{"it":{"id":"UFO-PET1977","name":"Petrozavodsk phenomenon","kind":"ufo","sub":"Historical sighting","place":"Petrozavodsk, Karelia, USSR (now Russia)","lat":61.79,"lon":34.36,"date":"1977-09-20","rep":"Most sightings were between 1:00 and 1:20 am UTC.","off":"Kosmos-955 launch.","src":[{"t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"}],"tags":["Sightings"],"sum":"Before dawn on 20 September 1977, people across the Soviet north saw a glowing jellyfish-like object. Researchers gathered 85 reports.","nsrc":1,"new":1,"qs":["A secret Soviet launch produced a nationwide 'jellyfish' UFO scare. How many famous sightings today are really classified tests nobody will confirm?","The Soviet government hid Plesetsk entirely. When a state hides the cause, is it the witnesses who were wrong, or the government?","Witnesses across hundreds of kilometres saw the same glowing shape. If you'd been one of the 85, would 'rocket' have satisfied you?"],"yt":"Match the launch time to the 1:00–1:20 window.","rel":["UFO-ARI1994"],"hook":"Before dawn a 'jellyfish' of light hung over a Soviet city. A secret launch may explain most of it.","why":"Soviet scientists recorded the 'jellyfish' over a wide area. A secret satellite launch is the leading explanation, but some reported times come before the launch."},"S":{},"rec":{"id":"UFO-PET1977","sum":"The local correspondent of the Soviet news agency, N. P. Milov, reported that a glowing \"star\" spread out over Petrozavodsk like a jellyfish, \"showering the city with a multitude of very fine rays which created an image of pouring rain\". That was before dawn on 20 September 1977, and the glow was also reported in Helsinki and across the Soviet north-west.\n\nWithin a month, scientists of the Soviet Academy of Sciences gathered reports from Leningrad, Karelia, Finland and the Baltic. Their report of 20 October 1977 described a light seen mostly in the north-east sky in phases, from about 3 to 6 am Moscow time. They noted strong geomagnetic disturbance and aurorae that night.\n\nWhat is hard to explain is the size and length of the display, seen over hundreds of kilometres. The official study ended without a firm answer, and the press abroad spoke of a UFO.\n\nThe best-known explanation came from James Oberg, who matched the event to the launch of the satellite Cosmos 955 from Plesetsk, about 200 miles away, kept secret at the time. On 30 September 1977 The New York Times reported this suggestion. Rocket exhaust lit by sunlight at high altitude can look like a glowing jellyfish. The difficulty is timing: an Academy supplement cited three night-shift staff at Pulkovo airport who put the start of a second phase over Leningrad at 3:55–3:57, which the authors said was before the Cosmos 955 launch.\n\nHow many famous sightings today may be secret launches that no government will ever confirm?","qs":["A secret Soviet launch may have caused a nationwide 'jellyfish' UFO scare. How many sightings today are classified tests?","The Soviet government hid Plesetsk entirely. When a state hides the cause, who can blame people for guessing?","Some reports came before the launch. How much should a few minutes count?"],"gal":[{"src":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/TASS_on_Kosmos-955.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TASS_on_Kosmos-955.jpg","title":"TASS on Kosmos-955.jpg","lic":"Public domain","by":"TASS","alt":"Petrozavodsk phenomenon: TASS on Kosmos"}],"ms":[],"aa":[],"ac":[],"src":[{"t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"},{"id":"VUFO-PET1977-2","t":"Astronet.ru: Petrozavodsk phenomenon study, section 2.2","u":"https://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1169491/2_2.htm"},{"id":"VUFO-PET1977-3","t":"Astronet.ru: Petrozavodsk phenomenon study, section 1.7","u":"https://www.astronet.ru/db/msg/1169491/1_7.htm"},{"id":"VUFO-PET1977-4","t":"New York Times, 30 Sept 1977: light sighted in Soviet Union described as a rocket booster","u":"https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/30/archives/mysterious-light-sighted-in-soviet-is-described-as-a-rocket-booster.html"}],"pts":[{"p":"Most sightings were between 1:00 and 1:20 am UTC.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"},{"p":"Soviet researchers collected 85 reports by 30 Dec 1978.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"},{"p":"Widely attributed to the Kosmos-955 launch from Plesetsk.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"},{"p":"Oberg: launch of Kosmos-955 from Plesetsk at about 3:58 local time.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: Petrozavodsk phenomenon","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon"}]},"img":null,"md":null,"hh":null,"hs":{},"lh":{"s":"img/h/UFO-PET1977.webp","w":288,"h":725,"o":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/TASS_on_Kosmos-955.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original"}}