Senator Russell's Soviet sighting (1955)

Senator Russell's Soviet sighting (1955)

Date	15 October 1955
Topics	Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic)
People	Richard Russell
Testimony	Shellenberger testimony, p. 54
Year	1955 in UFO history
Timeline	1955 on the UAP Timeline
Sources	6

Senator Russell's Soviet sighting took place on the evening of 4 October 1955. Senator Richard B. Russell Jr. of Georgia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was travelling by train through the Soviet Transcaucasus. He reported seeing a disc-shaped object rise from near the tracks and fly off, followed about a minute later by a second.^[2][4] His aide and his interpreter also saw the objects. All three told U.S. Air Force intelligence in Prague that they were "firmly convinced that they saw a genuine flying disc".^[2] The CIA summarised the sighting in its Current Intelligence Bulletin of 15 October 1955. On 27 October its Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, Herbert Scoville Jr., interviewed Russell, and suggested the objects might have been the exhausts of jet aircraft climbing steeply.^[1][4] The case stayed secret for decades and came out in stages, in 1978, 1985 and the 2020s.^[1][2][4] It is notable because the main witness was one of the most powerful members of Congress.

The sighting

• The witness. Russell (1897–1971) had been Governor of Georgia and served in the Senate from 1933 until his death. He chaired the Armed Services Committee from 1951 to 1969 and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1948 and 1952.^[2][3] In 1955 he was on a fact-finding trip through the Soviet Union.^[2][3]
• The train. On 4 October 1955, shortly after 7 p.m., Russell's train was about an hour and a half out of Baku, in the Transcaucasus.^[1][3][4] With him were his military aide, Colonel E. U. Hathaway, and his interpreter, Ruben Efron.^[2][4] The CIA memo notes that the train journey was Russell's own request, which "tends to refute the theory that the train trip was arranged in order to stage the operation for Senator Russell's benefit".^[1]
• The first object. According to the Air Force report, Russell "saw the first flying disc ascend and pass over the train" and went "rushing in" to fetch Efron and Hathaway.^[2][4]
  • Hathaway reached the window in time to see it, but Efron saw only a short glimpse.^[2]
  • In the CIA's account of its later interview, Russell "suddenly noticed a greenish-yellow ball rising rapidly" and called out that he had seen a "flying saucer".^[1]
• The second object. About a minute later all three saw a second disc do the same, and "all agreed that they saw the same round, disc-shaped craft ... as the first".^[2][4]
• How they moved. The Air Force report described each disc as ascending "almost vertically, at a relatively slow speed, with its outer surface revolving slowly to the right, to an altitude of about 6000 feet". Its speed then "increased sharply as it headed north". The take-off area was about 1–2 miles south of the railway.^[2][3][4]
  • In the CIA memo, the objects seemed to be "whirling" and followed a single trajectory. There were no lights, only a "yellowish glow". There was also no reference point to judge their size or distance.^[1]
  • One witness, whose name was blacked out, told the CIA that an object "had a slight dome on top" and a "white light on top". Its edge glowed pinkish-white, with the glow moving clockwise around the rim "giving the appearance of a pinwheel".^[2]
  • Efron said visibility was excellent and that "no noise was heard ... and no exhaust glow or trail was seen by me".^[2]
• Russell's words. Afterwards, according to the CIA documents, Russell told the others: "We saw a flying disc. I wanted you boys to see it so that I would have witnesses."^[2]

The reports

• Prague, 13 October. When the party reached Prague, Czechoslovakia, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ryan of Air Force intelligence interviewed Russell's companions.^[2][4]
  • Hathaway began: "I doubt if your going [sic] to believe this, but we all saw it. Senator Russell was the first to see this flying disc ... we've been told for years that there isn't such a thing, but all of us saw it."^[2]
  • Ryan's Air Intelligence Information Report of 14 October 1955, classified Top Secret, called it "an eyewitness account of the ascent and flight of an unconventional craft by three highly reliable United States observers".^[2][4]
• CIA bulletin. The CIA's Current Intelligence Bulletin of 15 October 1955 carried a summary headed "Reported Sighting of Unusual Aircraft in USSR".^[1][4][5]
• Scoville's interview. On 27 October 1955 Scoville and Dr Francis Clauser, a consultant to the Office of Scientific Intelligence, interviewed Russell.^[1]
  • Scoville concluded that Russell's testimony did not support the theory that the Soviets had developed saucer-like or unconventional aircraft.^[1]
  • He suggested the objects could have been "the exhausts of normal jet aircraft in a steep climb".^[1]
  • The CIA also interviewed Hathaway, Efron and a fourth, unnamed witness.^[2][3]
• Other observations. Russell also reported seeing military barracks and radar installations, including a "big egg beater object", on a drive between Moscow and Borodino.^[1]
• FBI. An FBI memo of 4 November 1955 discussed the sighting and noted that Hathaway's testimony "would support existence of a flying disc".^[2]

Secrecy and release

• Russell's silence. The journalist Tom Towers of the Los Angeles Examiner wrote to Russell asking for permission to "break" the story.^[2] Russell replied on 17 January 1956 that he had "discussed this matter with the affected agencies of the government, and they are of the opinion that it is not wise to publicize this matter at this time". Towers printed the letter in his column on 20 January 1957.^[2][4] Bruce Maccabee later said the witnesses were "no doubt advised not to talk".^[2] The earlier version of this article said the witnesses were asked to keep the matter secret; the sources read here show only Russell's own letter and Maccabee's inference.
• Releases. The documents came out in stages.
  • The CIA memo of the Russell interview was first released in redacted form in 1978.^[1]
  • The Air Force report stayed Top Secret until 30 April 1959 and Secret until March 1985, when Stanton Friedman obtained its declassification through a Freedom of Information Act request.^[4]
  • In 1985–86 the Fund for UFO Research, led by Bruce Maccabee, publicised twelve once-secret CIA, FBI and Air Force reports on the case.^[2]
  • John Greenewald of The Black Vault filed a mandatory declassification review request on 6 January 2020. Just over two years later the CIA released the memo in full, and The Black Vault published it in July 2023.^[1]
  • Further CIA memos and FBI correspondence on the case have since appeared in later government releases.^[4]
• Blue Book. Accounts differ on whether the case reached Project Blue Book. NOUFORS says the report was never filed in Blue Book.^[3] The Black Vault says the sighting appeared "along with other files within Project Blue Book", and the case is listed in Brad Sparks's catalogue of Blue Book unknowns.^[1][4] See Project Blue Book.
• Shellenberger's account. Michael Shellenberger's 2024 timeline for Congress says the CIA classified the sighting Top Secret and did not share it with the Air Force, Project Blue Book or the Condon Committee. He says it was withheld from congressional committees in 1960 and 1966, and from the public until it was declassified in 2019.^[6] Other sources read here conflict with parts of this. The Air Force itself took the original report in Prague, and documents were released in 1978 and 1985.^[1][2][4] Shellenberger also dates the sighting to 15 October, the date of the CIA bulletin, rather than 4 October.^[6]

Assessment

• Credibility. Ryan called the three men "highly reliable", and NOUFORS calls Russell's credibility "beyond question".^[2][3] Maccabee said the documents showed "for the first time that one of the most powerful U.S. Senators witnessed and reported a UFO".^[2]
• Explanations. Scoville's suggestion of jet exhausts in a steep climb is the only official explanation recorded in the sources read here.^[1] Russell's account of a slow vertical ascent followed by a sharp acceleration left room for other interpretations, and no explanation has been confirmed.^[1][2]
• Further study. The researcher Joel Carpenter discussed the case in a 2000 article, "The Senator, the Saucer, and Special Report 14", linking it to Blue Book Special Report No. 14.^[4]

People and topics

• Richard Russell — U.S. senator from Georgia who saw two disc-shaped craft in the Soviet Union in 1955.
• Central Intelligence Agency — The U.S. foreign intelligence agency, which has followed UFO reports since the 1940s.
• U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
• The Black Vault — John Greenewald's online archive of government documents.

On the Timeline

• Blue Book Special Report No. 14 (5 May 1955) — Blue Book Special Report No. 14 analyzes 3,200 sightings and finds no proof of advanced craft.
• Herald Tribune "Conquest of Gravity" series (20 November 1955) — A newspaper reports on research into the 'secret of gravity' at top U.S. laboratories.

See every 1955 event on the UAP Timeline →

Further reading

References