Incident · 20 September 1977 · Petrozavodsk, Karelian ASSR, USSR
Petrozavodsk jellyfish light (Soviet Karelia, 1977)
Also known as Petrozavodsk phenomenon, Petrozavodsk 1977, Петрозаводское явление, Petrozavodsk jellyfish
Explained. The coordinators of the Soviet state programme attributed the display to the launch of the satellite Kosmos-955 from Plesetsk, with some further effects from a failed ballistic-missile test launched in the same region at practically the same time. (Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000)
Before dawn on 20 September 1977, residents of Petrozavodsk and of a wide area of north-western Russia watched a vast light display for several minutes. A TASS report in Izvestia three days later described a huge star sending down sheaves of light, spreading over the city like a jellyfish and showering it with fine rays, then moving off towards Lake Onega; the head of the local weather observatory said his staff had never seen anything like it. It was also seen and photographed in Finland, and neighbouring countries asked Moscow whether it was a dangerous military experiment.
The case had institutional consequences. The Academy of Sciences told the Military-Industrial Commission that it could neither ignore nor explain such phenomena, and the commission's council met in October 1977. That meeting led to Setka, the Soviet state programme on anomalous phenomena that ran from 1978 to 1990.
The programme's own coordinators, physicist Yuli Platov and Col. Boris Sokolov, later identified the display as the launch of the satellite Kosmos-955 from Plesetsk. They tied some further effects to a failed ballistic-missile test launched in the same region at almost the same time. Jonathan McDowell's launch catalogue puts the Kosmos-955 launch at about 4 a.m. Moscow time that morning, the hour the TASS report gives. Platov and Sokolov explain such displays as sunlight scattered by a rocket's exhaust cloud above 100 km, seen by observers still in darkness, sometimes thousands of kilometres from the launch site.
Sources: Platov & Sokolov, Vestnik RAN 70(6), 2000 (quoting the TASS report in Izvestia, 23 September 1977); Jonathan McDowell, GCAT launch list (entry 1977-091)
Facts and claims
- documented Explanation: the coordinators of the Soviet programme on anomalous phenomena wrote that the "Петрозаводское явление" was caused by the launch of the satellite Kosmos-955 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome: "обусловленное запуском искусственного спутника Земли "Космос-955" с космодрома Плесецк". A number of additional effects were linked to an unsuccessful test launch of a ballistic missile in the same region at practically the same time. Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
- documented Jonathan McDowell's launch catalogue (GCAT) lists Kosmos-955, a Tselina-D satellite, launched on a Vostok 8A92M from Plesetsk (NIIP-53, pad LC43/4) on 20 September 1977 at 01:00:59 UTC, that is about 04:01 Moscow time, matching the "около четырех часов утра" of the TASS report. Source: planet4589.org (archived)
- documented On 23 September 1977 Izvestia printed a TASS report: at about four in the morning of 20 September a huge "звезда" flared up in the dark sky over Petrozavodsk, "импульсивно посылавшая на землю снопы света", moved slowly towards the city, spread out over it like a huge "медузы" and hung there, showering it with fine rays; it then became a bright semicircle and moved off towards Lake Onega. Witnesses said the whole display lasted 10–12 minutes. Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
- documented The TASS report quoted Yu. Gromov, director of the Petrozavodsk hydrometeorological observatory, that the weather-service staff of Karelia had never observed anything like it in nature: "аналогов в природе работники метеослужбы Карелии не наблюдали". Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
- documented Platov and Sokolov describe the witnesses as very numerous and of many professions: ambulance crews, police officers, sailors and dockers of the lake port, servicemen, airport staff and an amateur astronomer. The same display was seen far from Petrozavodsk; in Finland it was recorded on several photographs. Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
- documented Local authorities asked the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences for an explanation, and several neighbouring northern European states asked its president whether the effects came from military-technical experiments dangerous to the region's environment. Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
- documented Academy president A. P. Aleksandrov wrote to L. V. Smirnov, chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission, that "Академия наук СССР более не может игнорировать, равно как и не может объяснить аномальные явления, аналогичные тому, что наблюдалось в сентябре 1977 г. в Петрозаводске", asking for comprehensive research with the Ministry of Defence. The commission's scientific-technical council met on it in the Kremlin in October 1977 and recommended the research that became Setka (1978–1990). Source: Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000
Connected files
Incidents
- Aeroflot flight 8352 light near Minsk (1984) (similar to) — Another light display over the north-western USSR that was later put down to a rocket launch
Documents
- Platov & Sokolov, "Study of unidentified flying objects in the USSR", Vestnik of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000 (documented in)
People
- Yuli Platov (explained by) — With Boris Sokolov, attributed it to the launch of Kosmos-955 from Plesetsk
- Boris Sokolov (explained by) — With Yuli Platov, attributed it to the launch of Kosmos-955 from Plesetsk
Programs
- Setka ("Net"): Soviet state programme on anomalous phenomena, 1978–1990 (led to) — The Academy of Sciences' request after Petrozavodsk led to the October 1977 meeting that set up the programme
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