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The following is an accounting and assessment of a unique period in the history of the UFO phenomenon with respect to the Malmstrom AFB incidents of 1967. It is based in part on Dr. Roy Craig’s own handwritten notes, and excerpts from his book, “UFOs – An Insider’s View of the Official Quest for Evidence.” In addition, actions by Lt. Col. Lewis Chase, Malmstrom AFB, Base UFO Officer, will also be reviewed. And, since I was on station and a witness to one of the incidents, I will also add my own recollection of the facts of these significant events.
I gratefully acknowledge that much of the material used in this report was obtained through the efforts of investigators James Klotz, Dr. Michael Swords, Robert Powell and Raymond Fowler. The hand-written notes of Dr. Craig and other documentation are also archived at Texas A&M University Library and we are grateful for their use. I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Dr. James McDonald, a true scientist who, by right of his abilities and intense interest deserved to have been the principal investigator of a real scientific study of the UFO phenomenon.
Roy Craig IDOn August 9, 1967 Dr. Roy Craig made a visit to the home of Raymond Fowler to discuss some reports of sightings. Craig was part of the University of Colorado UFO Study Group i.e., The Condon Committee (chaired by Dr. Edward Condon) financed by the U.S. Air Force. Fowler had been assigned the title of an “Early Warning Coordinator” for the group by virtue of the fact that he was an investigator for National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon (NICAP). He was also on the Sylvania Minuteman Production board in support of their contract for the Minuteman Missile ground electrical systems. Fowler had received reports of missile equipment failures at missile sites in Montana and he told Craig about the reports he had received from sources on site that these failures were associated with the appearance of unidentified aerial objects around the missile sites. Craig was interested because he was assigned to look into such incidents as part of the study.
Background of Dr. Roy Craig and his position with Condon Committee
Craig received his Ph.D. in physical Chemistry. In 1966 he was an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado when the university was awarded $500,000 by the Air Force to do a scientific study on the UFO phenomenon. Craig had no experience or training in investigative procedures and only had a passing interest in UFOs. He knew little of the history of the phenomenon when he began working with the group. Yet, he was assigned as one of three principal investigators for the study.
“My assignment would be to investigate the physical aspects of current UFO reports, working with a staff psychologist, who would study the psychological aspects of the report. . . . My associate would look into the minds of the persons reporting the sightings.” So, even before looking into cases, Craig was tasked to work with a psychologist."
The clear implication here is that the group leadership had a pre-disposition to thinking that the reports of UFOs could be explained as delusions of the mind. In addition, he had stipulated to Condon that he would accept the assignment if he did not have to deal with any classified information.
“If an investigation led to a requirement for access to secret information, which seldom happened, I turned the case over to another member of the project and accepted his judgment regarding the extent of UFO pertinence to the case.”
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