CIA-UAP-010: Report on Conversations with Soviet Scientists on Subject of Unidentified Flying Objects in the USSR

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Approved for Release 2026

21 AUG 1967
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.

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COUNTRY USSR
REPORT NO. OO-B-321/23490-67
SUBJECT Report on Conversations With Soviet
Scientists on Subject of Unidentified
Flying Objects in the USSR
DATE DISTR. 18 AUG 67
NO. PAGES 2
[Marginalia: 165,22-64]

DATE OF INFO. May 1967
REFERENCES (351)
PLACE & DATE ACQ. USSR; May 1967

THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION

SOURCE US citizen; an astrophysicist on the staff of a large research in-
stitute. The information in this report was extracted from a memorandum he
wrote for his superiors.
[This report was developed by an Air Force (AFNIN) representative as-
signed to the office of preparation.]

1. This report is an account of conversational exchanges on the subject of
UFO's during the course of a one-month trip of a US scientist through
the USSR in the spring of 1967, for the purpose of visiting several astro-
nomical observatories having staff members engaged in planetary research.
The only scientists contacted during the trip who expressed strong in-
quiries concerning Soviet observations and interpretations of UFO's
were a minor aspect of the trip. Within these limitations, an attempt
was made to assess Soviet scientific thinking on this controversial
topic.

2. He visited V.I. Moroz, Sternberg Institute, Moscow, who was noncommit-
tal on the subject of UFO's. The scientist who served as translator,
a radio astronomer, emphatically stated that he knew of no sightings
of UFO's in the USSR and added with a laugh that if they were only seen
in the US, they must be of Soviet origin.

3. At the Pulkovo Observatory, Leningrad, one of the astronomers mentioned
that she had heard of some sightings of unidentified objects near the
Caucasus. She was unaware of any study being made of them but was open-
minded on the subject.

4. The US scientist's main visit was to N.A. Kozyrev, who was very inter-
ested in the problem. He had read Menzel's book (which has been trans-
lated into Russian) but did not accept his conclusions. Kozyrev knew
of some sightings in the northern part of the USSR, but said that re-
ports of such sightings are not printed in Soviet newspapers because
they are not regarded as scientific observations. (Comment: this is
interpreted to mean that the Soviet newspapers tend to print ra-
ther fantastic reports of hypotheses and "observations" suggested by the
more imaginative members of the scientific community. Apparently some
official sanction is needed.) Kozyrev has been interested in US re-
ports of UFO's for several years and readily accepts their reality.
In fact, it is his personal opinion that the UFO's may originate on Venus. He is well
aware of the negative effect of "enlightened" scientific opinion on
the interpretation of questionable observations as he has had personal

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experience of this effect. (Comment: Kozyrev is a controversial figure
in the Soviet scientific community as well as internationally. Appar-
ently one of his questionable observations (the activity of the central
peak in the lunar crater Alphonsus) has turned out to be correct. On
the other hand, it is really more accurate to say that this observation
led to an intensive search for activity on the Moon and has produced
some positive results. There may be no connection between the two sets
of data, however.)

5. At the Main Astronomical Observatory, Kiev, little interest is shown in
the UFO question. I.K. Koval mentioned that he and several other as-
tronomers had been out in the countryside one evening and had seen a
curious, reddish object flashing through the sky that they were convinced
was neither a satellite nor a meteorite. However, their immediate in-
terpretation was that this object might have been a fragment of a satel-
lite or rocket returning from orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Koval
thought that UFO's had been seen in the USSR but he could not be specific
as to locations and characteristics.

6. At the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Crimea, again little interest
was shown. One of the astronomers, L.I. Galkin, was with the group men-
tioned by Koval and confirmed the observation of a peculiar object. He
did not discuss the experience in detail but clearly had been struck by
the possibility that the object might have been a "saucer."

7. At the Astrophysical Institute, Alma Ata, there was considerable interest.
The institute includes an Atmospheric Optics Section presided over by
G.S. Lifschitz. However, the initial discussion of the problem was with
the director of the institue, G.M. Idlis. He too had read Menzel's
book, but considered it an adequate treatment of the subject which he
consequently felt was closed. He indicated that no observations of UFO's
had been made by his staff and that they had received no reports of such
observations. However, when the US scientist proceeded to indicate the
results of McDonald's critical study of the problem, Idlis readily con-
ceded that there might be more to it and concluded by stating that it
was "clearly still an open question."

8. Another astronomer mentioned that in the northern part of Kazakhstan
there had been repeated sightings of ball lightning. The University in
Alma At. had sent a team out to investigate and discovered that what was
being seen were reflections of automobile headlights from an inversion
layer.

9. Later, a discussion was held with Lifschitz. He was not very impressed
with Menzel's book, but was also not impressed with the significance of
the phenomenon. It is possible that some interest was kindled that might
lead to additional investigations.

10. A stellar spectroscopist, Dr. FNU Kupo, was also interested in this
problem, partly as an adjunct to her attempts to locate fragments from
bolides. She was also dissatisfied with Menzel's book and felt that
there was definitely an opportunity for additional research.

11. The general feeling one gets is that no official treatment of the UFO
problem has been given in the USSR. Instead people refer to the US
work, principally Menzel's book, to demonstrate the absence of real
scientific problem. At the same time, there is an almost universal
awareness of the history and characteristics of the phenomenon often as-
sociated with considerable interest. The result is that a demonstration
of the inadequacy of US Official explanations coupled with some proof of
the reality of the observations might excite enthusiasm more rapidly
among Soviet astronomers than among their US counterparts who are more
strongly influenced by the official ridicule associated with UFO's in
the US.

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