UFO sightings in Russia

In a report that was provided by two Russian UFO investigators, Dr. Yuliy Platov and Colonel Boris Sokolov, in 2000, it was clear that the 13 year study had revealed very little to support the existence of Aliens, at least in Russia. However, they did admit that there were some cases that remained unexplained.

Sokolov gave his explanation for an event that happened in October 1982, which appeared on an ABC Prime Time Live program. Interviews with former Russian military personnel described a 900 foot wide UFO hovering over their missile base (near Khmelitskiy in the Ukraine), causing the command consoles to “prepare for launch” for 15 seconds, before returning to normal. According to Sokolov, who was involved in the investigation, 50 people witnessed bright flashing objects on the northern horizon, in the form of "a balloon”. Within hours his team had located records of parachute flares and night-bombing exercises occurring at another military base in precisely that direction at precisely that time. Sokolov and Platov added “that the fault of the operation of the command post equipment had nothing to do with the observed phenomena, it just completely accidentally coincided in time.”

Balloons often get a mention in UFO sightings, and they do move in an odd way sometimes, suggesting that they may not be controlled by natural forces. Whilst the balloon explanation by Sokolov was probably the correct one on this occasion, it can’t be applied to all sightings (especially the famous Roswell incident).

During their study, no Alien abductions were reported and they made the following comment “This means that either the territory of the USSR was, due to any reasons, closed for alien visitations during, at least, 13 years, or that the hypothesis of an extraterrestrial origin of UFOs is inconsistent. Any serious investigator of the problem of UFOs should, at least, face this reality.”

It is of course true that many “abductions” exist only in the minds of the “abductees”, whose imaginations have strayed a little too far from reality. But as we know, many abductions are not so easy to dismiss and warrant more serious investigation.

Some Soviet sightings have come from very credible sources, such as Cosmonaut Victor Afanasyev, who in 1979 (while on his way to the Soviet Solyut 6 space station) claimed he saw a UFO turn toward his craft and begin tailing it through space. He gave the following report “It followed us during half of our orbit. We observed it on the light side, and when we entered the shadow side, it disappeared completely. It was an engineering structure, made from some type of metal, approximately 40 meters long with inner hulls. The object was narrow......and inside there were openings. Some places had projections like small wings. The object stayed very close to us. We photographed it, and our photos showed it to be 23 to 28 meters away”. When the cosmonaut returned to earth he was debriefed and told never to reveal what he knew, and had his cameras and film confiscated.

It is perhaps fair to say that the 13 year study mainly involved reports from military personnel, but UFO sightings are frequently mentioned by the general public. In the last 15 years I have listened to many UFO reports from the general public, and I have no reason to assume that these are attempts to obtain publicity. Most of these stories (if not all) have never been officially reported, as the people concerned were afraid the authorities would not take them seriously or perhaps might create unnecessary attention. Sadly, there are few sites that specialize on this subject in Russia, so the majority of reports remain unpublished.

This is something I would like to change and I would very much like to hear about UFO sightings (or abductions) that have taken place in Russia. Hopefully, if there is a good response, I may be able to persuade a leading news supplier (in Russia) to create a special section for this, which will encourage others to share their experiences and offer feedback. Please send me an email if you have a story to tell, your details will remain confidential unless you confirm that this information can be revealed.

If UFOs and Aliens interest you, you may enjoy reading this book**