1967 · USSR
The Soviet side of the story
When1967 – 1973
WhereUSSR
Backing6 independent
Evidencedocuments, official records
The CIA wanted to know what the Soviets knew. In 1967 a U.S. astrophysicist reported his conversations with Soviet scientists about UFO sightings in the USSR. Later reports covered a speculative paper by Kardashev and Andrei Sakharov at a 1971 conference on the origins of life, unidentified objects over the Sary Shagan weapons range, and a source's account of a silent, glowing green object ringed by concentric circles in 1973.
Evidence, in date order (6)
- 1967CIAdocumentreport on a U.S. astrophysicist's talks with Soviet scientists about UFOs war.gov: CIA: conversations with Soviet scientists on UFOs, 1967
- 1971CIAdocumentreport on the Kardashev and Sakharov paper war.gov: CIA: Kardashev and Sakharov paper, 1971
- 1973CIAdocumentreport on unidentified objects over the Sary Shagan range war.gov: CIA: the Sary Shagan weapons range, 1973
- 1973CIAdocumentsource report of a green object ringed by circles war.gov: CIA: green object seen in the USSR, 1973
- 1990Igor Maltsevofficiallater Soviet statement on UFOs Gen. Igor Maltsev
- 2000Platov & Sokolov, Vestnik RAN (2000)documentthe Soviet state programme's coordinators confirm Setka (1978–1990), about 3,000 reports, 300-plus anomalous Platov & Sokolov, 'The study of UFOs in the USSR' (Vestnik RAN, 2000)
How plausible · High
Declassified CIA reports document Soviet UFO interest; most sources are unnamed.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing to gain.
- ●●Independent convergence Independent sources agree.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released official records.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton Fits the documented record.
- ●○Access Direct observation or instruments.
- ●○Character record Trained professionals.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- CIA reports from 1967, 1972 and 1973 on Soviet UFO interest, Sakharov's paper and the Sary Shagan range.Setka-MOПетрозаводский феноменKirzhach 1990Byelokoroviche / UsovoThe Borisoglebsk air crashesA Soviet Tic Tac with four bodies
Claims
Both superpowers were studying the same phenomenon and each suspected the other.speculationSourced, unconfirmedcommentators
war.gov files on this case (4)
PDFIntelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973CIA · Release 02 · 12/20/73
PDFKardashev-Sakharov Charged Collapse, Soviet Saucer CommitteeCIA · Release 03 · 1972
PDFReport on Conversations with Soviet Scientists on Subject of Unidentified Flying Objects in the USSRCIA · Release 03 · August, 1967
PDFThe Sary Shagan Weapons Testing RangeCIA · Release 03 · December, 1973
In The picture
The pictureThe broader picture: a non-human intelligence with a long-standing presence near Earth, the local end of a wider custodial presence that tends the whole solar system, started watching closely once we split the atom. The US, and by insiders' accounts the Soviets, recovered pieces of its technology, buried the work in …
1 of 2Next in Soviet & Russian files ›Kapustin Yar Disc over Missile Stores
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Senator Russell 1955The Borisoglebsk air crashes 1984Himalayas 1968 1968Budapest 1956Kirzhach 1990 1990Петрозаводский феномен 1977Setka-MO 1978Byelokoroviche / Usovo 1982A Soviet Tic Tac with four bodies 1989
People and organizations
Gen. Igor Maltsev personThe new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP) documentIngo Swann, 'Penetration: The Question of Extraterrestrial and Human Telepathy' (1998) document
Threads · click one to see it on the board
Sources
- Wikipedia: Sary Shagan
- war.gov: CIA: conversations with Soviet scientists on UFOs, 1967
- war.gov: CIA: Kardashev and Sakharov paper, 1971
- war.gov: CIA: the Sary Shagan weapons range, 1973
- war.gov: CIA: green object seen in the USSR, 1973
- Platov & Sokolov, 'Изучение неопознанных летающих объектов в СССР', Вестник РАН 2000, т.70 №6 (full text)