It could be argued that the former Soviet Union was, and in some ways still is, one of the most mysterious countries
in the world. Under the old Soviet regime the borders were closed and it was extremely difficult for soviet citizens to
leave either officially or unofficially. News of any kind was difficult to obtain as the state controlled all of the news
networks and then of course there was the language barrier also. It is not surprising therefore that news and
information concerning the UFO subject was also difficult to come by. However, thanks to the hard work and
endeavour some details of a number of interesting UFO sightings did make it to the west. The Latvian town of Riga is
a fine example. Terrorised by the Nazis during World War Two, and hidden behind the iron curtain, this pretty Baltic
state left a significant mark on Soviet ufology thanks to a sighting and film of a UFO in the early 1960’s.
There had been rumours of the following incident for many years but the story we have now did not reach us until
l996. In August of 1961, a test flight of the then most modern Soviet military jet fighter was to take place. Naturally
the Soviet military top brass wanted to film the entire event. This film could then be used to help demonstrate the
might of the Soviet air force. A film crew, headed by Victor Dudinsh, was commissioned for that exact purpose.
Dudinsh and his crew set up their equipment close to the jet fighter in question and positioned themselves right
where this gleaming aircraft was to take off and land. On the day in question over 100 Soviet military officers were
there to watch the show. The assembled military and film crew readied themselves for take off but nothing happened.
The pride of the Soviet air force sat motionless on the tarmac. It simply refused to work. It had been checked and
rechecked the day before without any problems, but now it would not work at all.
While the pilot tried in vain to once again start the jet’s engine a sinister sound pierced the air and a very strange
object appeared in the sky above. This strange object seemed to appear out of nowhere and everyone gathered
there that day got a birds-eye view of it. Fear seemed to grip the assembled military officers and it is alleged that they
began to panic and run off in all directions. Dudinsh, however, being the true professional that he was, held back his
own fear and began to film this strange object. He focused his camera on the object, pressed the start button before
he himself eventually ran off to a nearby shelter. Witness testimony stated that the object did not descend; instead it
would disappear then reappear and moved in a strange and erratic fashion. This movement went on for a few minutes
when things got even more bizarre. The object was now illuminated by the sun behind it and an entity of some kind
was observed outlined by the sun and the clear blue sky behind the object. The object itself was reported as being
triangular in shape and rather than fly off into the distance it seemed to simply melt away as if becoming invisible.
in the world. Under the old Soviet regime the borders were closed and it was extremely difficult for soviet citizens to
leave either officially or unofficially. News of any kind was difficult to obtain as the state controlled all of the news
networks and then of course there was the language barrier also. It is not surprising therefore that news and
information concerning the UFO subject was also difficult to come by. However, thanks to the hard work and
endeavour some details of a number of interesting UFO sightings did make it to the west. The Latvian town of Riga is
a fine example. Terrorised by the Nazis during World War Two, and hidden behind the iron curtain, this pretty Baltic
state left a significant mark on Soviet ufology thanks to a sighting and film of a UFO in the early 1960’s.
There had been rumours of the following incident for many years but the story we have now did not reach us until
l996. In August of 1961, a test flight of the then most modern Soviet military jet fighter was to take place. Naturally
the Soviet military top brass wanted to film the entire event. This film could then be used to help demonstrate the
might of the Soviet air force. A film crew, headed by Victor Dudinsh, was commissioned for that exact purpose.
Dudinsh and his crew set up their equipment close to the jet fighter in question and positioned themselves right
where this gleaming aircraft was to take off and land. On the day in question over 100 Soviet military officers were
there to watch the show. The assembled military and film crew readied themselves for take off but nothing happened.
The pride of the Soviet air force sat motionless on the tarmac. It simply refused to work. It had been checked and
rechecked the day before without any problems, but now it would not work at all.
While the pilot tried in vain to once again start the jet’s engine a sinister sound pierced the air and a very strange
object appeared in the sky above. This strange object seemed to appear out of nowhere and everyone gathered
there that day got a birds-eye view of it. Fear seemed to grip the assembled military officers and it is alleged that they
began to panic and run off in all directions. Dudinsh, however, being the true professional that he was, held back his
own fear and began to film this strange object. He focused his camera on the object, pressed the start button before
he himself eventually ran off to a nearby shelter. Witness testimony stated that the object did not descend; instead it
would disappear then reappear and moved in a strange and erratic fashion. This movement went on for a few minutes
when things got even more bizarre. The object was now illuminated by the sun behind it and an entity of some kind
was observed outlined by the sun and the clear blue sky behind the object. The object itself was reported as being
triangular in shape and rather than fly off into the distance it seemed to simply melt away as if becoming invisible.
UFO OVER RIGA by Paul Stonehill & Philip Mantle
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Philip Mantle is an
international author,
researcher, lecturer and
broadcaster on the UFO
subject. His book ALIEN
AUTOPSY INQUEST is
available now via Amazon.
He can be contacted on
email at:
philip@mantle8353.fsworld
.co.uk
international author,
researcher, lecturer and
broadcaster on the UFO
subject. His book ALIEN
AUTOPSY INQUEST is
available now via Amazon.
He can be contacted on
email at:
philip@mantle8353.fsworld
.co.uk
| Copyright © 2009 JFS |
After the UFO had disappeared the nervous Soviet military
slowly emerged from their various hiding places to discuss
what they had just witnessed. There was apparently no
doubt in their minds that they had witnessed something
that was not of this world. Dudinsh ran back to his
camera which was still working. The film had run out and
he wanted to take it to the lab nearby to process it
accordingly. He was prevented from doing this however by
the base commander who confiscated the entire film.
It will probably not surprise you to learn that some time
later the KGB arrived and took the film away with them.
Despite this, Dudinsh persuaded the commander to take
statements from all of the eyewitnesses. Most witnesses
did as they were requested and put down in writing what
they had seen. The jet-fighter pilot that day was the first
to sign his official statement. The pilot also mentioned
that he believed that it was the presence of the UFO that
made his aircraft malfunction that day as well.
slowly emerged from their various hiding places to discuss
what they had just witnessed. There was apparently no
doubt in their minds that they had witnessed something
that was not of this world. Dudinsh ran back to his
camera which was still working. The film had run out and
he wanted to take it to the lab nearby to process it
accordingly. He was prevented from doing this however by
the base commander who confiscated the entire film.
It will probably not surprise you to learn that some time
later the KGB arrived and took the film away with them.
Despite this, Dudinsh persuaded the commander to take
statements from all of the eyewitnesses. Most witnesses
did as they were requested and put down in writing what
they had seen. The jet-fighter pilot that day was the first
to sign his official statement. The pilot also mentioned
that he believed that it was the presence of the UFO that
made his aircraft malfunction that day as well.
Some time later Dudinsh did discover that he had indeed captured the UFO on film that day and that many of the
eyewitnesses were officially debriefed and informed not to speak of the incident again. Somehow details of this
incident did leak out to the west and enquiries followed as a result. The official Soviet media published a report that
the object in question that day was nothing more than a meteorological probe (balloon). The story ended there.
Researchers tried for years to obtain further details but all to no avail.
Like their counterparts in the west, UFO researchers in the east tried to continue their research into this incident and
published their findings. Eduard Mirov is one of those who perused this case with some vigour. He published his
account of it in NLO magazine (issue #13, l996). Now perestroika was in the air and apparently Boyev obtained
permission to view the film of the incident. At the time he was preparing material for use in a TV documentary
featuring UFOs over the USSR. Now, the KBG, weakened by glasnost and the other changes sweeping the USSR,
relented and released everything. The famous soviet UFO researcher V.S.Troitsky was assisted by Boyev and
together they attempted to get to the bottom of this matter. The first public screening of this film took place in
somewhat strange circumstances. It was shown in the giant hall of the Institute of High Temperatures and was filled
to the ceiling with UFO debunkers. It was exactly midnight when the room lights were dimmed and the film illuminated
the screen.
Mirov also went on to say that Dudinsh’s film was shown to many people including Arthur C. Clark who remained
unconvinced by it. An un-named New Zealand TV production company are supposed to have offered $50,000 (US
dollars) for it and many years later a number of former Soviet military men including air force colonel Arvid Igorevich
Mordvin-Schedro did confirm that a UFO did indeed appear over the Baltic that day.
The 30-second film was played to a silent audience and they sat watching the UFO over the airfield. As soon as the
film was finished the room exploded into a mass of discussions, arguments and counter-arguments. As these
discussions finally ended in the early hours of the morning there seemed to be an overall opinion of a feeling of
outright disgust of how the Soviet regime had handled the UFO phenomenon. As a result, expert opinion was now
sought and they were convinced that this time it was no meteorological balloon but instead something not of this
earth.
The 1961 Riga UFO left its mark in the history of UFO research behind the iron curtain but thanks to a changing
political climate of the persistence of Soviet UFO researchers, not even the notorious KGB could keep out of the public
domain forever.
It is interesting when reading the above account the many similarities there are between this case in Riga and others
in the west and of course how the Soviet military handled things. The Roswell case of course in l947 has been officially
explained away as a balloon and it is alleged by some witnesses that the UFO landing in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk,
England in l980 was filmed and the ensuing film was spirited away by the powers-that-be. Of course official
pronouncements do work. If we take Roswell for instance, after the initial official press release stating that a flying
disk had been recovered and then the second official release that it was all a mistake and it was nothing more than a
weather balloon, nothing more was heard of the event until the late 1970’s. Perhaps the lesson here is to not listen
to official statements when it comes to the UFO subject?
This report from Riga is also one of frustration. The film in question has not been viewed in the west and it remains
no more than an interesting story. It remains enigmatic at best but nevertheless it is an interesting account from a
region of the world not normally known for its UFO reports.
What is certain is that the former USSR has seen more than its fair share of the UFO phenomenon. There was a time
when to be involved in UFO research in the USSR could have cost you your life quite literally. Because of the language
barrier and a whole host of other reasons very little is known about Soviet UFO research. Because of that, and also
out of respect for our Russian counterparts, Philip Mantle (from the UK) and Paul Stonehill (formerly from the Ukraine
and now residing in the USA), have completed their in-depth look at UFOs in the former USSR in their book
‘MYSTERIOUS SKY – Soviet UFO Phenomenon’ (isbn 1-4241-0549-8). This mammoth 416 page (illustrated) book
covers everything from UFO sightings in ancient Russian to observations over modern day Russia and everything in-
between. At just $24.95 this book can be obtained from: www.publishamerica.com, www.amazon.com, and www.
amazon.co.uk.
eyewitnesses were officially debriefed and informed not to speak of the incident again. Somehow details of this
incident did leak out to the west and enquiries followed as a result. The official Soviet media published a report that
the object in question that day was nothing more than a meteorological probe (balloon). The story ended there.
Researchers tried for years to obtain further details but all to no avail.
Like their counterparts in the west, UFO researchers in the east tried to continue their research into this incident and
published their findings. Eduard Mirov is one of those who perused this case with some vigour. He published his
account of it in NLO magazine (issue #13, l996). Now perestroika was in the air and apparently Boyev obtained
permission to view the film of the incident. At the time he was preparing material for use in a TV documentary
featuring UFOs over the USSR. Now, the KBG, weakened by glasnost and the other changes sweeping the USSR,
relented and released everything. The famous soviet UFO researcher V.S.Troitsky was assisted by Boyev and
together they attempted to get to the bottom of this matter. The first public screening of this film took place in
somewhat strange circumstances. It was shown in the giant hall of the Institute of High Temperatures and was filled
to the ceiling with UFO debunkers. It was exactly midnight when the room lights were dimmed and the film illuminated
the screen.
Mirov also went on to say that Dudinsh’s film was shown to many people including Arthur C. Clark who remained
unconvinced by it. An un-named New Zealand TV production company are supposed to have offered $50,000 (US
dollars) for it and many years later a number of former Soviet military men including air force colonel Arvid Igorevich
Mordvin-Schedro did confirm that a UFO did indeed appear over the Baltic that day.
The 30-second film was played to a silent audience and they sat watching the UFO over the airfield. As soon as the
film was finished the room exploded into a mass of discussions, arguments and counter-arguments. As these
discussions finally ended in the early hours of the morning there seemed to be an overall opinion of a feeling of
outright disgust of how the Soviet regime had handled the UFO phenomenon. As a result, expert opinion was now
sought and they were convinced that this time it was no meteorological balloon but instead something not of this
earth.
The 1961 Riga UFO left its mark in the history of UFO research behind the iron curtain but thanks to a changing
political climate of the persistence of Soviet UFO researchers, not even the notorious KGB could keep out of the public
domain forever.
It is interesting when reading the above account the many similarities there are between this case in Riga and others
in the west and of course how the Soviet military handled things. The Roswell case of course in l947 has been officially
explained away as a balloon and it is alleged by some witnesses that the UFO landing in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk,
England in l980 was filmed and the ensuing film was spirited away by the powers-that-be. Of course official
pronouncements do work. If we take Roswell for instance, after the initial official press release stating that a flying
disk had been recovered and then the second official release that it was all a mistake and it was nothing more than a
weather balloon, nothing more was heard of the event until the late 1970’s. Perhaps the lesson here is to not listen
to official statements when it comes to the UFO subject?
This report from Riga is also one of frustration. The film in question has not been viewed in the west and it remains
no more than an interesting story. It remains enigmatic at best but nevertheless it is an interesting account from a
region of the world not normally known for its UFO reports.
What is certain is that the former USSR has seen more than its fair share of the UFO phenomenon. There was a time
when to be involved in UFO research in the USSR could have cost you your life quite literally. Because of the language
barrier and a whole host of other reasons very little is known about Soviet UFO research. Because of that, and also
out of respect for our Russian counterparts, Philip Mantle (from the UK) and Paul Stonehill (formerly from the Ukraine
and now residing in the USA), have completed their in-depth look at UFOs in the former USSR in their book
‘MYSTERIOUS SKY – Soviet UFO Phenomenon’ (isbn 1-4241-0549-8). This mammoth 416 page (illustrated) book
covers everything from UFO sightings in ancient Russian to observations over modern day Russia and everything in-
between. At just $24.95 this book can be obtained from: www.publishamerica.com, www.amazon.com, and www.
amazon.co.uk.
| TODAY IS |
