Of the numerous CIA documents declassified in recent years that mention UFOs, one of the strangest is called "The President of Somaliland talks about a mysterious explosion." This document in PDF version can be seen from the link on the CIA website.
Somaliland is an unrecognized state in northern Africa, officially part of Somalia. It emerged in 1991, and in 1996 a highly mysterious incident took place on its territory.
Due to the remoteness of the scene from large settlements, the details of the incident turned out to be impossible to find out. Someone said that a rocket exploded there, others assured that it was a UFO crash. Very quickly, CIA agents became interested in such rumors, as well as the President of Somaliland, Muhammad Egal (died in 2002).
Timothy Ekott, a British journalist for the BBC's Focus on Africa program, tried to get the details of the incident from Egal.
Egal: “We have cryptic messages from groups of nomads from that area and I sent a commission of four people there, as well as two doctors, one veterinarian and a minister. They sent in a report that sounded very disturbing. According to them, this incident occurred two weeks before their arrival in the area and they saw local animals that seemed to go berserk. They could not graze properly, and in panic they ran everywhere."
Ecott: "You said the animals looked distraught, but how did the same affect the people living there?"
Egal: “Those of them, who were close to the zone, had a rash, and some of them suffered so much that they were covered with boils. Someone had severe abdominal pains and at the same time they felt very unusual movements in their stomachs in the region of the stomach. In addition, many other symptoms have been reported. We sent additional doctors there to assess the damage to people and animals."
Only poor nomads lived in the area of the incident.
Promotional video:
Ecott: "Did anyone get to see the moment of the explosion and what caused it?"
Egal: “The locals say that there was no noise until the explosion, it is likely that what exploded was moving at supersonic speed. And when it exploded, it was VERY VERY loud and everything around was flooded with white light. But in fact, there is such a large area that it is impossible to fully survey and search for any remaining debris."
Ecott: "Can any of your people confirm what some journalists have suggested that it could be a UFO?"
Egal: “No, no, no. We do not make any fantastic assumptions. We think it was a rocket that exploded. Deliberately released in our direction or carelessness occurred, we cannot say. The British, French and especially Americans who follow the world should probably know what really happened. If it were Saddam Hussein, it would have been written about it long ago in the world's newspapers, but apparently the one who shot is on the “good lists” and they don't want to write about him. However, we want to know what happened to us."
Ecott: "Was there someone who offered to help you care for the sick and wounded?"
Egal: "Well, we have sent our inquiries to the American Embassy, British Embassy, French Embassy, BBC and Reuters and so far no one has answered."
Unfortunately, no other details about this mysterious incident are known to this day.
