★Historically significant

Declassified CIA CONFIDENTIAL HUMINT report from 1973 documenting a UAP observation at the Soviet Sary Shagan ABM weapons testing range, representing an early Cold War-era official record of an anomalous aerial phenomenon observed within a sensitive Soviet military facility.

CIA-UAP-011, The Sary Shagan Weapons Testing Range

CIAPDFIncident ReportCONFIDENTIALModerate redactionPURSUE Release 3

4/10

niche or mildly interesting

UAP Insight significance score

Location: USSR
Incident date: December, 1973
Duration: Within minutes (green coloring disappeared within minutes of initial observation; initial expansion occurred within 10-15 seconds)
Witnesses: Single witness
Released: June 12, 2026

UAP Characteristics

○ OrbLuminousColor change

Evidence Types

Testimony

Official Conclusion

No conclusion stated; source had no opinion as to what the phenomenon was and there were no resultant rumors.

Official Description

This CIA Intelligence Information Report from December 1973 provides information on the Soviet Sary Shagan Weapons Testing Range, including details about its facilities, weapons systems (System-75 SA-2 and System-300/Aldan warheads), rumored laser weapon research, and unidentified aerial phenomenon observed at the site. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA's public website.

Key Findings

→In late Summer 1973, the human source observed a sharp, bright green circular object or mass in the sky at Site 7 of the Sary Shagan range, situated to the west at approximately 70 degrees angle of sighting.
→Within 10 to 15 seconds of observation, the green circle widened and several green concentric circles formed around the mass, then the coloring disappeared within minutes.
→The source noted there was no sound such as an explosion associated with the phenomenon, and could offer no explanation for what it was.
→The source reported by hearsay that laser weapons experiments involving powerful antennas were being conducted at an unknown location at the range.
→The report also provides technical details on System-75 (SA-2) and System-300/Aldan (ABM-1 GALOSH) warhead components checked at warhead checkout unit V/Ch 03142 at Site 4.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

This CIA CONFIDENTIAL Intelligence Information Report (FIRK-311/01638-77), dated December 1973, compiles human-source intelligence from a former Soviet citizen on the Sary Shagan weapons testing range in the USSR. The report covers physical layout, security, missile warhead systems (SA-2 and ABM-1 GALOSH), rumored laser weapons research, and a brief account of an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed by the source at Site 7 in late Summer 1973. The UAP section is a minor component of a broader military-technical intelligence report.

Analyst Notes

The UAP sighting is a single-witness visual observation by a former Soviet citizen with no corroborating sensor data; the source explicitly could not estimate the object's diameter or altitude and had no opinion on what it was. The phenomenon could plausibly be associated with Soviet weapons testing activity (e.g., missile exhaust, laser or atmospheric test effects) at a known military range. The UAP account is a peripheral element of a broader HUMINT collection report on Soviet military systems. Significant portions of multiple pages are redacted.

Extracted Entities

Agencies & Organizations

CIA Directorate of OperationsNSADIAFBIUSIANPICOSROSOOCR

Locations

Sary Shagan Weapons Testing Range, USSRSite 7, Sary ShaganSite 4, Sary ShaganSite 35, Sary ShaganGermany (ACQ location)

Aircraft & Objects

Unidentified sharp (bright) green circular object or mass in the sky

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AI analysis by claude-sonnet-4-6 · July 20, 2026