Richard Russell
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 6
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| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Sen. Richard Russell |
| On the Timeline | 1 event, 1955 |
Richard Brevard Russell Jr. (2 November 1897 – 21 January 1971) was a U.S. senator from Georgia for nearly four decades and long-time chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In October 1955, while travelling by train in the Soviet Union, he reported seeing two disc-like objects, a sighting documented in CIA and Air Force records that remained classified for decades.[1][2]
Political career
Russell was born in Winder, Georgia, and was governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1933 until his death, chairing the Armed Services Committee from 1955 to 1969. He served on the Warren Commission on President Kennedy's assassination, though he doubted its conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. A leading segregationist, he co-wrote the Southern Manifesto and led southern opposition to civil rights laws.[1]
The 1955 sighting
In October 1955, during a tour of the Soviet Union, Russell and members of his party were travelling by train in the Transcaucasus, about an hour and a half out of Baku, when Russell saw a greenish-yellow object rise rapidly into the sky and alerted his companions; a second, similar object followed. They said the objects appeared to be whirling, glowed yellowish and followed a single path, and an Air Force intelligence report quoted the witnesses as convinced they had seen a genuine flying disc.[2][3]
CIA review
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On 27 October 1955 Russell was interviewed by Herbert Scoville Jr., the CIA's Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, and a consultant. Scoville concluded that the testimony did not support the idea that the Soviets had developed saucer-like aircraft and suggested the objects might have been the exhaust of jet aircraft climbing steeply. A CIA bulletin also reported that on a separate road trip Russell had seen military installations and radar. The memo was first released in redacted form in 1978 and in full after a 2020 request by researcher John Greenewald.[2]
Death
Russell died in Washington, D.C., in January 1971, while still a senator.[1]
On the UAP Timeline
- Senator Russell's Soviet sighting (1955) (15 October 1955) — Sen. Richard Russell sees two discs in the Soviet Union; the CIA classifies the case.
References
- Richard Russell Jr. — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Declassified Top Secret CIA Memo Reveals Senator's 'Saucer-Like' Craft Sighting in 1955", The Black Vault (11 Jul 2023) · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Patrick Gross, "Senator Russell, USSR, 1955", UFOs at close sight · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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