CIA-UAP-D020

Memorandum on Unconventional Aircraft Sightings, 1955

A summary of a 1955 debriefing of U.S. Government personnel who reported observing "unconventional aircraft."

Official description

This memorandum summarizes a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) debriefing of a group of four individuals who reported observing a “flying saucer” or “unconventional aircraft” in 1955. The group, which included U.S. Senator Richard Russell, a U.S. military service member, and two U.S. Government officials, reported observing a luminescent “greenish-yellow” phenomenon, as seen from aboard a train while traveling within the Soviet Union, in present-day Azerbaijan, between Baku and Tiflis (Tbilisi, Georgia). The document concludes by stating that the observation can “probably be explained as steep climbing aircraft or missiles,” and that “the evidence does not appear sufficiently firm to warrant the conclusion that the Soviets have developed […] a radically new type of aircraft.” The document “CIA-UAP-D021” contains a contemporary analysis of the incident.

Reproduced verbatim from the releasing agency.

AI summary

This memorandum details a 1955 CIA debriefing of four individuals, including a U.S. Senator and military personnel, who reported seeing a luminescent 'flying saucer' while traveling in what is now Azerbaijan. The CIA concluded that the observations could be attributed to steep climbing aircraft or missiles, and did not find the evidence strong enough to suggest the Soviets had developed a new type of aircraft. This document highlights early U.S. government interest in unidentified aerial phenomena during the Cold War era.