Ufological situation
The word "Russia" will include in our review not only the Russian Federation itself, but also the surrounding countries, which were part of the USSR until the early 1990s. The ufological history of these countries can be divided into the communist and post-communist eras, which are fundamentally different from each other. Until 1990, ufological research in the country was carried out in secret, private research was banned, and KGB agents infiltrated the ufological groups, after which they were dispersed. The UFO phenomenon was also partially used for political purposes in the Cold War.
With the fall of the communist system, the true scale of ufological activity in the country, in which, apparently, over a million observations were recorded, became apparent. The phenomenon attracted considerable interest from both amateur UFO groups and an unusually large number of professional scientists who reveled in their newfound freedom. However, this euphoria also had a downside. The media, also taking advantage of unprecedented freedom, relished the many reports of UFOs, and a tabloid press mentality that had long established itself in the West quickly took shape in society. It is known that the Moscow defense units began to deal with ufological topics at least since 1955. The CIA kept a close eye on this activity, which was part of the Cold War intelligence goals. Interest in the events in the USSR was also fueled by the suspicion, characteristic of the early stage of UFO research, that the aircraft found over the territory of the United States, in fact, belonged to the Russians. After a major wave of UFO sightings near top-secret US nuclear missile sites coincided with the launch of the Soviet satellite, which marked the USSR's victory in the space race, Americans' fears increased many times over. The impression was that the USSR is calling on the United States and other major European countries to unanimously silence the true scale of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, hiding information under the communist regime did not present any particular difficulties.actually belong to the Russians. After a major wave of UFO sightings near top-secret US nuclear missile sites coincided with the launch of the Soviet satellite, which marked the USSR's victory in the space race, Americans' fears increased many times over. The impression was that the USSR is calling on the United States and other major European countries to unanimously silence the true scale of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, hiding information under the communist regime did not present any particular difficulties.actually belong to the Russians. After a major wave of UFO sightings near top-secret US nuclear missile sites coincided with the launch of the Soviet satellite, which marked the USSR's victory in the space race, Americans' fears increased many times over. The impression was that the USSR is calling on the United States and other major European countries to unanimously silence the true scale of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, hiding information under the communist regime did not present any particular difficulties.as if the USSR was calling on the United States and other major European countries to unanimously silence the true scale of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, hiding information under the communist regime did not present any particular difficulties.as if the Soviet Union is calling on the United States and other major European countries to unanimously silence the true scale of the UFO phenomenon. Of course, hiding information under the communist regime did not present any particular difficulties.
In the early 1990s, countries and republics of the former Soviet bloc enjoyed the freedom that opened up access to the hitherto officially taboo UFO mystery. The first Hungarian book fair aroused great interest, and writer Jenny Randle flew to Budapest where she gave several TV interviews.
In 1967, a name appeared in the Soviet press and on television that for most ordinary people today is associated with the typical image of a "crazy American obsessed with UFOs." We are talking about a scientist trained in cosmonauts, Dr. Felix Siegel. Over the next 15 years, he actively promoted ufological topics, collecting eyewitness testimony and, apparently, speaking on behalf of a research group specially organized for this purpose. An analysis of the situation, carried out by American space experts, revealed a number of curious facts. Observations of gaseous light formations in the sky have repeatedly coincided in time with Soviet missile launches from the military cosmodrome in Plisetsk. It was soon suspected that the USSR was using UFOs as a diversionary maneuver.dulling the vigilance of society to its own space programs. If people begin to think of the lights in the sky as alien flying vehicles, they will no longer be interested in the true nature of these objects, which, perhaps, represent nothing more than an expensive and potentially dangerous weapon, often using nuclear reactors as a propulsion device. Since several major disasters occurred during the launch of missiles both in the USSR and in the United States at that time, the authorities felt that propaganda of the topic of flying saucers could prevent many unnecessary questions. If so, is it any wonder that the Soviets chose to stifle private UFO research. Siegel, who died in 1988, still enjoys a high reputation in the Russian UFO community as a pioneer of serious research. In Russia, it is believed that the authorities used it without his own knowledge.
An independent researcher who has experienced the KGB's methods of work reported that after pressure from the Soviet government, forcing him to curtail his studies, he was forced to leave the country, entering into a fictitious marriage with a Finnish citizen, a fan of UFO topics. The suppression of interest in UFOs continued throughout the 70s and only gradually began to weaken in the 80s, when the policy of glasnost liberated public thinking.
The turning point came in March 1983, when the radar tracked a UFO that passed over a secret aerospace base in the city of Gorky. Subject did not respond to radio messages calling for an identification signal. The case was taken so seriously that the government hastily drew up plans to create a major research ufology project. It is possible that the authorities were prompted to take action by another incident, which occurred a few months later, when an emergency happened over Sakhalin Island - an even more secret Soviet air corridor - which was mistaken for an accidental missile launch. This time, a fighter was raised to intercept the UFO, which appeared on the radar screen and refused to change course, which blew the object to pieces. By a tragic coincidence,the unidentified object turned out to be a Korean passenger airliner deviated from the route. All passengers were killed. There was no official confirmation of any connection between the incident and UFO activity, but the veil of secrecy surrounding the UFO theme around the world made this case to be perceived as a harbinger of future disasters. The muffled voice of international protest, emanating, in particular, from the Pentagon, may have been the result of total silence.and was the result of total suppression.and was the result of total suppression.
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In the meantime, a new project was launched in the USSR, and the public was called for the first time to report their observations.
And messages poured in a stream. By the time the communist regime collapsed in the USSR, there were already recorded cases of contacts with aliens and even abductions, as well as many other close contacts of the most strange nature.
The history of the creation of the first large public group of Russian researchers, Aura Zet, was even reflected in the television series Dark Skies, which is called a fictional secret Soviet project, carried out in collaboration with a similar kind of secret American UFO group.
Contacts
UFO sightings in Russia date back centuries, including the spectacular 17th century near Robozero incident, which was the first known episode of physical traces left after a UFO landing. Regarding the colossal explosion on the Siberian river Tunguska in June 1908, controversy continues to this day. Was it the explosion of a small comet or an alien nuclear-fueled rocket? Both versions have their supporters.
The picture of devastation after the explosion of an unknown object over the Siberian taiga in June 1908. The most diverse versions of what happened were offered - from the fall of a meteorite to the crash of an alien spacecraft.
The damage done to the local fauna and taiga within a radius of many kilometers is still visible to the naked eye.
One of the most serious air contact dates back to September 29, 1967. A passenger liner flying from Zaporozhye to Volgograd met strange lights on the way over Ukraine. The engines stalled and the plane lost control and descended to a dangerous altitude before the UFO disappeared and the crew was able to restart the engines.
A typical example, most likely mistaken, of mistaking a missile launch for a UFO was the case in Petrozavodsk on September 20, 1977, which was observed by many eyewitnesses. The episode was reported on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Eyewitnesses saw in the sky a huge "jellyfish" - a slowly growing luminous cloud, which caused panic, as it was mistaken for a nuclear explosion. Today it is known that the reason was the launch of a rocket from a military base, but the terrified residents found out about this only after a few years.
Another cloud-like UFO was spotted on 7 September 1984 from a passenger liner flying from Tbilisi to Tallinn. At 4:10 am, in the Minsk region, all crew members saw a yellow cone of light extending to the ground. Then the cloud expanded and turned into a greenish fog, which blocked the plane's path and chased it for some time after the plane had passed the meeting point with the object. The cloud was colossal, changing its shape and emitting flashes of light. Ground radar in Minsk did not detect anything, but at the airport they saw flashes on the horizon. The passengers of the plane were frightened, although they tried to assure them that it was just dawn. There is good reason to believe that crew members witnessed an experiment in which a rocket exploded a gas cloud,so that the state of the upper atmosphere can be monitored by the nature of its expansion. However, Moscow has officially denied this version. In March 1985, the Academy of Sciences, citing an official investigation, concluded that the incident was a real UFO contact.
But perhaps the most famous case in the USSR occurred in October 1989, when all countries of the world received a message from TASS that the aliens had landed in a park in Voronezh. This news was an official statement, and the most authoritative journalistic agencies in the world, having received an offended response "TASS never jokes" to their inquiries, relayed a report about this incident, although both before and after it they ignored much more convincing evidence of the events that took place " under their very noses. " A group of children spoke about lights in the sky and robotic creatures, with varying degrees of credibility. It was not about an individual observation, but about a whole burst, although most of the reports were dubious. Scientists' promises to demonstrate the presence of radiation in the contact area were broken when it turned outthat the effect could be the consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
Much more interesting is the case that took place on December 2, 1989 near the Kiev suburb of Ozirchina. It was one of the first cases to undergo a private UFO investigation: a month after contact, an exotic group of scientists of all stripes, from engineers to chemists, visited the site where two men saw the plate-shaped object landing on a frozen lake. Three creatures a little over a meter in height in silvery suits and masks wandered around the apparatus. Seeing people, they instantly disappeared, after which the gray metal object rose into the air and soon disappeared from view. There were imprints on the ice, bordered by a small circle of yellowish tint. It was obvious that the ice had cracked under the weight of the UFO.
The nature of the investigation into this case demonstrates the difference between Russian ufology and the situation in most other countries. In addition to the usual research methods - interviewing eyewitnesses, photographing the scene of the incident, and taking soil samples - some very non-standard procedures were performed. Physicists and other scientists of rather unexpected professions have collected "circumstantial" evidence at the contact site, including the detection of unusual energies by the dowser method.
These strange techniques were used to identify "hot" and "cold" areas, and although there were indeed fractures in the ice, more conventional research methods did not reveal any unusual properties of the ice. It can be said that the report on the investigation paid much more attention to the "psychic" data than any other aspects of it, which is very typical for Russia. So, some major newspapers interpreted the case in Voronezh in such a way that scientists actually managed to find physical evidence of the presence of UFOs, as if they were not aware that in fact it was about data received from dowsers and psychics.
The site of the impact on the ground near Vladivostok, where in 1986 a luminous UFO crashed into a hillside.
Waves and special zones
Since the collapse of the USSR, a particularly large number of diverse contacts have been noted in Estonia. Nothing is known about the existence of more specific special zones. The period from September to December 1989 was the apogee of a large wave in Russia; it was during this period that most of the most interesting cases known to date were recorded.
Author: Randles Jenny. From the book: “UFO. Sensational eyewitness accounts"