David Schindele

A graduate from Washington State University, Captain Schindele served on active duty as a Missile Launch Control Officer and Crew Commander with the Atlas E ICBM weapon system at Fairchild AFB near Spokane Washington, and later the Minuteman 1 ICBM at Minot AFB near Minot, North Dakota. He also launched two Minot Minuteman missiles from Vandenberg AFB in California.

After separation from the Air Force, Captain Schindele worked as a Senior Experimental Engineer and Project Manager in development of the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL System) and he put finishing touches on Astronaut Back Packs worn by Apollo 11 Astronauts on the moon. He then spent 32 years as a Systems Analyst at a major company and worked part time as a Community College Instructor to finish out his working career.

His involvement with a UFO incident happened at a Minot Minuteman Launch Control Center called “November Flight” in September 1966. It was there when he and a crewmate relieved a Launch Crew where 10 nuclear tipped ICBM missiles were taken “off alert” by a “flying object” that rendered them un-launchable. He first interviewed the eight people topside who viewed the object, and then the two officer crew members in the capsule below ground, who were required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) when they returned to base.

At that time, Captain Schindele and his crewmate inherited 10 un-launchable missiles that all indicated a “guidance and Control System Malfunction. ” Nobody in this incident was ever questioned by the Air Force, and all were told to keep quiet with the statement, “as far as you are concerned, it never happened. ” It is assumed, since nobody was ever questioned, that this kind of incident happened many times previously, and it likely still does.

Captain Schindele held his secret for more than 40 years but then he wrote of his experience in a book titled, “It Never Happened, ” which describes the incident he was involved with, and the very serious national security coverup instituted by the Air Force, which continues to this day.