Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency information report, numbered OO-2-321/15354-66, relays an airline pilot's account of a sighting on 17 June 1966 near the Rudeshur beacon, about 25 miles WSW of Mehrabad Airport, Tehran. Flying at about 18,000 feet, the pilot and the crew of another airliner watched a brilliant white sphere grow in size and fade over four to five minutes. The sphere appeared to lie deep within the Soviet Union. The pilot could not explain it and suggested gases from a man-made explosion lit by the sun.
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# CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY COUNTRY Iran/USSR REPORT NO. OO-2-321/15354-66 SUBJECT Sighting of Unusual Phenomenon on Horizon Near Iranian/USSR Border DATE DISTR 28 SEP 86 NO PAGES 2 REFERENCES Responsive to DATE OF INFO 17 Jun 86 PLACE & DATE ACO ## SOURCE On 17 Jun 66, at 2142 hours, local time, I observed a strange phenomenon on the horizon. As we were approaching the Rudeshur beacon, located approximately 25 miles WSW of Mehrabed Airport, Teheran, we suddenly observed a brilliant white sphere approximating the coloration and intensity of full bright moon. The sphere appeared suddenly and at the firstighting was approximately three times the size of a full moon. At the moment, we were flying at approximately 18,000 feet on a course of 070 degrees at a speed of about 200 knots. The sighting occurred just as we prepared to fly a circular pattern over the Rudeshur beacon prior to descending to a lower altitude and heading for Mehrabed Airport. We observed the sighting throughout the time we circled the Rudeshur beacon, a time we later calculated to be of four to five minutes duration. I would estimate the position of the sphere to be on a heading of 010 degrees and deep within the Soviet Union, perhaps north of 60 degrees latitude. During the four to five minutes that I observed the sphere, it continued to grow in size as its intensity diminished. Toward the end of this period it became very faint and its enormous size seemed to fill the sky. The base of the sphere appeared to rest on the horizon throughout the period it was observed, indicating that the center of the sphere was rising during the time that it was expanding. The weather conditions were excellent and the unusually clear sky afforded unlimited visibility. 2. Another airliner at a slightly lower altitude also observed the phenomenon and we exchanged remarks about it. On landing at Nahrahed Airport some 20 minutes later, we discovered that the phenomenon was not seen from the ground except possibly during the very last stages. At that point, since the intensity had so markedly diminished, it would go unnoticed unless
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 2 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.