Department of War PURSUE File
CIA-UAP-D001, Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973
USSR·12/20/73
Editorial summary
In late summer 1973, a former Soviet citizen working at the Sary Shagan weapons testing range in the USSR observed an unidentified aerial object near Site 7. The witness stepped outside one evening while watching a televised sporting event and noticed a bright green circular object in the sky to the west of the facility.
Within seconds of first spotting the object, it began to change. The green circle widened, and several concentric circles (rings within rings) formed around the central mass. The entire display lasted only a few minutes before the green coloring faded away. The witness heard no sound, such as an explosion, during the event.
The observer offered no explanation for what he had seen. He could not estimate the size of the object or determine its altitude with certainty, though he believed it was higher than cloud level on a clear evening. No rumors about the incident circulated at the facility afterward, and the witness had no further details to provide.
This report was compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency as part of a broader intelligence assessment of Soviet military facilities. The document states it contains information gathered from human sources and should be treated as informational rather than as a final, verified intelligence conclusion.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government description
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.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Record type
Incident date
12/20/73
Incident location
USSR
Release tranche
Release 02 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release