Petrozavodsk: The Giant Star and the Soviet Secret UFO Investigation

At about 4 a.m. on 20 September 1977, the sky over Petrozavodsk in the north-western Soviet Union lit up. An object like a giant star appeared, sent shafts of light toward the ground, and then became a bright hemispherical glow. People in Petrozavodsk, towns around Lake Onega, and Finland saw it. The display lasted a few minutes but was long enough for witnesses to call, write, and report it to observation stations.

The event left traces in official files. A TASS report described the bright object over Petrozavodsk. CIA files later retained reports about the phenomenon over Soviet territory. Soviet scientists formed a group to examine it, and the Ministry of Defence placed unidentified aerial phenomena inside a research programme. A light seen in the night sky brought an entire state apparatus into motion.