DOW-UAP-D170: BAASS Monthly Report, April 2009 - MUFON's First Field Deployments, Three Triangle Cases and Project Northern Tier

Source file: DOW-UAP-D170-BAASS_Montly_Report_April_2009.pdf Originating agency: Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), Las Vegas, contractor to the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) AAWSAP program; includes reports submitted to BAASS by MUFON Document type: Contractor monthly progress report ("April 2009 Monthly Report"), with attachments: two MUFON SIP project reports, field-investigation summaries, and the Project Northern Tier initial analysis and investigative plan Date: April 2009 (period 1-30 April 2009; the later MUFON report inside it is dated 6 May 2009) Classification: No government classification marking; every page carries the legend "This information is proprietary and confidential and cannot be disseminated or used without prior written consent from the Operating Manager of BAASS". Publicly released in 2026, with redaction boxes marked "1843(a)(2)" and "1843(a)(3)" Page count: 50 VIRIN: 260508-D-D0360-1162 PURSUE Release: 7

Summary

This is one of four BAASS monthly reports in Release 7 (DOW-UAP-D169 for March 2009, D170 for April, D171 for June and D173 for November 2009). Its preface says it "summarizes BAASS activities and progress for the period April 1-April 30, 2009" (page 3). The table of contents lists six chapters: staff recruitment, security clearances, the EarthTech contract for 24-30 papers, the purchase of information from MUFON, Project Northern Tier, and material released by foreign governments, followed by a conclusion. The page numbers printed on the document run two lower than the PDF page numbers; this article cites PDF pages.

About half the report concerns MUFON. BAASS explains why it bought access to a network of roughly 1,000 volunteer investigators and attaches two MUFON "SIP project" reports: one on the February-March set-up, the other on April, the first month of operations. Of 319 reports received in April, nine were rated Category 2, and investigators deployed on three cases that month. BAASS attaches summaries of the three investigations "as an example of the level of detail on selected cases that BAASS receives" (page 20), stressing that they are not final reports.

The second part is the initial analysis and investigative plan of "Project Northern Tier", which examined sightings from September to November 1975 at Malmstrom AFB in Montana, Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan, Loring AFB in Maine and Canadian Forces Base Falconbridge in Ontario. Six Google Earth maps are attached. The report ends with a review of UAP archives released by Britain, Canada, Denmark and France, and a short conclusion.

Research Article

Staffing, clearances and the EarthTech papers

In April 2009 BAASS received "a total of 281 resumes" (page 4), and as of 30 April it had 35 full-time and six part-time employees in addition to the administrator. Full-time staff are said to include "senior investigative personnel (backgrounds in law enforcement and AFOSI)", electrical, software and astronautics engineers, physicists and biologists, and support staff and security guards. The staff table on page 5 shows labels only, from AAP Person 4 (Administrator) and AAP Person 7 (Deputy Administrator) down to a run of "Mission Analyst" and "Security Officer" entries, with a "Utah Ranch" heading over security officers at the bottom. One sentence on page 4 refers to interviews conducted "during the month of February", apparently carried over from an earlier report.

BAASS hopes to hire the first year's full complement, "approximately 50-60 personnel", within two to three months, which "will make BAASS the most maximally productive organization in this field", but warns that "It is essential to increase our funding for next year" to cover the whole United States (page 6). The clearance chapter says the administrator, deputy, a senior analyst, an executive secretary, a security program manager, a lead program manager, an IT specialist and contractors from EarthTech have all travelled to Washington to complete the security clearance process, and two more employees are in the first stages (page 7).

The EarthTech chapter recalls that on 31 December 2008 EarthTech International was contracted to deliver 24-30 position papers expanding on 12 earlier papers covering the program's twelve technical areas, from lift and propulsion to "Armament (RF and DEW)", with full delivery scheduled for July 2009 (page 8). The table on pages 9-10 gives contributors by label only, with their institutions and due dates in May and June 2009. The topics closely match the DIRD papers published in Release 6, for example metallic glasses (D117), programmable matter (D118), the statistical Drake equation (D127), metallic spintronics (D129), wormholes (D139), vacuum energy (D142) and "Maverick vs. corporate inventor culture" (D134).

The MUFON purchase and the virtual dispatch center

The central chapter opens with an ambitious statement: "In order for BAASS to best serve the government it needs to become the central information source on UAPs in the United States and around the world" (page 11). Until BAASS has enough staff, "possibly 250 people", the answer is an organization that already has hundreds of investigators in the field. A purchase order executed in February 2009 entitles BAASS to (a) notification of significant reports "within hours", (b) timely investigation reports, and (c) physical evidence "including photographs, digital recordings, samples of soil, insects, plants, and animals". BAASS says it has "multiple laboratories" ready for forensic, photographic, metallurgic, chemical, isotope and biological analysis, and that it has hired a team of ten investigators with intelligence and law-enforcement backgrounds, based in Las Vegas and trained to deploy as "special forces" rapid reaction teams (page 11).

The first MUFON report, dated 16 April, describes the set-up: the contract was finalized on 20 February 2009; teleconferences with state directors were held on "February 27, 28 and 29" (a date that did not exist in 2009); media talking points went to investigators on 7 March; an organizational meeting took place at MUFON headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado, on 11-14 March; and hiring decisions were made on 14 March (pages 12-14). Dispatch Operators work from home in four four-hour shifts between 6 AM and 10 PM Pacific time, using the MUFONCMS.COM case management system, Shiftboard.com scheduling, a virtual Skype phone number and a Gmail account. When a recent Category 2 or 3 case arrives, the coordination manager (AAP Person 59) is alerted, and once a deployment is decided BAASS is notified "via the BAASS duty cell phone number" (page 14). Investigators are organized into state, regional and nationwide teams, receive a rapid deployment kit ("Group 2 and 3" equipment under Field Investigator manual 5.0) and reloadable Visa cards for per diem (pages 15-16).

The second MUFON report, dated 6 May, covers April: dispatch ran 16 hours a day, seven days a week, "with no lapse in coverage". Of 319 U.S. reports, nine were Category 2, three of them historical; of the remaining six, investigators deployed on four (three in April, one in May), and two were "not deemed worthy of deployment". There were no Category 3 cases and 310 were Category 1 (page 17). MUFON reports a drop of "almost 150-200 case reports" compared with the first three months of 2009 and finds no seasonal explanation. BAASS itself writes that it "currently has concerns about the current level of productivity from MUFON" (page 12). In response BAASS authorized funds for CMS programming, a research assistant for the archives and advertising; MUFON proposed a partnership with the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), and is holding off on television appearances until its contract with Creative Differences, producers of "UFOs Over Earth", expires at the end of May 2009 (pages 18-20).

The three April field investigations

Scammon, Kansas (case 16421). The event took place on 4 April 2009 at about 1:23 AM; the deployment was activated on 7 April, led by AAP Person 109 (pages 20-24). A mother and her 17-year-old son were out at night looking for a missing younger son when an unusual long train whistle sent them toward the tracks. They described an object "as large as a small house hovering over the tree tops about 200 feet In the air", an orange light, and, according to the son, a dark center with light "coming from a tube light surrounding the craft"; the mother saw an odd round-oval light with what looked like "an army net attached above it". There was no sound, no smell and no electromagnetic effect. The object drifted left at about one mile an hour, shot off backwards, returned, and finally disappeared behind trees. The witnesses drew the object on a shared sheet and the mother showed a cell-phone picture; neither is attached to the file. The investigator re-enacted the drive on video and visited two sheriff's departments because of confusion over jurisdiction. The sheriff first said it was fireworks, then "a guy who set off 3 Chinese lanterns", but never supplied the names he promised. The investigator adds weather and astronomical data (a moon 9.17 days old, the ISS "Not visible") and concludes: "I don't believe that the *****s saw Chinese Lanterns", followed by "Conclusion: UAV unknown" (page 24).

Dardanelle, Arkansas (case 16644). At about 5:20 AM on 20 April 2009 a nurse driving an empty highway saw "a star in the sky that had a tall attached" (probably "tail"), which came within about 100 feet and resolved into a triangle with three rotating lights on each side (pages 25-30). Her car made a noise like a flat tire, her phone, fully charged by her account, was dead, and then came a flash "like a light bulb had totally illuminated the road and my vehicle". She told the dispatcher the craft was the size of a B-1 bomber, and at work she could barely speak and her co-workers' voices sounded painfully loud. The investigators, led by AAP Person 103, flew to Arkansas, marked the spot on a fence with duct tape, and found "180,000 KV" power lines there running directly from the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant. A compass swung about 80 degrees near the back left panel of her SUV, but the same test on a new vehicle at a Hyundai dealer showed similar movement, which the investigators say "brought our findings on the experiencer's vehicle into question" (page 28). Examination of the phone found that "the battery's internal fuse was blown", something that "is usually the result of a high voltage insult" (page 29). The investigators also checked the witness's sinus area with a magnet "to see if she might have had an implant there but found nothing abnormal" (page 28).

The interim conclusion is confident: "Our conclusion at this point is that this was a real event", and the object is "definitely unknown and does not appear to be a military craft" (page 29). The hypotheses offered include contact with the power lines, "extracting energy from the wires", and an extremely low resonant frequency that the witness took for a bad tire. The owner of the adjacent farm spoke of fences pulled up and laid down (September 2006 and March 2009), of land that was once "a Cherokee Indian campground", and of "orbs" in photographs; her brother, who works at the power plant, mentioned a dark helicopter flying unusually close to it. The investigators plan FOIA requests to the plant and the FAA and a search for information "on ley lines in Arkansas" (page 30). The report contains no answer from the power plant.

Pasadena, Maryland (case 16539). At about 3:15 AM on 16 April 2009 a loud humming woke a couple, both with degrees in chemistry (pages 31-33). The man saw through the window "a very large triangular craft hovering above", totally black with no lights, boomerang-shaped and "resembling a very large 'stretched out' F117 Nighthawk about 300 feet wingspan", moving slowly southeast for about 17 minutes. The hum sounded like an electrical transformer, and a neighbour confirmed hearing it. The investigator, AAP Person 108, contacted the Department of Public Works, which replied "We definitely would not sweep/clean during those hours", two all-night stores, three newspapers and the police (no replies), and listed nearby installations: BWI, Fort Meade, Patuxent and Dover AFB. He notes that he saw no high-power lines, that the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant lies about 35 miles south, and cites a similar unlighted black triangle at Owings Mills on 9 February 2005. The "Witness Residence Satellite photo" is entirely redacted. All three cases "are under investigation by MUFON" (page 33).

Project Northern Tier: back to autumn 1975

The initial analysis calls itself "a living document" (page 34). It concentrates on 1975-1976 because the incidents are relatively recent, well documented and likely to have witnesses who still remember them. From September to November 1975 several mostly USAF installations reported very similar events, "often reported as 'helicopter sightings'" because the objects hovered. For Malmstrom, which then housed B-52s and "hundreds of" ICBMs spread over 23,000 square miles, the analysis relies chiefly on the work of Cascade County Deputy Sheriff Keith Wolverton, who documented "over 250 events" from August 1975 to December 1977 under three headings: "Helicopter", "UFO" and "Animal Mutilations", the last of which was excluded (page 35). The report counts 129 "UFO" events starting in August 1975, another 108 in 1976 and 14 more through December 1977, and notes that most lie "within or very near the ballistic missile facilities" (page 36). Attachments 2 and 3 map them.

Wurtsmith gets the most detailed treatment: in the late evening of 30 October 1975, at about 2200, Security Police saw an unidentified object near the base housing area; it followed the perimeter, was seen again at the main gate and the motor pool, approached the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Alert Facility and the Weapons Storage Area (WSA), and left eastward over Lake Huron (pages 36-37). The author even works through the shift schedule to show the witnesses were in the last hour of their shift. A KC-135 returning from a routine flight was vectored to the object, followed it toward Bay City and lost it, after which "the unidentified reappeared, appearing to follow the 135". Three ground witnesses, ground radar detection and the aircrew's visual and electronic contact make this one, the author says, "worthy of additional attention" (page 37). At Loring the events were "eerily similar", but an Air National Guard helicopter, whose missions included Canadian officials, could not see the object. The events triggered message traffic from NORAD and SAC, and the author reads SAC's move to a higher alert level as "an apparent acknowledgement of the events" (page 38). On the Canadian bases he writes frankly that he found no indication the U.S. was storing nuclear weapons there, while noting Canadian nuclear power and research facilities nearby.

The investigative plan (pages 45-47) concedes at the outset that "Because of the uncertainty of tracking down witnesses 30 years after the fact, there are no definitive predictions". For Wurtsmith it lists the posts that should have been manned that night (an alternate security control tower, a Gap Guard, a five-man Alert Fire Team, two-man Security Response Teams), none of which is mentioned in the reporting. For Malmstrom the first step is to interview a person whose name is redacted, who has extensive knowledge of the area and lives "locally (Las Vegas)". Planned requests include FOIA requests to AFOSI for intelligence reporting "responsive to CR# HQ CR 44, Para 3D and HQ CR 45 Para 3B for the period Aug - Nov 1975", requests to SAC, HQ USAF, NORAD and Minot regarding the "Minot sighting 101125Z Nov 75", and a cross-reference against the Canadian archive release (page 47).

Foreign archives and the conclusion

BAASS reports that it is downloading and analysing about 7,297 pages released by the UK Ministry of Defence over eighteen months, plus "1200 separate UFO cases in approximately 2000 additional pages" released on 21 March 2009; 9,500 Canadian pages covering 1947-1980, many of them Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigations; 329 pages from the Danish Air Force released on 29 January 2009 and fully translated by a hired translator; and some 100,000 pages from France's GEIPAN covering about 1,650 cases and 6,000 eyewitness interviews (pages 48-49). The conclusion (page 50) reports progress in training and deploying field teams, states that "the case numbers are still considerably lower than expected", and claims that "The BAASS database of cases is now larger than any other database owned by UAP organizations in North America". It also says BAASS "has begun to acquire significant information on UAP activity in Brazil", a subject mentioned nowhere else in the report.

What the report does not say

The report gives no dollar figure, neither for the MUFON purchase order nor for the program. It reports no laboratory analysis actually performed; the laboratories are only described as ready. It does not name the DIA, and it does not explain the term "SIP" or the exact definitions of Categories 1 to 3. The field summaries are MUFON's, not BAASS's, and BAASS adds no assessment of its own. The Scammon phone picture and the witness drawings from Scammon and Dardanelle are not attached, and GPS coordinates, investigator names and witness names are redacted or asterisked. The 1975 cases rest, on the text's own account, on earlier reporting and the deputy sheriff's records, not on interviews BAASS had yet conducted.

Significance

The report is a first-hand record of the moment when AAWSAP, a program whose founding documents (DOW-UAP-D110, D111) framed it in terms of aerospace threats and breakthrough technologies, became through its contractor an apparatus that collected and checked civilian UFO reports in near real time. It shows the machinery in detail: home-based dispatchers on Skype, a BAASS duty phone, Visa cards for investigators, and three deployments within the first month. It also records the early strain in the relationship, with an unexplained fall in reports and BAASS's explicit concern about MUFON's productivity.

At the case level the report spans a wide range of evidential quality: investigators who run a control compass test and admit it weakens their finding sit alongside a magnet check for an implant and a search for ley lines. Project Northern Tier shows the contractor also meant to revisit the 1975 events near nuclear weapons facilities, with maps, a shift-schedule analysis and a concrete list of FOIA targets. The report is best read alongside the neighbouring monthly reports, D169 (March 2009), D171 (June 2009) and D173 (November 2009), to follow how the MUFON arrangement and Project Northern Tier developed.

Key People

Locations

Incidents

Notable Quotes

"In order for BAASS to best serve the government it needs to become the central information source on UAPs in the United States and around the world." -- page 11

"Note: BAASS currently has concerns about the current level of productivity from MUFON, especially what appears to be a significant decrease in cases during the month of April." -- page 12

"They described the craft as being as large as a small house hovering over the tree tops about 200 feet In the air." -- page 21

"I don't believe that the *****s saw Chinese Lanterns." -- page 24

"Our conclusion at this point is that this was a real event." -- page 29

"The salesman said that the body has changed quite a bit since 2004, but we felt this brought our findings on the experiencer's vehicle into question." -- page 28

"Shortly following their turn the unidentified reappeared, appearing to follow the 135." -- page 37

"The BAASS database of cases is now larger than any other database owned by UAP organizations in North America." -- page 50