Almost half a year was spent on organizational measures, and only by order of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences No. 0172 of August 1, 1978, the first list of performers on the research topic "Grid-AN" was determined. It included more than a dozen institutes of the Academy of Sciences, including the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute, where L. M. Gindilis worked, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Space Research Institute, the Institute of Physics of the Earth, the Institute of Oceanology, the Astro Council, the Committee on Meteorites and Space Dust of the SB Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Fig. 40). The head organization was IZMIRAN - Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism and Radio Wave Propagation, which was headed by Corresponding Member. AN V. V. Migulin. On the part of the military, the head organization was NII-22 of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which was headed by Lieutenant General Viktor Pavlovich Balashov. A four-person working group was created in it, headed by Colonel Akhat Abdullovich Abdullin. All interaction between the military and academic areas was coordinated by two candidates of technical sciences - Colonel Boris Aleksandrovich Sokolov from the Section of Applied Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences and Alexander Aleksandrovich Plaksin from the group of Akhat Abdullin (Fig. 41).
In the summer of 1978, strange cylindrical objects were repeatedly observed over the territory of Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. However, only in August, after the order of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, joint meetings of representatives of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Ministry of Defense, the Moscow State Administration and local civil aviation administrations were held.
The first meeting took place in the Lithuanian SSR on August 9-11. The Ministry of Defense was represented by M. A. Storchak from NII-22 and B. A. Feshin from NII-4.
“The work was carried out in accordance with the assignment of the Interdepartmental Group, approved by the deputy. Minister of Civil Aviation and his letter to the head of Lit. RPO GA (Lithuanian Republican Production Association of Civil Aviation. - MG) from 7.08.78, - stated in the official protocol. - During the meeting it was established that in the period from 13 to 31 July this year. on airlines Lit. RPO GA, on the sections of the Chernobyl-Ptich-Cherven, Zheleznogorsk-Gomel, Kazan-Gorky routes, the crews observed anomalous phenomena in the form of luminous objects of various shapes. The influence of these phenomena on the operation of onboard and ground equipment, as well as on the state of the crews was not observed."
Similar meetings were held on August 11-14 in the Byelorussian SSR and on August 16-17 in the Ukrainian SSR.
The Belarusian pilots reported that “from 20.00 on 13.07.78 until 22.00 on 14.07.78, in the area of the Ptich OPRS (within a radius of 50-60 km, at an altitude of about 11-30 km), unidentified flying objects of a cylindrical shape were observed, bright silver in color, with clearly marked side contours."
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From June 26 to July 1978, Ukrainian aircraft crews also observed “unidentified luminous objects of rectangular or cylindrical shape. In the book of briefing and analysis of the flight director of the radar center of the Unified Air Traffic Control System … it is noted that the commander of the Kiev Air Force Association declared gratitude to the commander of the aircraft 46615 (flight 7831) and the personnel of the shift of the Kiev RC for the operational report on the detection of the luminous object on 1978-13-07. at 19.50 in the Khoiniki district. According to the entry in the same book, the case of the discovery of an unknown moving object also took place on 21.03.78 at 23.10 in the Ptich area."
During the work of the interdepartmental commission, 60 testimonies, reports and observation reports were collected. Here are some of them.
On the evening of July 21, the aircraft of the Lithuanian Republican Civil Aviation Production Association performed flight 8052 Saratov-Voronezh-Gomel-Vilnius (commander V. A. Shikunov, co-pilot A. V. Okhlopkov, flight mechanic P. M. Dorofeev, pilot G was also in the passenger compartment). I. Panishchev). The plane was on the Voronezh-Gomel route, 80-100 km beyond Zheleznogorsk. Flight altitude - 3000 m. Below there are rare passing clouds. At 20.30 to the left at an angle of 110-120 degrees to the course, they noticed a shiny cylinder high in the sky, the ratio of length to width is about 1: 6 or 1: 7, the angular size is 10-13 mm at arm's length. The sun was visible in the west, close to the horizon. The object seemed to stand in one place and gradually lagged behind the tail when the pilots approached Gomel. Not far from the lower end of the cylinder, a sort of narrowing was noticeable. The object was observed for about 20 minutes until they began to descend. The pilots did not inform anyone about the observation.
On July 12, 1978, the crew of the AN-24 aircraft abeam the city of Lida, being at an altitude of 3400 m, noticed a white "rectangle" of regular shape, without rounding, with a yellowish tinge hanging high in the sky. It was about the size of an AN-24 aircraft at a distance of 10-12 km. During the observation time, about 5 minutes, its position in the sky and its shape did not change. After the plane turned around, he went out of sight.
On the next day, in Mozyr, eyewitnesses observed “a silvery-white cylindrical object hanging motionless high in the sky, which became invisible at nightfall. It seemed to some that it was spinning. He was seen by aircrews; to inquiries, air traffic controllers replied that there was nothing in the air. To the pilots, it seemed to be folded from two truncated cones, under which it seemed that something was dangling.
These cases were soon solved, although not without difficulty.
“In the summer of 1978, we had a chance to participate in the work of an interdepartmental commission to investigate observations of an anomalous phenomenon on the routes of Aeroflot,” said Lev Mironovich. - It was about observing some anomalous object in the form of a luminous vertical cylinder, which for a long time drifted at heights of more than 10 km in the Gomel region. The message about this came from the Vilnius squadron through the famous Lithuanian astronomer V. L. Straizis. Based on the descriptions of eyewitnesses (civil aviation pilots), Stryzhis estimated the cylinder size to be about 200 m. The nature of the object remained unknown. At the same time, it could pose a danger to aircraft. I contacted the Section of Applied Problems and the apparatus of B. A. Kiyasov. An interdepartmental commission was created, which included representatives of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Higher Education,The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Civil Aviation … The Commission visited the Vilnius, Minsk and Kiev squadrons, got acquainted with tape recordings, magazines and other materials, contacted aerological organizations. In the end, this case was solved. It turned out that there was a large bundle of balls launched from the test site near Rylsk. But initially everyone (including those who concealed information) believed that it was about some unidentified object …But initially everyone (including those who concealed information) believed that it was about some unidentified object …But initially everyone (including those who concealed information) believed that it was about some unidentified object …
In this case, two circumstances are instructive. First. It turned out that eyewitnesses, knowing nothing about the nature of the object, give a fairly reliable description of it, on the basis of which it was possible to correctly determine the main parameters of the object. Second. Departmental disunity and great difficulties in obtaining official information. Despite the high rank of the commission, created under the patronage of the military-industrial complex, we are faced with this circumstance in full.
Some naive people think it's worth calling a civilian or military official, and if he says he doesn't know anything about a UFO sighting, then it never happened. Meanwhile, we are faced with a different situation.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) was under the authority of the Air Force, and in a number of cases they refused to provide the necessary information to a representative of the Ministry of Defense who was a member of our commission, since he belonged to a different branch of the military. The Kiev squadron told us that nothing was observed with them, and refused to provide the necessary information. And when the representative of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (N. I. from the commander of the air force. So a serious investigation of UFO sightings is not an easy matter. And this requires a lot of organizational support at the state level."
On October 18, 1978, representatives of military and civilian organizations gathered at the USSR Academy of Sciences to jointly develop a general plan of action. At the meeting, someone wrote down the most important thoughts of the speakers by hand, and only this nondescript piece of paper kept them for us.
The meeting was opened by Vladimir Vasilyevich Migulin, introducing Yu. V. Platov - the main performer of the "Grid" theme in IZMIRAN. Yuliy Viktorovich, in turn, said that he had outlines of private technical assignments of three types: the first - for services that have systematic continuous and regular observations, the second type - for services and organizations where there are regular but episodic observations, and type 3 for organizations that do not conduct regular observations. Pre-filtering of messages and screening of "junk" information should be carried out on the spot.
The head of NII-22 VP Balashov assured that the USSR Ministry of Defense would prepare instructions for observing UFOs in all branches of the USSR Armed Forces and civil aviation.
“The Ministry of Defense is concerned about the effects these phenomena produce, because they affect the work,” admitted Viktor Pavlovich. - It is required to immediately lay the idea in the study of information and analysis of the reasons. It is necessary for each phenomenon to conduct a comprehensive analysis of all accompanying phenomena, which will allow you to quickly understand its nature. I would like to propose a scheme of work similar to that carried out in the case of Gomel.
In all three areas, methodological materials should be developed. We need a general technical assignment on the topic indicating the role of each performer and a private technical assignment for each performer. It is necessary to create a working group that would meet regularly (at least once a quarter) for mutual coordination.
By the end of the year, there will be a draft instruction, which, after discussion, will be distributed to various branches of the armed forces. If the information received about an unusual phenomenon is of particular interest, a task force should be created to organize an immediate investigation of the circumstances … The salt of our work is not in the collection and generalization, but in in-depth analysis and study of the nature of the phenomena, which would allow us to draw certain conclusions and further use the results.
Then all those present turned to technical issues. Narimanov said that some kind of headquarters at the USSR Academy of Sciences is needed. Migulin replied that this issue will be resolved through Platov as the main representative from IZMIRAN. “The main difficulty is territorial,” he said. - Where is the headquarters located? I will take steps to organize a room in Moscow."
Running a little ahead, I note that the Setka-AN program remained without premises until June 1979, when the Space Research Institute allocated a room for it. But what a room it was! It can be judged about it because with what requests IG Petrovskaya, elected by that time as the scientific secretary of the working group "Grid", was soon forced to turn to the deputy. Director of IKI K. P. Metelkin:
“I ask for your assistance in bringing up room 111 in building B-2.
This room was allocated for the work of the interdepartmental commission on the topic "Grid-AN" in June 1979. From that time to the present day, February 8, 1980, I have applied to the AXO dozens of times with requests for assistance in the repair and to hang the curtain on the window It has not been hung since the heating failure in early October 1979 until now the furniture has not been repaired or assembled in the room. The cabinets are without doors, the battery is not closed, the tables have been assembled, but when you try to move them they are falling apart. Generally they took away somewhere, the portraits were folded in the room, and the telephone wire was cut off. Working in the room is impossible - only chairs are in order. Inviting comrades from other organizations, especially from decision-making bodies, is unthinkable.
As a result of the situation that has arisen, the deputy. academician-secretary of the OOFA of the USSR Academy of Sciences, corresponding member V. V. Migulin. Once again I ask for your assistance."
The work on collecting information from the population was much more successful. All letters about UFO sightings that came to television and to central newspapers, not to mention the Academy of Sciences itself, since 1978 have been transmitted to the Setka-AN program.
“Dear editors! - Tamara Aleksandrovna Demidnonova from Kuibyshev addressed the newspaper Trud on October 29, 1978. - I ask you to explain a very mysterious phenomenon through scientists, through the newspaper.
On September 9, at 18:20 Moscow time, a very large, long, fiery, flat body flew towards the north on the western side of the sky. It did not change in size either along or across. Once a cloud blocked it for a second, but then it continued to fly again and, moving away, disappeared into my field of vision.
It flew on the same level without dropping. Moreover, the impression was that it did not float, as we usually talk about clouds, but flew, as if it had its own flying (propulsion? - MG) apparatus.
Other people have seen this mysterious phenomenon. Could you tell us through the newspaper what it could be?"
Although at that time no new censorship rules were yet developed, her letter did not make it to the pages of the newspaper. It was transferred to the USSR Academy of Sciences with a request to reply to the author. Judging by the absence of marks on the “accompanying sheet”, citizen Demidnonova never received an answer (Fig. 42).
Censorship, however, was not long in coming. The secret order of Glavlit No. 3 dated January 11, 1980 read: "It is forbidden to publish without permission … materials about the so-called" flying saucers "and other" unidentified flying objects "(UFOs)." This permission could only be given by V. V. Migulin and Yu. V. Platov, therefore no articles in favor of the alien origin of UFOs (a hypothesis not shared by the leadership of OOFA and IZMIRAN) had a chance to get into print.
By March 1979, the first version of the "Guidelines for the observation of anomalous phenomena in the atmosphere and outer space and their impact on the environment, living organisms and technical means" was ready, which determined how to observe UFOs, what to register in the first place and where forward messages. The civilian version of the "Directions" began to circulate in the same year, but a similar instruction for the military - only at the beginning of 1980, after the directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces was published.
The Space Research Institute prepared its own version of the Methodological Guidelines, but it was apparently considered too difficult for mass implementation and was practically not used (Fig. 43).
“In parallel with the activities that went through the Academy of Sciences, some other steps were taken in the military-industrial complex,” Gindilis said. - The option of organizing a UFO study group at the Moscow Aviation Institute (Moscow Aviation Institute), where F. Yu. Siegel worked, was being worked out. The idea of organizing a group at MAI, as far as I know, was supported by B. A. Kiyasov. Everything went well at first. Siegel was very excited. He even suggested that I go to work at MAI to join his group. But then everything stalled. The director of MAI did not agree to organize the group. He probably remembered well the troubles that befell him on the party line in connection with Siegel's unauthorized lectures."
Nevertheless, in 1979 Siegel was invited to many meetings of the "Grid-AN". On February 12, 1979, at a meeting dedicated to the Petrozavodsk phenomenon, Felix Yuryevich also expressed his opinion: on that day, about 50 UFOs appeared over the country. He did not take into account that there may be one phenomenon, but so huge and high located that it can be seen just above the entire European part of the USSR. And the source of its origin was found very quickly: at 4.01 am on September 20, 1977, the Kosmos-955 spy satellite was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.
On May 23, 1979, Felix Yuryevich presented to V. V. Migulin “Proposals for the further development of the research work“Grid.”The proposals were not accepted. Then the offended Siegel, who had talked to Migulin to his heart's content, wrote in his next manuscript a year later:
“Gradually it became obvious that V. V. Migulin was not going to calmly and objectively study UFOs … Everything that does not fit into the category of 'atmospheric phenomena', in his opinion, should be considered malicious inventions of sensationalists.” This position was formulated quite clearly. V. Migulin in his interview, published by the newspaper of the Moscow Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Lenin banner" on November 11, 1979.
People like Migulin avoid analyzing specific messages. They prefer to confine themselves to general phrases that hide their complete ignorance of the problem and inability to explain the facts. They are interested in anything, but not in finding out the truth … It is clear that what we have before us is not a seeking thought of a real scientist, but a stupid prejudice …”.
Mikhail Gershtein
Continuation: Expeditions for the unidentified