★Historically significant

A sitting US Senator (Richard Russell) serving on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, accompanied by a US Army Lt. Col. and a Senate consultant, personally witnessed and reported two disc-shaped unconventional aircraft in Soviet territory in 1955, with the USAIRA formally rating the report B-2 and flagging it as significant to the USAF UFO project.

341_110677_Numerical_File,_5-2500

Department of WarPDFIncident ReportSECRETLight redactionPURSUE Release 1

9/10

major disclosure or historic

UAP Insight significance score

Location: Azerbaijan
Incident date: 10/14/55
Duration: Approximately one minute elapsed between the two takeoffs; total observation duration not precisely stated but brief (dusk, from moving train)
Witnesses: Multiple witnesses
Released: May 8, 2026

UAP Characteristics

◉ DiscHoveringHypersonic speedLuminousErratic movement

Evidence Types

TestimonyPhotos

Government Programs Referenced

Unidentified Flying Objects (USAF project)

Official Conclusion

Source evaluation B-2; USAIRA stated the significance to the USAF 'Unidentified Flying Objects' project is 'remarkable and lends credence to many saucer reports'; no definitive identification made.

Official Description

Air Intelligence Information Report, 14 October 1955, Report of eye witness account of the ascent and flight of a unconventional aircraft in the trans-Caucasus region on the USSR.

Key Findings

→Senator Richard Russell, Lt. Col. E.U. Hathaway, and Mr. Ruben Efron observed two round, disc-shaped aircraft ascending almost vertically approximately one minute apart at 1910 hours on 4 October 1955, between ATJATY and ADZHIJABUL in the Trans Caucasus region.
→The disc aircraft ascended to approximately 6000 feet (2000 meters) with outer surface revolving slowly clockwise, then sharply increased speed heading northward in level flight resembling a discus in flight.
→Two searchlights were observed operating near the takeoff area, and Soviet trainmen became visibly agitated and closed curtains to prevent the US observers from looking out the windows.
→The USAIRA rated the source evaluation as B-2 (reliable source, probably true information) and commented that the significance of this report to the USAF project 'Unidentified Flying Objects' is remarkable and lends credence to many 'saucer' reports.
→Lt. Col. Hathaway observed 42 stubby jet fighters at Dnieperpetrovsk airfield on 9 October 1955, described as shorter and stubbier than known Soviet types, with a detailed sketch provided of an unidentified jet bomber also observed at that airfield.

UAP Insight Analysis— AI generated, not official

This is a 9-page SECRET (NOFORN) Air Intelligence Information Report (IR 193-55) dated 14 October 1955, prepared by US Air Attaché Lt. Col. Thomas S. Ryan, documenting an eyewitness account by three high-credibility US observers — Senator Richard Russell, Lt. Col. E.U. Hathaway, and Mr. Ruben Efron — who observed two disc-shaped unconventional aircraft taking off in the Trans Caucasus region of the USSR on 4 October 1955. The report also includes supplementary intelligence observations on Soviet military aircraft, airfields, radar sites, and railroad infrastructure gathered during the group's travel through the USSR.

Analyst Notes

Three witnesses are highly credible (a sitting US Senator, a US Army Lt. Col., and a Senate committee consultant), but the sighting was a brief visual observation from a moving train at dusk with no sensor corroboration. No photographs were taken. The debriefing was rushed (under one hour) due to the group's departure schedule. USAIRA itself noted that a more relaxed, extended debriefing would produce more valuable technical details. No mundane explanation is offered in the document.

Extracted Entities

People

Senator Richard RussellLt. Col. E.U. HathawayMr. Ruben EfronLt. Col. Thomas S. RyanCol. Thomas DooleyMr. Harold VedlerEgorov (retired Soviet pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union)

Agencies & Organizations

US Air Attaché (USAFE)USAIRA (US Army Intelligence, Russia/Austria)USAFUS Senate Armed Forces CommitteeCINCUSAFEDINTA (Defense Intelligence)

Locations

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