War.gov PURSUECentral Intelligence Agency
GovernmentDec 20, 1973Analysis complete

CIA-UAP-D001, Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973

This CIA intelligence report combines technical information about the Sary Shagan weapons range with a source’s late-summer 1973 account of a bright green phenomenon near Site 7. The report separately labels the laser-research information as hearsay and records that the source offered no explanation for the aerial observation.

File
Document · Release 02
Date
Dec 20, 1973
Location
USSR
Extent
3 pages

Probed Assessment

Key takeaways

  • The CIA report summarizes the Sary Shagan weapons range, including missile-warhead facilities, rumored laser research, and an unidentified aerial phenomenon.
  • The source described System-300 or Aldan warheads checked at Site 4 and identified the missile in reference material as ABM-1/GALOSH.
  • The report relays hearsay that laser-weapon experiments involving powerful antennas occurred at an unknown range location.

Why it matters

CIA-UAP-D001, Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973 is an officially released 3-page record with searchable page text, page-specific claim locators, dated events where supported, and document-level provenance.

Corroboration

The release establishes official provenance for CIA-UAP-D001, Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973, but its reported observations, judgments, and interpretations remain source claims unless supported by independent records.

Open questions

  • Which companion records or contemporaneous sources, if any, independently corroborate the document’s key claims?

Probed separates this editorial assessment from the source claims below. It summarizes what the released artifact supports; it is not independent verification.

Official Description from War.gov

This document is a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence information report (IIR) that describes human intelligence gathering activities in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This report characterizes its content as informational, not as finally evaluated intelligence. In section 14 of this document, the source describes an incident occurring in summer of 1973, where he allegedly observed an airborne, luminous, bright green, unidentified object. The source described concentric circles forming around the phenomenon over a period of several minutes, before it dissipated. The source also stated that no sound attended the observation. The source offered no opinion on the nature of the phenomenon and was unable to provide further details regarding the incident.

Preserved verbatim as source metadata. This wording is separate from Probed’s file-specific description and assessment.

File Context

Related entities

8
Research Map relationships require row-level claim or timeline references.

Tracker findings

6

Source reported a bright green circular object near Site 7

The CIA report says its source observed a bright green circular object or mass west of Site 7 at an approximately 70-degree sighting angle.

CIA report grouped a UAP account with Sary Shagan intelligence

The CIA Sary Shagan report summarized weapons-range facilities, missile-warhead work, rumored laser research, and a late-summer 1973 UAP account.

Report relayed hearsay laser-weapon experiments

The CIA report separately relayed hearsay that laser-weapon experiments were being conducted at an unknown location on the range.

Sary Shagan source described ABM warhead checkout work

The source described inspecting System-300 or Aldan missile warheads at Site 4, identified in reference material as ABM-1/GALOSH.

Source saw green circular object west of Site 7

In late summer 1973, the source reported observing a bright green circular object west of Site 7 at about a 70-degree sighting angle.

Green object widened into concentric circles without sound

The Sary Shagan account says the green object widened into several concentric circles, disappeared within minutes, and produced no explosion or sound.

Release provenance

Release
Release 02
Official ID
release-02-file-001-cia-uap-d001-intelligence-information-report-ussr-1973
Cleared
May 22, 2026
Official release source

Related coverage

1

Referenced Timeline

  1. Page 1

    Source information period

    The report gives this period for the collected information.

  2. Page 3

    Bright-green phenomenon reported at Site 7

    The source described the observation in the late summer of 1973.

Source Claims

Claims are attributed to the released source and remain distinct from Probed’s assessment and tracker findings.

Source reportedAssertedPage 1

The CIA report summarizes the Sary Shagan weapons range, including missile-warhead facilities, rumored laser research, and an unidentified aerial phenomenon.

report provides limited information on the Sary Shagan weapons testing range, to include facilities

Source reportedAssertedPage 2

The source described System-300 or Aldan warheads checked at Site 4 and identified the missile in reference material as ABM-1/GALOSH.

Besides the System-75 [SA-2] warheads, Site 4 also checked the warheads for a missile(s) known as the System-300 and/or Aldan. ... Source identified the System-300/Aldan missile ... as the ABM-1/GALOSH.

Source reportedUnverifiedPage 2

The report relays hearsay that laser-weapon experiments involving powerful antennas occurred at an unknown range location.

According to hearsay, experiments involving laser weapons were being conducted at an unknown location at the range. Supposedly, the tests involved powerful antennas.

Source reportedAssertedPage 3

The source reported seeing a bright green circular object or mass west of Site 7 at an approximately 70-degree sighting angle.

observed an unidentified sharp (bright) green circular object or mass in the sky. The object was situated west of the site at an angle of sighting of approximately 70 degrees.

Source reportedAssertedPage 3

The source said the green circle widened into concentric circles and disappeared within minutes without an explosion sound.

Within 10 to 15 seconds ... several green concentric circles formed around the mass. Within minutes the coloring disappeared. There was no sound, such as an explosion, associated with the phenomenon.

Source Material & Evidence

document

CIA-UAP-D001, Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973

RELEASE-02-FILE-004-CIA-UAP-D001-INTELLIGENCE-INFORMATION-REPORT-USSR-1973

Research Map

8 entities · 0 grounded links

Lines appear only when two entities share a row-level source claim or dated timeline event. Unconnected nodes remain visible without implying a relationship.

UAP/Disclosure Graph
8 nodes0 links
No grounded pairwise links in this file