Senator Russell train sighting, Baku to Tiflis
October 1955 · Between Baku and Tiflis, USSR
Summary
The incident was reported for the evening of 4 October 1955, when Senator Richard B. Russell's party was travelling by train from Baku to Tiflis. A US Air Attaché report said two sightings occurred at 1910 hours, ten minutes by rail after leaving Alyaty. The Air Attaché in Prague, Lt. Col. Thomas S. Ryan, debriefed Lt. Col. Hathaway and Mr. Efron on 13 October. He wrote that the interview lasted no more than one hour and that Senator Russell did not attend. Ryan's cable and report described two disc-shaped craft ascending almost vertically to about 6000 feet. His comment said the report's significance to the USAF project was "remarkable and lends credence to many 'saucer' reports".
CIA officers interviewed Russell on 27 October. Herbert Scoville Jr.'s memorandum recorded that Russell saw a greenish-yellow ball rising rapidly and never saw its form. Scoville wrote that it was quite possible the objects were exhausts of normal jet aircraft in a steep climb, or aircraft with short or near-vertical take-off. A separate CIA record of Dr. Francis Clauser's interview had Russell describing a steep, non-vertical trajectory and a searchlight that did not follow the objects. It also said the train guard or porter drew the shades at least 10 minutes later.
A CIA memorandum of 31 October, addressed to the Director of Central Intelligence, summarised all four witnesses. It recorded that Efron saw two lights, Hathaway a shadowy object with a rotating light, and Gros a triangular object with three lights. It stated that only Hathaway's testimony would support a radically unconventional aircraft. It concluded that the other observations could probably be explained as steep climbing aircraft or missiles. The FBI's 4 November memorandum repeated this summary.
A separate CIA information report of 15 November carried the account of a 41-year-old US civilian, labelled unevaluated information. He described an equilateral triangle on an airfield, ejected with spirals before climbing at about 45 degrees. He said the steward pulled down the blinds after an MVD man ordered it.
Where the files disagree
Two documents give different accounts of the same detail. Both are quoted as written; we don't say which is right.
Shape of the objects seen
Reaction of the train staff
“AFTER SIGHTING SOVIET TRAINMEN BECAME EXCITED AND LOWERED CURTAINS AND REFUSED PERMISSION TO LOOK OUT WINDOWS.” page 3 →
“No unusual attitude on the part of the guard was noted but it was dark.” page 124 →
What the files say
“The significance of this report re the USAF project "Unidentified Flying Objects" is remarkable and lends credence to many "saucer" reports.”
Page 2 →“It is quite possible that the objects seen were the exhausts of normal jet aircraft in a steep climb.”
Page 124 →“The size of the object was comparable to that of a US jet fighter, with a squat shape and in the form of an equilateral triangle.”
Page 1 →“Senator Russell never saw the form of the object only the luminescent ball.”
Page 2 →“In the meantime, however, the evidence does not appear sufficiently firm to warrant the conclusion that the Soviets have developed and have in operation a radically new type of aircraft.”
Page 3 →
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- CIA (Scoville) said the observations could probably be explained as steep-climbing aircraft or missiles. — CIA memo on UFO sightings from a train near Baku (1955), page 3
- Scoville wrote that the objects may have been exhausts of normal jet aircraft in a steep climb, or in a dive followed by a sharp pull-up, or short or near-vertical take-off aircraft. — FBI UFO case file, Section 008 (metadata only), page 124
- CIA said the evidence did not appear firm enough to conclude that the Soviets had a radically new type of aircraft. — CIA memo on UFO sightings from a train near Baku (1955), page 3