For decades, the Soviet leadership simply denied everything. They claimed unidentified aerial objects were just capitalist lies meant to stir up panic. But the Kremlin was saying one thing and doing another. While they laughed off the sightings in public, secret files smuggled out of the country show they were actually taking the situation very seriously. It appears the Soviet military were not only aware of these intrusions but were actively documenting thousands of encounters that terrified their top brass.
These revelations come from a cache of documents secured by legendary reporter George Knapp. In a daring move during the chaos following the USSR’s collapse, Knapp smuggled these papers out of the country in 1993, right under the nose of the KGB. On 16 January, he finally released the contents, blowing the lid off a cover-up that has lasted nearly half a century.
Decades of Secret Programmes Defy Official Denial
The translated intelligence paints a disturbing picture of a government saying one thing while frantically investigating another. In 1953, the communist regime formally declared UFOs a fabrication of warmongering ‘American imperialists’. However, the internal records show the state took the matter with deadly seriousness.
Starting in 1979, the USSR commissioned a series of covert research initiatives. The first was known as the ‘Network-AN’ programme, followed quickly by ‘Galaxy-MD’, which ran from 1981 to 1985.
As the Soviet Union neared its end, they launched ‘Pluton 7’ in 1989 and the ongoing ‘Thread 3’ programme. The reports indicate that after 1978, the frequency of interactions ‘increased greatly’, forcing the military to document events they could not explain.
Military Witnesses Confirm Massive Jellyfish Object Over Nalchik
One of the most credible accounts detailed in the files occurred on 13 February 1989, in the city of Nalchik. Hundreds of witnesses, including trained military personnel, airport staff, and astronomers, watched in awe as a colossal structure dominated the sky.
The report describes a massive 450-foot-wide jellyfish-shaped UFO hovering just 300 feet above the ground. The object did not just hover; it performed a complex light display. A giant red light descended over the city before splitting into precise, equidistant green lights.
After ten minutes of this display, the lights merged back together and the craft ascended. But the event was not over. Ninety minutes later, the massive craft returned, this time accompanied by a swarm of smaller, more agile vessels before vanishing into the night.
Artist Abducted: ‘Mental Faculties Below Average’ But Nerves of Steel
The files also contain personal narratives of abduction that investigators deemed highly credible. On 21 July 1975, 18-year-old Anatoly Malishev was sketching a sunset in the woods of Blagoveshenka when a silver disc descended.
Malishev described three humanoids emerging from the craft, including a woman with chestnut-coloured hair. He claimed they took him to their home planet, which was situated three light years away. The planet had no star but was strangely illuminated from within. The medical evaluation conducted by the aliens was particularly blunt.
‘They fastened detectors to my hands and legs, put on my head something like a crown.’ The aliens concluded that Malishev possessed ‘very strong nerves; mental faculties below the average.’ Despite the harsh assessment, the Russian investigator maintained contact with Malishev for years, describing him as ‘honest, kind, sympathetic’ and not the type to invent fantasies.
🚨 Recently released documents smuggled out of Russia in the early 1990s show that the Soviet Union secretly investigated UFO sightings and alien encounters for decades. pic.twitter.com/rHFXa1IOfd
— Space and Technology (@spaceandtech_) February 7, 2026
Children Terrorised by 10-Foot Giants With Glowing Pink Eyes
Perhaps the most chilling account occurred on 27 June 1979, near Derzhavinsk, Kazakhstan. A group of young pioneers camping near a mound encountered entities that defy conventional description.
Escorted by an adult, a group of boys chased a strange flash near the forest edge. They stumbled upon towering, 10-foot-tall aliens. The beings were described as slender, black, and possessing shining pink eyes.
The sighting was corroborated the following day when a teacher and a young girl saw one of the giants sitting in a chair near their campsite.
A full year later, investigators spoke to the children again. They found that the witnesses’ memories hadn’t faded at all. The fact that they all recalled the scary event in the same way gave the report a lot of weight.
Rewriting the Record
These documents are a turning point. Their release completely alters the way we view the global history of UFOs.
It confirms that the phenomenon was not unique to the West but was a worldwide concern that superpowers struggled to comprehend.
Jeremy Corbell, an investigative journalist and partner on Knapp’s Weaponized podcast, emphasised the gravity of the release to The Post.
‘By releasing these documents now, George Knapp is expanding the public record, showing not only how seriously Russia confronted the UFO phenomenon,’ Corbell stated. These intel documents prove that while the Cold War was fought on Earth, both sides were watching the skies with equal dread.