Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base (now Vandenberg Space Force Base) is a US military installation located in Santa Barbara County, California, approximately 60 miles north of Santa Barbara. It serves as a major launch facility for the Western Test Range, used for polar-orbit satellite launches and ICBM test flights. In UAP research, Vandenberg is most prominently known as the site of the Vandenberg Air Force Base UFO Film Incident of September 14, 1964, in which optical instrumentation filmed a disc-shaped craft firing directed energy beams at a dummy nuclear warhead during an ICBM test.
Western Test Range and Nuclear Testing
Vandenberg's Western Test Range — extending over the Pacific Ocean — was used extensively during the Cold War for ICBM test launches, providing a trajectory that avoided populated areas. Every nuclear payload and ballistic missile launch from Vandenberg required optical and instrumentation documentation, performed by dedicated units using high-powered telescope and camera systems capable of photographing missile details from 160 miles away.
The 1964 UFO Film Incident
On September 14, 1964, Lieutenant Robert Jacobs commanded the optical instrumentation unit assigned to document a test launch of a dummy ICBM warhead from Vandenberg's Western Test Range, near Big Sur, California. The test was designed to evaluate chaff decoy systems intended to deceive Soviet air defenses. At the moment of warhead separation at the fringe of space, an unidentified disc-shaped craft entered the camera frame, matched the warhead's velocity, and fired four directed energy beams at it. The warhead fell off-trajectory.
Within days, government agents confiscated the film and ordered Jacobs to silence. Jacobs's commanding officer, Major Florence J. Mansman, later corroborated the incident in writing. Jacobs testified under oath to AARO in February 2023. See: Vandenberg Air Force Base UFO Film Incident.
Other Historical Notes
Vandenberg is also cited in broader UAP contexts as a facility where classified aerospace programs were conducted. Its role as a launch base for reconnaissance satellites (including early Keyhole program launches) and its physical position on the California coast provided strategic utility for polar orbit insertions that Area 51 and similar inland facilities could not offer.