Boris Sokolov, a retired Russian colonel from a distinguished military family, ran an unprecedented study, the likes of which, he is undoubtedly correct in saying, will never be repeated. He worked as a coordinator for anomaly studies at the Soviet Defense Ministry and Academy of Sciences during 1978 - 1989. "For 10 years", Sokolov says, "the entire Soviet Union became one gigantic UFO listening post". The year was 1980.

"We had 40 cases where our pilots encountered UFOs," said Sokolov. "Initially, they were commanded to chase, then shoot, the UFO. But when our pilots would engage, the UFO would speed up. The pilot would give chase, lose control and crash." That happened three times. Twice, the pilots died. "After that," Sokolov said, "the pilots received another order: When they see a UFO, they should change course - and get out." With the exception of the original "engage" order, Sokolov says the Soviets adapted a passive observation stance - if they saw a UFO, fine. The Soviet attitude was unlike the Americans, Sokolov says, who had set up some 30 radar stations to track UFOs. October 5, 1983 is a date Sokolov will long remember. He received an order from his commander to leave immediately for an ICBM base in the Ukraine. The reason for the urgency? A report from the base commander to the Chief of the General Staff that the day before, from 4 until 8 that evening, a UFO had been observed near the base. During that time, the lights had lit up on the base control panel - the launch codes for the ICBMs had, mysteriously, been enabled.

"They received an order to prepare the launch of the ICBMs," said Sokolov. "The chief of the General Staff wasted no time in sending in our UFO experts." Fortunately, no missiles were launched. Rimili Avramenko's world is somewhat unique. He is one of the chief scientists working on Russia's version of SDI. Avramenko has been entrusted with the highest possible clearances. We began our interview of this highly-regarded scientist with what we thought would be a good ice-breaker: is the UFO phenomenon for real? The question was quickly brushed aside, in no uncertain terms. "My colleagues and I don't even think that's a question!" he bellowed. "Of course, they are real!"

The exchange of information between aliens and humans, the scientist claims, has led to the development of what he referred to as the "weapon of the aliens," the plasma beam. The space age weaponry was incorporated into the Soviet version of SDI. Dr. Avramenko also confirmed for us that the Russians knew UFOs were from somewhere else as early as 1959. The Americans knew that too, he said, because both sides had the same type of satellite defense warning systems. Dr. Avramenko shared with us a couple of other startling pronouncements: during the Vietnam War, he said, a massive UFO flew over Hanoi. Although every major weapon in that city had its sights set on the craft, it didn't budge. Dr. Avramenko also slipped up and told us the only craft which can approach the speed of UFOs is the American "Aurora" which is being flown in Nevada. When the look of amazement registered on our faces, Avramenko quickly back-tracked and said his information was based solely on articles in the popular press.

Another of our meetings put us across the table from the Ministry of Defense official who is in charge of the current study. By agreement, we are not yet able to make his name public, but we can give the name of the study, "Thread-3". One illuminating section of those papers contains details of UFO sightings by Soviet cosmonauts. Unlike American astronauts' reluctance to talk about the subject, Soviet references to UFOs were reported from the very beginning, with Yuri Gagarin himself. In the documents, Gagarin is quoted as saying UFOs are real, they fly at incredible speeds and that he would tell more about what he had seen in orbit - provided he be given permission to do so. The documents also provide information on American space encounters, including several references to things seen on the Moon by our astronauts, and how that information was removed from NASA's public files.

 

Sources:

http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1142.htm
http://www.ufoinfo.com/news/ufosinrussia.shtml