One of the most peculiar accounts of a UFO encounter comes from the former Soviet Union, involving an incident where dozens of soldiers were reportedly turned to stone by extraterrestrial beings.
According to a report from that time, in 1993, troops shot down an alien spacecraft flying over Siberia using a surface-to-air missile. Five beings allegedly emerged from the wreckage and transformed into a glowing orb that emitted a beam of light, instantly petrifying 23 soldiers, leaving only a few survivors to tell the tale.
This strange story made its way into a Ukrainian newspaper and was even mentioned in a declassified CIA file, which suggested that if true, it would indicate the existence of highly advanced alien technology posing a significant threat when provoked.
Despite public dismissal by the then USSR, claiming reports of UFO sightings and alien encounters were simply Western fabrications, newly released documents reveal that the Soviets were quietly documenting and analyzing unusual aerial phenomena, reports the Express.
Throughout the 70s and 80s, institutions regularly recorded what they termed ‘Abnormal Atmospheric Phenomena’.
One of the most striking entries is dated February 13, 1989, and describes a large aerial object over Nalchik, in southern Russia. Witnesses reported a ‘jellyfish’-like shape that they claimed hovered in the sky for over an hour before vanishing from view.
Although not included in the files, the most infamous case involved a low-flying, saucer-shaped craft appearing above a Soviet military unit during training exercises in Siberia.
After shooting down the craft with a missile, five figures reportedly emerged from the wreckage before merging into a single “spherical object” that “began to buzz and hiss sharply”, grew in size and exploded, emitting a flash of light that instantly turned 23 nearby soldiers into stone pillars. It’s alleged that two survivors lived because they were less exposed.
Claims suggest that the remains of the UFO and the petrified troops were transported to a secret scientific research institution near Moscow, where it was determined that the men had been transformed into a substance identical to limestone.
While the CIA did take note of the Ukrainian report, which referenced KGB leaks, the file is merely a reprint of the 1993 Ukrainian article and does not form part of an investigative report validating its contents.