Document · April 1990
CIA/FBIS Foreign Press Note FB PN 90-123: "USSR: UFO sightings no. 2 — General Maltsev comments" (1990)
A Foreign Broadcast Information Service press note, produced for the CIA and released under FOIA in its UFO collection as C05516709. It translates and summarises the Soviet press reports on the 21 March 1990 air-defence alert near Pereslavl-Zalessky and Zagorsk, north-east of Moscow. The core is the material the chief of the Main Staff of the Soviet Air Defence Forces gave to Rabochaya Tribuna: an interceptor pilot's report, a radar post's log, officers' observations and his own assessment. It also covers the newspaper's editorial claims and other Soviet sightings of the period.
The note relays what the Soviet newspaper printed. The underlying military documents have not been published in full.
Sources: CIA FOIA C05516709 (FB PN 90-123)
Facts and claims
- documented The note summarises the 19 April 1990 Rabochaya Tribuna report on sightings of 21 March, which printed excerpts of documents submitted by Col. Gen. of Aviation Igor Maltsev, chief of the Main Staff of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The paper could publish only a few of the "more than 100 visual observations" compiled by commanders of air-defence units of the Moscow Military District, after radar stations and aircraft were put on alert to detect and identify objects near Pereslavl-Zalessky. Source: doc-cia-fbis-pn-90-123.pdf
- documented Interceptor pilot Lt. Col. A. A. Semenchenko reported taking off at 21:38 and visually detecting a target marked by two flashing white lights at 22:05. It changed altitude by up to 1,000 m and did not respond to IFF. He closed to about 500–600 m, passed above it, saw only the two lights and "briefly saw the silhouette of the target against the background of the illuminated city", but could not determine its nature. Source: doc-cia-fbis-pn-90-123.pdf
- documented A radar observation post near Pereslavl-Zalessky logged a shining object with red lights, followed by one with white lights, from 21:19, at ranges of 40–100 km. It recorded hovering, disappearances and reappearances, an approach towards an airliner, and the object vanishing as a fighter approached. Captains V. Birin, V. Ivchenko, N. Pilatov and I. Lapin described a disc-like object with two bright pulsating lights flying S-turns. Source: doc-cia-fbis-pn-90-123.pdf
- documented Maltsev: "I am not a specialist on UFOs and, therefore, I can only correlate the data and express my own belief." He described a disc of 100–200 m with two pulsating side lights, moving silently at 1,000–7,000 m at up to 2–3 times the speed of modern jet fighters. He said it was seen as a radar pip on aircraft sights and electronic surveillance screens, adding that "At one station, no observation was established." Source: doc-cia-fbis-pn-90-123.pdf
Connected files
Incidents
Organizations
- Central Intelligence Agency (published by)
Videos
More documents
- RNZAF UFO file AIR 1080/6/897 Vol. 1: investigation of the December 1978 east-coast South Island sightings (Kaikōura)
- Brazilian Air Defence Command report on the events of 19–20 May 1986 ("Official UFO Night")
- Spanish Air Force file 670603: aircraft and radar encounter over Montánchez, 3 June 1967
- Project Blue Book case file: Haneda AFB, Japan, August 1952
- Project Blue Book case files: Chorwon, Korea, May 1952
- U.S. Defense Attaché / DIA report: UFO sighting in Iran, 19 September 1976 (NSA-released reproduction)
Links
- CIA FOIA release C05516709 (copy via The Black Vault)
- CIA Reading Room — UFOs: Fact or Fiction? collection