Mysterious objects and phenomena in near-earth space have always been observed. Not knowing their nature and causes of occurrence, a person explained them based on his experience, his knowledge. In prehistoric times, in the era of the ancient world and in the Middle Ages, celestial objects and phenomena, as a rule, were associated with divine nature.
The development of science and technology has brought new ones to the existing interpretations. So, in the XIX century. some celestial objects were associated with balloons that appeared, a little later - with airships, then - with airplanes.
Petrozavodsk phenomenon. Artist drawing
The dissemination of information about mysterious celestial objects and phenomena was facilitated by the invention and development of telecommunications, the development of the media (mass media).
By the middle of the XX century. a significant part of the Earth's population living in developed countries started talking about celestial objects and phenomena. On the one hand, this is due to the rapid and successful development of aviation and rocket and space technology, as well as the exploration of first the stratosphere, and then the near-earth space (geocosmos). On the other hand, there was a high awareness of large groups of the population as a result of the improvement of telecommunications and the media.
Rare celestial phenomena began to be called unidentified flying objects (UFOs, or in English UFO).
Soon the topic of UFOs became one of the most resonant. Numerous amateurs began to study it (a class of ufologists was formed), several military groups in a number of countries and individual scientists.
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The number of ufologists was multiplying, which cannot be said about the results obtained by them.
The military came to the conclusion that UFOs do not pose a threat to the security of their countries, and in fact stopped the study of these objects. However, the possibility is not ruled out that the military in a number of countries continues research, making their results secret.
And scientists dealt with the problem sporadically, with small forces and not very effectively. Why did it happen? To answer this question, you need to understand if there is a subject for discussion at all?
… We want not only to know how nature works (and how natural phenomena occur), but also, if possible, reach a chain, perhaps utopian and daring in appearance, - to find out why nature is like this and not another … In this, scientists find the highest satisfaction. And Einstein.
Principles of the scientific paradigm. The scientific paradigm is based on several well-known principles. Let's list them briefly.
1. The presence of the subject of research.
2. Availability of adequate methods for studying an object or phenomenon.
3. Materiality of manifestations of an object or phenomenon.
4. Reproducibility and repeatability of results.
5. Compliance | at least partial) effects and processes known laws of nature.
Consider how these principles relate to the UFO phenomenon.
Subject of study. It is estimated that the total number of UFO sightings around the globe over the past 50 years has exceeded 2 million. Experts know that only about 10% of those who observed this or that event inform others about it. Therefore, we can assume that the number of observations actually exceeds 20 million.
Such a number of cases of observation in different parts of the globe, by different persons with different life experiences and education, can hardly be explained by suggestion, hallucinations or hoaxes. It looks like there is a research subject.
Research methods. The main method for studying the phenomenon of NGOs is visual observation, sometimes accompanied by fixation on photographic film or magnetic tape. Radar observations are used less often, and even less often, the study of failures and violations of operating modes of technical products. The use of special instruments and devices for detecting UFOs should be considered quite exotic.
Thus, the research methods, although with a number of reservations, can be considered adequate. Of course, in order to study new phenomena, new methods of their investigation must also be developed.
Materiality of the phenomenon and its manifestations. UFOs are observed not only visually, but also on radar screens, they can often be photographed, filmed with a video camera. As already mentioned, in a number of cases the presence of UFOs was associated with failures (changes in operating modes) of technical means.
This means that the recorded UFO manifestations are material.
Reproducibility. Repeatability. It was noted above that over the past 50 years, the UFO phenomenon could be observed more than 20 million times. If we take into account the unevenness of the population on earth's land, the area of inhabited territories, the unevenness of observations by the time of day, then the number of manifestations of the phenomenon may be 1-2 orders of magnitude greater, i.e., approaching 0.2-2 billion cases. Average expected frequency of manifestations the UFO phenomenon can exceed the value of 0.1 * 1 event per second.
Enviable repeatability. But this is only at first glance. This array of observations is not homogeneous. The phenomenon can be explained by dozens of known sources and causes (see below). Even the manifestations of the phenomenon due to the same source, depending on the observation conditions, can differ significantly. Some phenomena occur very rarely (on the scale of human life). For example, the fall to the Earth of an object with the energy (mass) of the Tunguska body is expected with an average frequency of one event in 100-200 years. These reasons are not limited to the heterogeneity of the massif.
Nevertheless, with certain reservations, one can agree with the assumption that for some classes of the phenomenon under discussion, repeatability exists.
Compliance with the laws of nature. When explaining natural phenomena, a researcher must rely on existing laws. If it is not possible to interpret all the manifestations of the phenomenon on the basis of these laws, a hypothesis is put forward that can explain the mentioned manifestations.
The hypothesis should allow one to interpret the maximum amount of details of the manifestation of the phenomenon. The conditions of observation, if possible, are chosen as follows. so that the testability of the formulated hypothesis is comprehensive.
If the hypothesis was confirmed, researchers try to expand its scope, try to predict and test new phenomena or their manifestations. After establishing the limits of applicability, the hypothesis acquires the right to exist, becomes a theory or its element.
Looking ahead, we can say that most of the manifestations of the UFO phenomenon can be explained by experts with known reasons. To interpret the remaining small part of the events, about 50 hypotheses have been put forward, of which only 5-10 can be recognized as scientific.
WHO IS STUDYING THE UFO PHENOMENON AND HOW?
There are two ways to slide through life psho: either to cook in everything, or to doubt everything, both of which frees you from the need to think, and Poincaré.
Truth is the daughter of time, not authority. F. Bacon
UFOs are "studied" by an army of amateur ufologists. As a rule, they "know" and the nature of UFOs. Often. UFOs are ships (probes) of extraterrestrial civilizations. The main study method is visual observation of a UFO or its consequences. Favorite tool - dowser frame or its substitute. Amateurs also use household appliances (background radiation meters, dosimeters, radios, thermometers, etc.). cameras, film and video cameras and even try to apply statistical analysis. Unfortunately, they usually interpret various fluctuations in instrument readings as effects.
The manifestations of the UFO phenomenon were studied by a small group of military personnel. For the first time such a group was created in the USA 50 years ago. It existed for about a quarter of a century.
Events in the former USSR developed as follows
The military repeatedly observed something incomprehensible, both visually and with the help of radars. The corresponding reports went up. There they were not taken seriously. But the quantity sooner or later turns into a new quality.
The last straw that overflowed the bowl was the excitement around the "Petrozavodsk miracle", which took place on September 20, 1977 (more on it later). The Scandinavian countries interpreted the "miracle" in their own way: they were sure that a new miracle weapon had been tested in the USSR and began to bombard the USSR Foreign Ministry 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.
In October 1977, on behalf of the country's leadership, a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Military-Industrial Complex was held in the Kremlin. General B. A. Kiyasov chaired. The Council decided to include the study of anomalous phenomena in the state plan of scientific research work of the USSR Ministry of Defense for 1978. Soon, a special laboratory was created in TsNII-22 of the USSR Ministry of Defense to implement the decision.
The main nucleus of the small laboratory was the lieutenant-captain-major, who held the positions of an engineer or junior researcher. The head of the laboratory appears to have been a PhD in engineering.
The specialists from the laboratory had some knowledge in the fields of electronics, radar, computer science and geophysics. Their role was reduced to the collection of information coming from military units, its preliminary analysis and to the development of instructions for and interaction * of military personnel with UFOs when meeting them.
The laboratory existed for over ten years (until the collapse of the USSR). Its role in the systematization of facts was undoubtedly positive. The range of equipment used to observe the phenomenon was expanded. By order of the laboratory, a number of institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences created a complex of original equipment for fixing UFO manifestations. The measurement results confirmed the materiality of these manifestations.
It is important that a map of the anomalous zones of the Soviet Union was drawn up. The number of such zones exceeded several dozen It is interesting that many of them ended up in the Moscow region, not so far from the Kremlin.
Could one laboratory have solved the UFO problem? As time has shown, it is impossible.
Well, what were the scientists doing? They should be divided into three groups.
The first of them, the most numerous, was practically not interested in the UFO phenomenon. Its representatives winced, reading (more often putting aside) the next "sensation" of the writing fraternity.
Another group, relatively small in number, solved their problems, UFOs were like a hobby for them. In the meantime, representatives of this group tried to express their attitude towards UFOs.
Finally, the smallest group (units) studied the manifestations of UFOs. getting paid for it.
Even a very talented candidate of sciences was unable to solve the UFO problem. The main difficulty was that the UFO phenomenon has natural scientific, philosophical, psychological and social aspects.
The UFO problem is interdisciplinary. To solve it, it would be necessary to create an academic institute, inviting there prominent scientists, specialists in the field of solar-terrestrial physics, physics of geocosmos, geophysics, mathematics, computer science, electronics, medicine, psychology, sociology, etc.
The Institute must work in cooperation with other research, scientific and industrial organizations, have solid and stable funding, first-class equipment.
The institute should be headed by a person akin to IW. Kurchatov or SP Korolev, with the same powers as the creators of nuclear or missile weapons.
Will the government of at least one of the developed countries of the world go for it? Hardly. To do this, the government needs to promise something like a nuclear bomb or a carrier rocket for this bomb, and the return of scientists should be immediate and promising.
We must not forget that ordinary people and not very conscientious journalists have “tarnished” the reputation of the discussed phenomenon and developed a negative attitude towards it, including among government officials.
In the meantime, the UFO phenomenon remains the stepdaughter of science.
It is pertinent to note that until the end of the 20s. of the last century as a stepdaughter was, for example, rocket science. Serious physicists did not want (did not see the point) to deal with complex physical and technical problems, without the solution of which the creation of a ballistic, let alone a space rocket, was impossible.
Significant forces and means by a number of states (and primarily the USA and the USSR) were attracted only after the creation and use of a military missile by Germany.
In the same way, at first there was no rush to develop a uranium bomb. Until this was pushed by the enemy.
EXAMPLES OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
The stars are clear, the stars are high! What do you keep in yourself, what do you hide? S. Yesenin
It was noted above that the problem of UFOs for the last 50 years has attracted special attention of the general population, including amateurs, military personnel and individual scientists.
The term itself is about the same age. The name of the UFO is unfortunate. Usually we are talking about anomalous aerospace phenomena (AACP). Moreover, these phenomena most often find an explanation and become normal. Therefore, it would be more accurate to talk about rare or exotic, and not anomalous phenomena.
The term exotic aerospace phenomena (EACP) seems to be convenient. Of course, this term can also have disadvantages. Therefore, the work uses mainly the traditional name - UFO.
The modern history of UFOs began on June 24, 1947, when the American K. Arnold “. noticed nine strange objects, one of them resembled a crescent moon with a small dome in the middle, eight others were flat discs glistening in the sun. " He "estimated" (I wonder how?) The speed of objects - about 2700 km / h. Arnold claimed that they moved "like a saucer thrown over the surface of the water." Later it was not possible to find any traces of "saucers", but the words "saucers" (the journalists transformed them into "saucers") firmly entered the lexicon of authors writing about UFOs.
It is curious that such objects in Ancient Egypt were called "luminous circles", and in Ancient Rome - "flying shields".
In subsequent years, the number of UFO sightings and the number of publications about them increased rapidly. Let's look at some examples
1. "Petrozavodsk Phenomenon" (Izvestia newspaper, September 23, 1977).
“… On September 20, at about four o'clock in the morning, a huge“star”suddenly flashed in the dark sky, impulsively sending sheaves of light to earth. This "star" was slowly moving towards Petrozavodsk and. spreading over it in the form of a huge "jellyfish", it hung, showering the city with a multitude of the finest ray streams that gave the impression of pouring rain. After a while, the radiation ceased … The whole phenomenon … lasted 10-12 minutes."
How did the experts explain this phenomenon?
Official authorities and media. worried about what had happened, did not know who to contact. It seemed to them that the director of the Petrozavodsk hydrometeorological station Yu Gromov should know everything about the "sky" due to his duty. He said that “the workers of the Karelian meteorological service have not observed any analogues in nature. What caused this phenomenon, what its nature is, remains a mystery, for no sharp deviations in the atmosphere … have been registered … We also know that no technical experiments were carried out in our area at that time … This cannot be classified as a mirage either, because there are many eyewitnesses to this unusual phenomenon, whose testimonies are identical …"
For now, we note that the director did not know about all the technical experiments - and he could not have known, since most of them were strictly secret. The director of the Main Astronomical Observatory B, A. Krat suggested that the observed phenomenon was caused by the passage of a meteor.
The figure shows the Petrozavodsk phenomenon as seen by the artist.
Hypotheses were put forward of "a breakthrough of stratospheric ozone into the upper layers of the troposphere", "electrical discharge" of a specific form, etc. But all of them were far from the truth.
2. Global celestial UFO armada. On the night of June 14-15, 1980, a luminous "airship" was observed over the European part of the USSR. One of the eyewitnesses wrote: “The NGO was extremely similar to that one. which sailed over Petrozavodsk on the night of September 20, 1977, although this one turned out to be much larger … It was a really awful sight, I immediately realized that the reddish semicircle must be an extraterrestrial spacecraft, as I studied NPO for many years … ". Note that the author of this letter is a civil engineer. So he studied UFOs from newspaper reports. The price for such reports is well known.
UFOs that night were also observed in the Saratov region “… At 23 hours 50 minutes Moscow time… from the north-west. a comet appeared about 3 above the horizon. The diameter of the comet's head was approximately T. Approximately three minutes later, the comet's head bifurcated - the main part turned northeast and, flying at a satellite speed of about 60-. disappeared over the horizon. The rest of the comet was brighter, but wider.."
An observer from Moscow described the following: “… at exactly 11.55 pm, from the window of an apartment facing north, I saw a bright glow appear in the night sky. Exactly in the north, at a height of 2-3 above the horizon, a luminous and swirling stream of silvery-yellowish color was visible. In the head of this stream, a bright ball of bluish hue was seen, entangled in a light dust of silvery glow. The ball moved to the southeast, gradually rising above the horizon. Behind him was a smoky, brightly glowing plume, which gradually swelled, keeping up with the ball.”The effect lasted about 5 minutes.
Some idea about the described phenomenon is given by photos with optical effects that occur after spacecraft launches. The observer believed that it was a UFO take-off from the Earth into the stratosphere (altitude no more than 12-15 km). On the same day, an hour later, UFOs carried out a raid on a number of countries in South America.
3. Altai duet. S. Smolin from Altai on August 14, 1983 observed the following: “At 23 hours 54 minutes (local time - author's note), I saw two large stars that flew from northwest to southeast at the speed of a passenger plane. They kept an interval of 3/4 of the moon's diameter between themselves. Most likely, these were the side lights of some object … Above me both lights slowed down and … stopped … and then went out …"
4. Mysterious fireworks over Europe. It happened on December 2, 1983. The author of this article was returning home from work at about 9:45 pm Moscow time, walking along a long alley in the park. Something caught my attention. Looking up, I saw that more than 20 objects, brightly glowing in all colors (but mainly hot tones), were falling directly from above on me. The angular size of the swarm was 2-3 degrees.
In the first moments I thought that a nuclear missile war had begun (in those years - the years of the Cold War - it was possible) and multiple warheads were falling on Kharkov. (The author knew how many and what American missiles were aimed at his hometown, how many warheads approximately and what power these missiles were supposed to carry).
Why are there so many warheads and why they shine so brightly? ” My experience and knowledge suggested that this should not be. After a few seconds, I realized that these objects were moving silently in parallel courses from west to east. They flew from zenith to horizon in about 1-2 minutes. Each object was accompanied by a whitish tail.
As a physicist, I needed to explain this phenomenon. I found the explanation the next day, when I learned that a similar picture was observed over Poland and the Donbass, the cities of Kiev and Rostov-on-Don at about the same time (the difference was several minutes). This made it possible to calculate the height and speed of objects. After that, everything became clear.
This is what other residents of Ukraine observed.
The pilots saw “a huge plane moving silently below the clouds … It had eight engines, a low speed (up to 1000 km / h) and an altitude of up to 10 km. All the windows shone brightly …"
The village grandmother saw "a monster that first burned and then settled in a neighbor's garden."
Curiously, the chauffeur mistook the swarm of objects for "a bus interior with brightly lit windows."
In a word, everyone saw that. what I wanted to see … This is how a person is made. What he does comes to mind first. The profession and life experience leave a serious imprint on the way and style of thinking, on the method of analyzing the observed facts.
5. Mysterious party balloons. An amateur astronomer from Togliatti reported: “On August 17, 1988 … I saw three bright circles on the southern side of the sky, each slightly larger than the lunar disk. It was 10:15 pm local time (or 21:15 Moscow time - author's note) … Through a telescope with a 32-fold eyepiece, it was seen that they were a blue haze, which began to expand and gradually fade away. Simultaneously, all three spots slowly moved to the east, gradually merged into one cloud and went out. All this happened in 3-8 minutes. It is important that the balls were observed at a height of 15-20 ° above the horizon.
This is what was observed on the same evening in the area of Novorossiysk. In the northeastern side of the sky at an angle of S-15: above the horizon “On August 17, between 21.10 and 21.30 (Moscow time), four balls appeared in the sky … Each resembled the full moon … The reddish-yellow discs formed a quadrangle. Some balls changed color to greenish-blue, others remained the same until they disappeared."
The media again turned to meteorologists for clarification. The head of the hydrometeorological office suggested that this was a mirage, the phenomenon was not similar to those known to her (rainbow, false suns, crowns, and others). And in the latter she was not mistaken.
In the Rostov region, this phenomenon was also observed after 21 h: “… in the eastern edge of the sky, quite high, a fire-colored dot flared up, instantly expanded, like in the explosion of a flare, to the shape of a regular ball, became the size of the full moon. The color turned into an ominous red, and then a second point appeared a little lower. While the first ball changed color to turquoise, then blue, the newly formed point increased. Its final size is the size of a soccer ball … Meanwhile, obliquely, but below, a third dot flashed, It grew, changed with the same color sequence … All this merged into a single cloud. The color changed from blue to whitish, and this cloud swam to the south. All this lasted about fifteen minutes."
The described spectacle was also observed by the author. And not by chance, but in accordance with the plans of his scientific work, set, as they said, by the directive bodies of the Soviet Union. For this, more than ten special sets of equipment were used. The painting was colorful and bewitching. Even more interesting and informative was the "radiophysical picture" of the phenomenon, recorded by the above complexes.
The phenomenon was also observed by many residents of the eastern part of the city of Kharkov. The next day, numerous calls fell from them in an avalanche. The author of the article had to get away with jokes. The true sources of these "UFOs", well known to the author, could not be named for the reasons that are set out below.
It is curious that Academician L. and Professor R. became involuntary witnesses of these events. They fished in different places on the Volga. Both are physicists, but that night they failed to unravel the celestial phenomenon. One of them suggested that it was ball lightning. How far this hypothesis was from the truth.
INTERPRETATION OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE UFO PHENOMENON
… Along with the forces of nature, social forces also come into play - forces that confront man as just as alien and as inexplicable for him as the forces of nature … Engels
Now let's give a scientific explanation of the AACL topics described above.
1. "Petrozavodsk Phenomenon". The first and correct, but far from complete, interpretation of the phenomenon was given by a specialist from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States) D. Oberg. He knew that on September 20, 1977 in the USSR at 4:00 01 min (Moscow time) from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk region) a satellite "Kosmos-955" was launched with an almost circular orbit (altitude 630-660 km) and an inclination an orbit of about 81 ° (meaning that the launch direction was almost the same as north).
The Plesetsk cosmodrome is located far to the north (63 ° N). In summer (but not autumn) time, the Sun does not set below the horizon. The trajectory of the rocket was illuminated by the Sun all the time. Therefore, the observed effects were due to the scattering of sunlight on the combustion products of the rocket engines. The point in front of the cloud was a rocket torch. (A torch is a luminous plasma formed by the rocket's combustion products).
This interpretation is one-sided, the observed picture was much larger and more colorful. How to explain this "miracle"?
The thing is. that the Petrozavodsk phenomenon was prepared by natural processes. So, on September 16, 1977, solar flares, unique in their strength, were recorded. They "spoiled" the space weather.
Perturbations from the Sun of a certain nature can reach the Earth even after several days. They change the geocosmic weather, that is, the state of the magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere. Against the background of these changes, the Petrozavodsk phenomenon was observed.
That is why not every rocket launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome leads to the phenomena that took place on September 20, 1977. This, if you will, is the main solution to the phenomenon.
It is also important that the high-latitude atmosphere and geocosmos differ significantly from the mid-latitude ones. At high latitudes, various physical phenomena and variations in space weather (auroras, magnetic storms, etc.) are more pronounced.
We also add that the mysteries in the "Petrozavodsk phenomenon" (by the way, the distance Petrozavodsk - Plesetsk is 330 km) would have been much less if at that time the broad masses knew that there was a secret military rocket launcher in Plesetsk. The latter was specially camouflaged. At one time, for example, in order to hide the highway approaching it, it was painted blue. According to the plan of the military counterintelligence, this was to be observed from the reconnaissance satellites as a ray (?).
2. Global celestial UFO armada, Effects over the European part of the USSR were also caused by the launch of the next satellite "Kosmos-1188". which occurred at the Plesetsk cosmodrome at 23 hours 50 minutes The maximum range at which the object is still visible above the horizon is related to its height above the Earth's surface.
For example, the distance from Plesetsk to Saratov is about 1300 km. The rocket is visible in the city of Saratov if the minimum altitude is close to 130 km. The Plesetsk - Moscow distance is 900 km, and the minimum height is 60 km. Since the object was already above the horizon at an angle of about 3 , the minimum height must be increased by 45 km. For Moscow and Saratov, the height was 100 and 200 km, respectively. To rise to such an altitude, the rocket needs about 3-5 minutes.
How to explain the globality of the effect? After all, the anomaly was observed over South America about 1 hour after the launch of the rocket (distance about 25 thousand km). This is how much time is needed for the spacecraft to cover the specified distance. What is the specific cause of the UFO effect? Of course, not the spacecraft itself. At a satellite height of about 600 km, it had too small angular dimensions. It's all about draining the remaining fuel from the third stage of the rocket. The atomized fuel caused the scattering of sunlight and the observed processes (over South America at this time it was evening twilight). The correct interpretation of the described effects was also given by D. Oberg.
3. Altai duet. What happened here at 23 hours 54 minutes local time or 19 hours 54 minutes Moscow time? It turned out that on August 14, 1983, at 06:04 pm, the Kosmos-1443 satellites undocked from the Salyut-7 orbital station, at 19:50 they flew over Altai and were illuminated by the Sun. It was already night on the surface of the Earth, the distance between the spacecraft was about 5 km. which with their height above the surface of about 300 km and a distance of 500 km to the observer gives an angular size of 0.6 ". The witness observed the angular distance between the" stars "equal to 3/4 of the diameter of the Moon, or 0.4 * (the angular size of the Moon is 0, 5 °).
Thus, the estimate is in good agreement with the result of observations. Let us add that after undocking the vehicles moved with a relative speed of the order of 1 m / s.
4. Mysterious fireworks over Europe. Since the effect was observed over the city of Kharkov about 2.5 min later than over Poland (the distance is about 1200 km), the speed of the object was about 8 km / s. Since the object was observed almost simultaneously over all of Ukraine (its length is 1000 km), its height was about 100 km.
At such altitudes with a speed close to 8 km.'s. falling "satellites are moving. that is, spacecraft that have worked out their time and are more uncontrollable. Since at altitudes of 100 km the air density is already quite high (10 thousand times more than at an altitude of 300 km where satellites usually fly), the spacecraft, due to friction against the air, quickly decelerates, heats up strongly, melts and breaks down into separate fragments. The remains of the apparatus, heated to a temperature of about 3000 K, intensely emit light of various colors, which was observed during the mysterious "fireworks".
Later, when the author was in the suburbs, on a business trip in one of the "mailboxes", space control specialists confirmed that the remains of the "Cosmos-1509" satellites had really burned that night.
5. Mysterious party balloons. Suppose the author does not know the origin of these balls. We will argue as follows.
First, let us determine the point where the bearings intersect, that is, the observation lines, from Togliatti (to the south) and from Novorossiysk (northeast). This point is located about 100 km south of Volgograd, where the first Soviet rocket launcher Kapustin Yar is located. In relation to the Rostov region, it really is in the east.
Now let's define the height of the balls. From Tolyatti, they were observed at a distance of 500 km at an angle of 15-20-. and from Novorossiysk at an angle of 10-155. Then the height of the balls above the Earth is 125-170 km for Togliatti and 130-200 km for Novorossiysk. As you can see, these estimates are in good agreement with each other.
What happened over the Kapustin Yar rocket launcher at an altitude of 125-200 km? Judging by the height of the balls, their color and observation time (it is twilight on Earth, and the ionosphere at the indicated heights is illuminated), rocket experiments were carried out in the geocosmos with the release of substances easily ionized by sunlight, such as sodium, lithium, cesium, barium oxide, etc. color occurs as a result of an increase in the degree of ionization.
Indeed, at 2100 hours Moscow time, barium was injected into the ionosphere at altitudes 173, 184, 185, 169, and 154 km. So there should be five "balls" in total. The first three of them were formed during the rise of the rocket, and the other two - during its fall. It is clear that at a great distance some of the "balls" merged.
Now you can name the exact geographic coordinates of the rocket launch site: 48:40 "from w … 46" 48 'east, Let's estimate the size of the balls. At a distance of 500 km (Rostov Region - Kapustin Yar), the sphere had the size of the Moon. that is, about 0.5 / Then the diameter of the balls was 4 km. With this size, the characteristic diffusion time is several minutes for an average altitude of 150 km. which is also consistent with observations.
The experiments of the type described in those years pursued two goals - scientific and military-applied.
In the first case, the plasma dynamics was studied, the processes in the geocosmos were refined.
In the second case, the possible elements of the "asymmetric response" of the Soviet Union (as the leader of the USSR M. S. Gorbachov called the response) to the American SDI program (SDI - strategic defense initiative - multi-echeloned US missile defense) were worked out.
That is why such experiments were top secret, and therefore unknown to many and many witnesses of "mysterious balls" in the sky. Not knowing the true distances to the object, its size, the observers took them for UFOs.
We add, and now the United States, having unilaterally terminated the agreement with the legal successors of the USSR - Russia, is speeding up the creation of a national missile defense. We can expect an increase in the number of active experiments, and hence "UFO" over the American continent.
»Science and Technology 2012
