Long narrow metallic object near Moscow
Document coverPage 1 of 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172 · View original on war.gov
An American newspaper correspondent observed a long, narrow, wingless metallic object near Moscow at sunset, moving at high speed with no sound, which a Russian observer identified as a rigid airship but the reporter doubted.
“About Sunset on 3 Aug 1948, about 25 kilometers (20miles) northwest of Moscow an experienced American newspaper reporter saw an unidentified object at very high altitude. It was long and narrow and proceeded at a high but not excessive speed in a generally south-west- northeast direction. It shone very brightly probably from reflected sunlight.”
Verbatim from 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172 · View original on war.gov
Case details
- Date
- 1948-08-03
- Precision
- day
- Location
- About 25 km (19-20 miles) NW of Moscow
- Country
- USSR
- Sensors
- eyewitness
- Shape
- long and narrow, wingless, like a rigid airship
Resolution
Possibly aircraft, jet, conventional airplane, or dirigible; unusual light conditions and foreshortening may have created freakish appearance
Source document
Agency: DEPARTMENT OF WAR
File: 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172
Case ID: 1948-DEPARTMENT-EB3299
View original on war.gov →Extracted via LLM. Verbatim excerpt validated.