ordered a ground search and requested air support from Hancock Field, New York and North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Both bases refused to send air support. The Maine State Police and local airport flight services were contacted to attempt to identify the unknown craft, but without results. Intense ground searches produced no results.

The craft continued circling for approximately forty minutes, at which time it broke the pattern and headed toward Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada. In the vicinity of Grand Falls, twelve miles from Loring, it vanished from the radar screen. There was no further activity that night, although the base remained on high alert into the next morning. SAC Headquarters was notified.

28 October 1975

The next night, again at 7:45 P.M., while patrolling the weapons storage area, Staff Sgt. Lewis, along with Sgt. Clifton W. Blakeslee and Sgt. William J. Long, again spotted the lights of an unidentified aircraft approaching Loring AFB from the north at an altitude of about 3,000 feet. It approached to within about three miles of the base perimeter and was noted to have a flashing white light and an amber or orange light.Lewis reported the sighting to his Command Post, and the Wing Commander came out to the weapons storage area to see for himself. He reported seeing an object with a flashing white light and an amber light whose speed and motion were similar to that of a helicopter. The craft was also observed on radar.

The craft was then observed over the flight line by Sgt. Steven Eichner, Sgt. R. Jones, and others. They saw an orange and red object shaped like a stretched-out football hovering in mid-air. It turned out its lights, and then reappeared hovering about 150 feet over the end of the runway. It was described as about four car-lengths long, solid, reddish-orange, with no doors or windows, and with no visible propellors or engines. It was totally silent.

The base went on full alert and a sweep was made by security, but the object turned off its lights and was not seen again. Radar picked up a target moving in the direction of Grand Falls, New Brunswick. SAC Headquarters was again notified.

29 October 1975

Finally, because of the activity of the previous two nights, air support was given in the form of a National Guard helicopter. Canadian authorities were contacted, and permission to cross the border was granted. An RCMP officer would be aboard the helicopter because it was thought that the sightings might be connected with drug smuggling in the area.

That evening, when the first sighting was made, the Huey took off with its Army National Guard crew, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, a Maine State Policeman, and several Loring Air Security officers aboard. The Huey chased sighting reports made by ground crew for forty minutes, but they could see nothing from the air, even when they were as close as 100 yards to a spot where ground observers saw something. Nothing was detected by radar.

30 October 1975

The Maine National Guard Huey was replaced by an Air Force helicopter and crew from Plattsburgh AFB. That evening, objects were reported at several locations over and near the base, and were detected by radar.

During the remainder of 1975, objects and lights were reported several times in the skies between Loring and Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Official investigations by various U.S. and Canadian agencies revealed nothing that was released to the public.

The events at Loring AFB were not isolated. Several other SAC nuclear weapons bases along the northern U.S. were plagued with mysterious aerial intruders in the fall of 1975.

This article was previously published in 1998. It has been revised slightly by removing dead links and adding new ones as needed.

Loy Lawhon

Due to past abuses, I do not allow articles to be reprinted on other sites. You may use the first paragraph and provide a link to this page for the rest of the article.

Print References: • "Above Top Secret" by Timothy Good • "The UFO Coverup" by Lawrence Fawcett & Barry J. Greenwood