Did UFOs bring US to brink of nuclear launch?

Is the U.S. Air Force withholding evidence of alien visitors?

The Daily Mail has thrown it out there as a possible explanation for the "coincidence" of some frightening events involving American nukes in Wyoming last October.

Warren Air Force Base reportedly lost control of 50 nuclear intercontinental missiles — one-ninth of America’s nuclear arsenal — owing to what officials described as a "communication failure between the control center and the weapons."

According to the paper, defense officials insisted there was never a danger of accidental launch, although the incident was deemed serious enough for President Barack Obama to be briefed on it.

The story might not have seen daylight had it not been leaked to Mark Ambinder, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, which published it three days later

What they didn't mention, however, was the reports of UFO sightings in the area at the same time, Oct. 23, 2010. And now, according to the paper, "three missile technicians stationed at the base have raised fresh questions in the case."

A U.S. Air Force spokesman said there had been a "hardware issue" relating to an underground cable linking the command center with the missiles and that they went offline for almost an hour, although reportedly they were "they were still able to monitor the security of the affected missiles."

Meanwhile, "researcher and author" Robert Hastings says the story goes far deeper.

According to Hastings, who issued a press release, three missile maintenance technicians revealed to him that the military had kept UFO sightings that occurred during the power outage secret.

He cites witnesses as reporting sightings of "a large cigar-shaped object high above the missile field."

And he told AOL that his witnesses claimed the power outage lasted several hours longer than officials reported.

"I have detailed information about the events. The Air Force said this [missile] disruption lasted 59 minutes. It actually lasted the better part of 26 hours," he reportedly said.

"It was intermittent and involved a very specific sequence of these five missile alert facilities going on and offline. I have all of that down to the most minute detail."