Read the first part here: Petrozavodsk phenomenon
The Petrozavodsk phenomenon is a very interesting phenomenon, this is the 1977 UFO phenomenon. Petrozavodsk residents still remember this phenomenon with warmth and tell their children and grandchildren about that incident. There were a lot of witnesses, it made a lot of noise and the leaders of the USSR simply could not hush up this case. An official investigation was launched.
As the author of the article “Petrozavodsk Phenomenon” correctly pointed out: “On the night of September 19-20, 1977, in the sky over Petrozavodsk, according to many eyewitnesses, at about four o'clock in the morning a huge jellyfish-like object hovered over the city. At first it was a bright star that slowly moved from west to east. Then it expanded. The apparent diameter of the "jellyfish" was estimated by observers at more than 100 meters, the height of hovering - at five to seven kilometers. The object floated over Lenin Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, then stopped, increased in size and began to shower the city with many thin red "hollow jets" that gave the impression of pouring rain."
Based on materials from the site rupor.sampo.ru
Meduza over Petrik
1977 year. September 20th. 4 a.m. Petrozavodsk. Nature and the city are asleep. Partly cloudy. It's frosty. Only over Lake Onega - gray clouds hang on the horizon.
Promotional video:
Memories of a resident of Petrozavodsk
“It was a bright flash! A fiery red star, about 150 mm in size, lit up in the dark sky above Lenin Avenue, it all looked like a second moon! Very bright unusual! And she grew in size before our eyes. Became like two diameters of the moon."
V. Belyaev's story (an ambulance worker in 1977):
“The night was cloudless, starry, or rather the sky above the roof began to brighten. Then a strange halo appeared. After that, a luminous dot, the size of a daylight street lamp, appeared. She continued to move towards the constellation "Ursa Major". Jets of some loose substance emanated from the "star". This star moved steadily, in ascending order. The jets that emanated from the star filled most of the sky."
Dozens of eyewitnesses. The brightest and most massive observations are in Petrozavodsk. The picture is fantastic and mesmerizing. Preserved scans of photographs from 1977 of this phenomenon.
The source rupor.sampo.ru published two of them:
This image of a jellyfish is a side view
Photo of jellyfish - direct view
The huge fiery Medusa was slowly moving from west to east. She swam strictly along Lenin Avenue, feeling houses, cars, even people with her tentacles. Medusa grew in size, showering the city with a multitude of thin ray red "hollow jets", which, according to eyewitnesses, gave the impression of pouring rain.
Records from the archive. According to eyewitnesses:
“It was like a jellyfish. Only even more transparent, with a parachute, a cap in the center of which a star shone. I thought it was some kind of body that fell into the upper atmosphere and glows. Suddenly, something separated from the asterisk, like a ray of light, and at the end of this ray a saucer or an oval luminous ring appeared, which began to decrease, and then disappeared. All this was so inexplicable, unreal, fantastic, that the thought of a ship that had flown in from another planet appeared. Thoughts of the northern lights, a meteorite, a satellite flashed through my head - this phenomenon was unlike anything and it became scary. I didn’t want to go that direction, and at the same time I was very curious, I wanted to see”.
In the USSR, a great deal of work was launched to study this phenomenon. The then President of the Academy of Sciences Aleksandrov sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and at the same time the Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission Smirnov. The essence of the message fit into a short phrase: “The USSR Academy of Sciences can no longer ignore, nor can it explain anomalous phenomena similar to those observed in September 1977 in Petrozavodsk; in this connection, he asks to organize comprehensive studies of anomalous phenomena with the involvement of organizations of the Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex.
Thus, in 1978, a state program for the study of unidentified flying objects began to operate.
Here are the documents from the site
The work lasted for 13 years, from 1978 to 1990. During this time, about 300 thousand messages were received, of which those that contained information about anomalous phenomena were selected. There were just over 300 of them. In the prepared report, the program participants stated that the overwhelming majority of the recorded anomalies were of a completely explainable nature. They are associated with technical human activities or with rare natural phenomena. What was accepted by UFO observers was nothing more than the effects accompanying launches of space or ballistic missiles. This is due to the scattering of sunlight on the gas and dust cloud formed by the products of fuel combustion. This phenomenon is best observed at dusk, when the rocket route runs in the "daytime" area, and the person is in the "night" area.
… As the author of the article "Petrozavodsk Phenomenon" correctly noted: "In the morning, round holes were found in the windows of the upper floors of some houses, and the melted glass" cakes "lay between the frames. Later, physicists were unable to identify the origin of the cleavage, since even a powerful laser does not give such a smooth edge without cracks. In addition, it turned out that these edges acquired a crystalline structure uncharacteristic for glass."
Presumably due to the influence of the "tentacles" of the jellyfish-shaped object, holes appeared in the glass of the upper floors of houses. A diameter of five to 10 centimeters. Most (but not all) of them were round or nearly round. The edges of the holes are smooth, as if melted. No mechanical objects or damage was found by the residents. Most of the windows with similar holes overlook exactly the direction of Lake Onega, where the object "hung" for 10-12 minutes.
Here are the materials from the site rupor.sampo.ru
Scheme of damage to glass windows 12 on the street. Dzerzhinsky (reproduction from the review)
As follows from the archives of investigations, in the apartment of A. Linevsky, located on the 5th floor, holes were found in the glass of the outer and inner window frames. On the outer glass, an almost circular hole with a diameter of 5 cm, on the inner glass, is elliptical, the horizontal axis is 9 cm, and the vertical axis is 7 cm. There is also an elliptical chip from the inner frame, corresponding in size to the hole made.
The centers of the holes lie on a line inclined at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizon. Considering the position of the luminous object over Petrozavodsk, it can be assumed that the holes appeared under the influence of the "tentacles" of this object.
A distinctive feature of the holes from an unidentified flying object that "explored" the apartments of Petrozavodsk residents with the help of "energy probes" through the windows are melted glass "cakes", which remained on the windowsills after the object had finished exposing the glass. Physicists have not been able to identify the cleavage; the physical nature of these rays is also unclear.
The Karelian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences examines holes in glass
A preliminary study of some of the glasses using an electron microscope was carried out at the Institute of Geology of the Karelian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences by V. V. Kovalevsky. According to his conclusion, the surfaces of chips in different glasses have the same characteristic details, which may indicate a similar nature of their formation.
The most interesting case is undoubtedly the case in the Linevskys' apartment. According to V. V. Kovalevsky, a hole in the outer glass could have been formed under the influence of a powerful energy source such as ball lightning. This could have ejected small particles that “cut out” a hole in the inner glass.
VNII MVD examines holes in glass
On April 12, 1978, the official conclusion of the All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was ready, signed by the Head of the Institute, Professor S. V. Borodin.
It includes a "certificate" on the research results on 16 pages and photographic documents on 10 pages. But in the end it all boils down to the following few lines:
“The investigated damage to the glass of windows of residential and office buildings in Petrozavodsk was formed as a result of firing metal balls from a throwing device (s) known as a slingshot.
The research results allow us to consider the question posed as solved”.
How the edges of the holes were melted and why the holes were located at the angle at which they were located, the experts who carried out the examination were not interested.
Media response
Reports of these sightings were leaked to the press, which had not published information about UFO sightings before or after.
Socialist Industry newspaper. Material "Unidentified natural phenomenon":
“Residents of Petrozavodsk witnessed an unusual natural phenomenon. On September 20, at about four o'clock in the morning, a huge "star" flashed in the dark sky, impulsively sending sheaves of light to the Earth. This "star" was slowly moving towards Petrozavodsk and, spreading over it in the form of a huge "jellyfish", hung, showering the city with a multitude of the finest ray streams that gave the impression of pouring rain.
After a while, the ray glow ceased. The Medusa turned into a bright semicircle and resumed its movement towards Lake Onega, the horizon of which was enveloped in gray clouds. In this veil, then a round gully of bright red color in the middle and white on the sides formed. The director of the Petrozavodsk Hydrometeorological Observatory, Y. Gromov, told the TASS correspondent that the workers of the Karelian meteorological service have not seen any analogues in nature."
TASS:
With a request to express his point of view on this matter, the Leningrad correspondent of TASS turned to the director of the Main Astronomical Observatory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences V. Krat.
- A bright ball of fire, - said the scientist, - which rapidly drew the sky from south to north over the Leningrad region and Karelia in the early morning of September 20, was also observed by the Pulkovo astronomers. Now it is still difficult to explain with certainty its origin, since the information of eyewitnesses and observers continues to arrive and are analyzed.
Journal "Aviation and Cosmonautics" N 8 for 1978. Excerpt from material
"… Engineers who worked that night in the computing centers located in the observation area noted major malfunctions in the computer, the normal functioning of which was then fully restored."
Materials about an unidentified flying object, an unknown natural phenomenon, the Petrozavodsk phenomenon were also published in Izvestia, Pravda, and Sovetskaya Rossiya dated 1977-23-09. The news was published by foreign media, including Finnish ones.
In his article "Clue to some UFO phenomena from the point of view of science," the author notes that "The Scandinavian countries interpreted the" Petrozavodsk miracle "in their own way: they were sure that the USSR had tested a new miracle weapon and began to bombard the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with protest notes … And the reasons for this were It was the USSR on October 30, 1961, not far from the Scandinavian countries, on Novaya Zemlya, that tested the world's most powerful thermonuclear bomb, the equivalent energy release of which was close to 60 megatons of conventional explosives. (According to the project, it could reach 100 megatons of explosives) Interestingly, the force of the explosion was such that the products of the explosion "broke through" the atmosphere above the epicenter of the explosion, as if lifting the atmosphere above it, and then thrown down. The resulting wave processes in the atmosphere were observed around the globe for more than a day. Of course, the explosion was accompanied by many other high-energy physical processes."
Newspapers “Kansan Uutiset” and “Uusi Suomi”: “On the night of Tuesday, September 20, at 3 hours 6 minutes local time (4 hours 6 minutes Moscow time - approx. Karjalan Lohi) a dazzling flash cut through the sky over Helsinki. The luminous body flew over the capital towards the north."
Plesetsk trace
Some foreign researchers have linked the Petrozavodsk phenomenon with the launch of Kosmos-955 (the Kosmos-955 satellite was launched at 4 am on September 20 from a military cosmodrome near Plesetsk). Although the picture of the observed phenomena did not resemble a launch, it was associated with the entry into the atmosphere and the combustion of the spent carrier rocket.
rupor.sampo.ru
The same Finnish newspapers "Kansan Uutiset" and "Uusi Suomi" published a conversation with a licensee Matti Kivinen, an employee of the Geophysical Observatory in Nurmijärvi. He believes that the celestial body flying over Finland is the remnant of a launch vehicle or an artificial earth satellite. Usually, when entering from space into the dense layers of the atmosphere, they burn or explode, so cases like the present are rare. The scientist added that it is necessary to resolutely discard the philistine rumors that it could be a "flying saucer" or a ship with aliens.
TASS note about the Kosmos-955 satellite / rupor.sampo.ru
In addition to this object, eyewitnesses saw dozens of other unidentified objects in neighboring settlements.
Along with the reports of the phenomenon on September 20, 1977, there were reports of observations of unusual phenomena on other dates, in particular, September 14 and 26. There were several reports of observations of an unusual phenomenon on September 14 from the Ivanovo region.
Official observers and research activities
Observation area: Northwestern region of the USSR (Karelia, Leningrad Region, Pskov Region, Baltic States) and Finland.
The total duration of the phenomenon, that is, the time during which unusual light phenomena were observed at different points - from 3 to 6 hours Moscow time. In order to somehow understand the events, experts have identified three phases of the phenomenon. The first is from 3 to 4 o'clock; the second - about 4 hours, it started at about 4.00-4.05 and lasted 10-15 minutes; the third phase lasted from about 4.15-4.20 until dawn.
Description of the phases: During the first phase, at several points, at different times, the passage of one or several luminous bodies was observed. During the second phase, almost simultaneously at all points, the appearance of a luminous object, the development of a semitransparent shell around it, the appearance of a radiant structure, and the subsequent departure of the object with a change in direction by almost 180 degrees was observed. In the third phase, a stable intense glow was observed near the horizon, which lasted, as already mentioned, until dawn.
Observations
Sortavala hydrometeorological station: The hypothesis of Matti Kivinen, an employee of the geophysical observatory in Nurmijärvi, about the launch of the Kosmos-955 satellite and the combustion of parts of the launch vehicle in the atmosphere, was dispelled by meteorologists of the Sortavala hydrometeorological station, who noted that the object was moving rapidly from the north-east, that is in the direction opposite to the movement of the satellite.
Pulkovo airport: In addition to everything else, three independent observations from the night shift staff of Pulkovo airport appeared. Based on these reports, the beginning of the 2nd phase over Leningrad can be determined: 3.55 - 3.57. Since during the observation of the phenomenon, the controllers were working with the "aircraft" in the air, one must think that they recorded the time quite accurately. If so, then the 2nd phase over Leningrad began before the launch of the Kosmos-955 satellite.
Petrozavodsk Hydrometeorological Observatory: Reports of an unknown phenomenon came also by teletype from the director of the Petrozavodsk Hydrometeorological Observatory Yu. A. Gromov. Thus, they had a completely official status.
Complex geophysical expedition of the Leningrad branch of IZMIRAN: The phenomenon on September 20 was observed by members of the complex geophysical expedition of the Leningrad branch of IZMIRAN, near the village. Lehta, in Karelia. Information was also received on the conducted experiments on sounding the ionosphere. And the authors of the experiment themselves admitted that the impact on the ionosphere could not cause the observed effect.
Conclusions, as always vague and unclear, but interesting: As a result, even after the launch of the official research work, there was no unequivocal answer, what did the inhabitants of the North-West of the USSR observe, and the inhabitants of Petrozavodsk did not even feel. It is not clear where the investigation of this phenomenon of Soviet scientists led.
One thing is certain - the phenomenon of Petrozavodsk served as an impetus for the study of anomalous phenomena in our country. A special group was created at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (under the "Grid of the Academy of Sciences" program). The Ministry of Defense was also involved in the work.
Despite the contradictions in the study of the Petrozavodsk phenomenon, it was with the launch of an artificial Earth satellite that it was eventually linked.
PS
I would like to express special gratitude to the author of the article "Petrozavodsk Phenomenon", who very clearly and clearly outlined the events of that time in his article and which inspired me to create this trilogy and the rupor.sampo.ru website for posting the materials of the official investigation on its website.
With respect, Ilona Krumplevskaya
Read the sequel: Part 3 - Results of my investigation