On the morning of 22nd September 1964, Robert Jacobs prepared to oversee a test launch of an Atlas missile. It was perfect conditions for viewing any aerial object in the sky. While it was still dark on the ground, objects at a certain altitude in the sky above would catch the rising sun’s light and glow magnificently against the still dark background. And what’s more, this is the case for objects hundreds of miles away.

These conditions were very much present on this morning. And further still, only if viewed from one spot – Big Sur, to the “north and west of Vandenberg”. The brief that Jacobs and his team were working too was to get “side-on” shots of the missile launch and more specifically its climb and “stages of flight”. Specifically, Jacobs would state that their mission statement, in part, was to:

… (provide information) on the minute events following propellant depletion – at a distance of from 300 to 800 nautical miles!

In fact, so serious was the desire to capture such fine and detailed imagery that the Boston University telescope was literally hauled onto a truck and transplanted to a very specific spot at Big Sur.

Incidentally, we should note that Jacobs was unsure of the exact date, but subsequent research suggests the 22nd September is accurate. Whatever the date, the events that would follow were very real. And what’s more, according to Jacobs, would “inspire an official government cover-up and provoke an investigation and search for the filmed record”. A search which continues still.

Missile And Anti-Missile Technology Against The Back Drop Of The Cold War!

The small team gathered at a safe distance, ready to watch the events they were about to record on the monitors. The launches themselves were part of the Nike-Zeus project, which looked to develop “anti-missile” technology – at least officially. Against the ever-present threat of the Cold War, such experiments and projects would face very little questioning.

The team could hear the mechanical-like countdown for the launch of the Atlas missile. Then: Ignition…..lift off…..

And with that, a blast of flames and smoke burst out from under the missile before it began its steady ascent. All eyes, including that of the Bost University telescope camera, focused on the commotion. And what’s more, as was perfectly obvious to Jacobs and the team, as the missile traveled in excess of 100 nautical miles, the conditions and the focus of the shot could “not have been more clean”.

In fact, it was perfectly obvious that they had achieved their objective to the letter. As they shook hands, offering and accepting congratulations from each other, the 35mm film continued to film. Jacobs would take this film with him in the two metal “cans” to the processing laboratory back at the base. He would process the film immediately so it would be ready for his superiors to view the following day.

However, before he could bask in the sense of achievement that was quietly building inside of him, he would receive a phone call at his desk.

The Movie Projector And The Men In Plain Grey Suits

On the other end of the line was Major Mansmann. He would order Jacobs to the headquarters building where his office was immediately. Upon arriving there, Jacobs noticed two strange men waiting with Mansmann. He also noticed a movie projector, very purposely set up for this meeting in the middle of the room.

Each of the men donned “plain, gray suits” and although they said little, their presence was almost palpable. Within seconds of the office door closing, the lights dimmed, and the projector was clicked into action.

Artist’s impression of the Atlas rocket launch

On the wall from the light of the projector, the footage they filmed from Big Sur played. Despite the bizarre nature of the events unfolding, Jacobs remembers feeling a further sense of achievement at how clear the footage was. He continued to watch the footage. When it neared the end, however, Mansmann would tell him to “watch carefully now”.

He did and immediately saw what the men were drawing his attention to. He would state:

Another object flew into the frame, from left to right. It approached the warhead package and maneuvered around it. That is, this…’thing’…flew a relative polar orbit around our warhead package which was itself heading toward the South Pacific at some 18 thousand miles an hour!

Then, an already bizarre incident took an even more bizarre twist. At approximately the “four compass points of its orbit” this strange object emitted “four distinct flashes” towards the missile. In fact, the flashes, Jacobs would argue, must have had sufficient power and intensity as the flashes were clearly visible, almost like a “strike” which caused a “halo” to briefly form.

A “Classic Flying Saucer” That “Shot Down” An American (Dummy) Warhead!

Furthermore, as the object “departed the frame” back in the direction it entered it, Jacobs could see it was “a classic flying saucer” with a clear dome in the middle of the top part, from which the beams of light had emerged.

However, the missile itself, or more specifically, the warhead, “tumbled out of suborbit” falling to the ground. He immediately understood the gravity of the situation. As he would later state:

…This…unidentified flying…’thing’ had apparently ‘shot down’ an American dummy atomic warhead!

Jacobs would later attest his belief that the technology on display was obviously highly advanced. However, in the room, the lights would suddenly come on and Mansmann would enquire whether he or any of his team were “fooling around up there at Big Sur”. When he responded that this certainly wasn’t the case, Mansmann would ask, “Then what the Hell was that?”

It was then that Jacobs, perhaps without thinking, replied as a matter of fact:

It looks to me like we got a UFO!

The silence that would follow his statement was almost deafening in itself. Both of the mystery men continued to stare at Jacobs without saying a word. He noticed Mansmann looking at the men also. Then he turned his attention back to Jacobs, stating:

Let’s just say it never happened. You are to say nothing of this footage to anyone! As far as you and I are concerned, this never took place!

Jacobs flipped his attention back to the two men for a moment, perhaps hoping against hope that the whole situation was some kind of bizarre joke. Their rigid, serious manner told him it wasn’t.

The “Most Fantastic Event Of My Life” That “Did Not Take Place!”

Jacobs wasn’t sure how long he sat there staring into space. It could have been a few minutes. It was most likely only a few seconds as he relayed everything that had happened over the last 24 hours to this very surreal moment now. He couldn’t escape the feeling that what was “the most fantastic event” of his life was something he was being asked to not only keep secret but to deny altogether. NOTE: The above image is CGI.