Quick Info
Okay, picture this: it’s September 1964, somewhere around the 22nd, and the Air Force is running a secret Atlas missile test out of Vandenberg. They’ve got a film crew set up at Big Sur with a high-powered 35mm telescope camera to record the launch and flight path. Everything’s going normal at first, missile lifts off, climbs, looks good. Then suddenly this thing shows up on the film.
A big, glowing UFO comes in from behind, catches up to the missile way up high. Then, get this, a smaller object breaks off from it and heads straight toward the warhead. The footage shows it circling, getting close, almost like it’s checking the missile out or doing something to it. The film crew is just staring in shock. Next thing they know, Air Force officers rush in, grab the film, and basically tell them to forget they ever saw it. This is one of those rare cases where we know clear military footage existed… and it vanished.
Timeline of Events – September 1964
Reconstructed from what Major Robert Friend (who ran Project Blue Book) later said, Dr. James McDonald’s interviews with the film crew, and bits that leaked out over the years. The exact date is still fuzzy because the Air Force never officially released it, but mid-September is the consensus.
- Mid-September 1964 They schedule a classified Atlas ICBM test from Vandenberg AFB. A small military film crew gets sent to a remote spot in Big Sur to film the missile’s trajectory with a big 35mm telescope camera. Routine stuff for them.
- Launch day – early flight The Atlas blasts off just fine. The crew locks onto it through the telescope, tracking smoothly. Missile’s climbing over the Pacific, everything looks textbook.
- UFO shows up Then out of nowhere this large glowing object appears on film, coming in from behind the missile. It’s disc-like or oval, metallic-looking, giving off a bright glow. The crew is like, wait what is that?
- Smaller object detaches Here’s the crazy part, a smaller piece breaks away from the main UFO and flies straight toward the missile. It starts circling it, getting really close. The film catches the whole thing in sharp detail, no blur or anything.
- Contact or inspection The smaller object maneuvers around the missile like it’s inspecting it or maybe even touching the warhead area. The main UFO hangs back. The film crew is just frozen, watching this unfold on their screen.
- Immediate confiscation Air Force officers show up fast. They take the film, order the crew not to talk about it, and basically shut everything down. No copies allowed. The test is called a success officially, but that footage? Gone.
- 1960s–1990s Years later, Major Robert Friend admits the incident happened and the film was taken. Dr. James McDonald tracks down the crew and gets them to talk. They stick to the story every time. No footage ever surfaces.
- 2000s–2026 Researchers keep digging. Still no official release or explanation. It’s one of those “lost” cases that drives people crazy because we know the film existed, and it showed something incredible.
What the Film Crew Described
These guys were trained military cameramen, their whole job was tracking missiles with high-powered optics. They knew exactly what normal looked like. So when this thing showed up, they were floored. They described the UFO as big, metallic, disc or oval shaped, glowing bright white-blue. It came in fast from behind the missile, caught up easily, then a smaller object peeled off and went right toward the warhead.
The small one circled it, got close, almost like it was checking it out or interfering somehow. The main craft stayed back, watching. The footage was sharp, they said you could see every move clearly. No lens flare, no trick of light. Then the Air Force swooped in and took the film. The crew was ordered to keep quiet for life. Years later when McDonald talked to them, they still sounded shaken, they knew they had captured something huge.
"The object was large, glowing, metallic. A smaller piece detached and flew to the missile. It circled it, then seemed to inspect it. The main craft stayed back. The film showed it all clearly. Then the Air Force took the film and told us to forget it."
– Film crew member (anonymous, from Dr. James McDonald interviews)
That “seemed to inspect it” part always gets me. These aren’t UFO nuts making stuff up, they’re guys who spent their days filming rockets. They watched a smaller object deliberately circle and approach the missile like it was curious or doing something intentional. That’s not random space junk or a test glitch.
"We had the missile in perfect focus. Then this thing appeared out of nowhere. It was not part of the test. The smaller object moved with control, like it was guided. We knew we had captured something incredible."
– Film crew technician (later testimony)
The way they talk about it, “perfect focus,” “not part of the test,” “moved with control”, you can almost hear the frustration. They had crystal-clear evidence in their hands, and it got yanked away. That feeling of “we had it and lost it” is what makes this case so frustrating and believable at the same time.
Fantastic 3D animation video on this event from Mac Mave Studios
More videos @MacMaveStudios on YouTube
The Official Response & Investigation
The Air Force grabbed the film right away. Major Robert Friend, who was running Project Blue Book then, later admitted the incident happened and the footage was taken. They never let anyone make copies. There was no public explanation, the test was called a success, end of story.
Dr. James McDonald dug into it in the late 60s and got the film crew to talk. They stuck to their story every time. No film, no physical proof ever surfaced. The case just sits there, one of the most frustrating “lost” military UFO videos out there, we know the footage existed, we know it showed something wild, and it’s still gone.
Legacy in 2026
More than 60 years on, the Big Sur missile filming still haunts people who study this stuff. A trained military crew captured clear evidence of a UFO intercepting a nuclear-capable missile test, a smaller object detaching, circling, getting close to the warhead, and the film vanished. Major Friend and Dr. McDonald both confirmed it happened. Think about how many other cases might have had footage that just… disappeared.
This case is another one of those that makes you wonder just what else is sitting in some Indiana Jones style vault somewhere. This isn’t just another sighting, it’s a lost piece of proof that could have shifted everything if it had ever seen daylight. Why do you think they took it and never let it go? What would that film show us today that they still don’t want out there?
