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Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973

Central Intelligence Agency · 1973-12-20 · 3 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Central Intelligence Agency Intelligence Information Report, distributed in December 1973, relays information from a former Soviet citizen about the Sary Shagan weapons testing range in the USSR. It covers the range's facilities, security, headquarters and warhead checkout unit, along with warheads for the System-75 (SA-2) and System-300/Aldan (ABM-1 GALOSH) missiles and rumored laser research. It also reports that in late summer 1973 the source saw a silent bright green circular object at Site 7 that formed concentric circles and faded within minutes.

From the source: Release of 2026-05-22 Incident: 12/20/73, USSR. Released with redactions. This document is a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence information report (IIR) that describes human intelligence gathering activities in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This report characterizes its content as informational, not as finally evaluated intelligence. In section 14 of this document, the source describes an incident occurring in summer of 1973, where he allegedly observed an airborne, luminous, bright green, unidentified object. The source described concentric circles forming around the phenomenon over a period of several minutes, before it dissipated. The source also stated that no sound attended the observation. The source offered no opinion on the nature of the phenomenon and was unable to provide further details regarding the incident.

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4 •
10. Besides the Syste~-75 SA-21 warheads, Site 4 also
chec~ed the warheads fo~ a missi:e(sJ know~ as the System-300
and/or Aldan. (Field Comment: :.ou;ce did not ~new if Aldan was
another· name for tf:e Svstem-.~a,, ,.iss.:.:r:, ::ir : f ·,:.c-y v,ere two
similar missiles.j The System-3(·0/A.lchn ,.._.r.1r;1ea.:;; :.:ifter being
checked at Site 4 were taken to ~-.it~-for laun-:hing. According
to rumor, the missile ~as for antimissile defense (nrotivo
raketna~a oborona - PRO). (Fie}d Comment: Sour-:e 1dent1fied the
System- ~oa;Alctan m1ss1le in avafj able rererence materi?.l as the
ABM- I/GALOSH.)
li. The warhead for the Sy5tem-300/Aldan missile was about
two meters long and 80 to 100 certimeters 1n diameter. The war
head weighed approximately 400 kilograms, and it ~ontained an
unrecalled number of black cassettes, 45 x 12 centimeters, which
housed an unknown .number of meta] balls (shariki). Warheads for
the Sys:em-75 [SA-2) missile had approximately 100 grey cassettes,
30 x 7 centimeters, each of which held about 200 to 300 meLal balls,
each no more than 1.5 centimeters in diameter. (Field Comment:
Source had no knowledge regarding nuclear warheads. He opined
that all systems could be equipped ~ith nuclear warheads. However,
Source stated all work done by his department was basically
experimental (opytnaya) .J •• •
13. According to hearsay, ecperiments involving laser weapons
were being conducted at an unknown location at the range. Sup
posedly, the tests involved powe:i:--Eul antennas (no further details).
14. On one evening in late :,ummer 1973, Source observed an
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Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 3 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.