CIA Reports on Foreign UFO Sightings (1955–2008) – PURSUE Files

CIA intelligence reports on UFO sightings in Hungary, the Soviet Union, the Himalayas and Zimbabwe, and on Soviet scientists’ views of UFOs

⚠ Note on validity: These are raw intelligence reports passing along what sources said; the CIA labels several “informational, not finally evaluated.” Many Soviet-era sightings coincided with secret missile and space launches.

CIA foreign sighting reports
Agency	CIA
Dates covered	1955 – 2008
Places	Hungary, USSR (incl. Sary Shagan, Armenia), Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Harare (Zimbabwe)
Released	Release 03 (June 12, 2026); Release 02 (May 22, 2026)
Files	10 (PDF)
Previously public?	Mostly yes — most are on CIA’s public website in more redacted form; the 2008 Harare report and some 1970s reports are new
Official releaseHistorical

These CIA reports pass along UFO-related information from human sources abroad. They cover sightings over Hungary in 1955–1957 (including a sketch of objects flying between Budapest and Moscow); a 1967 report of conversations with Soviet scientists; seven sightings in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan in early 1968; a 1972 report on a speculative paper by Soviet physicists Nikolai Kardashev and Andrei Sakharov; a 1973 account of a bright green luminous object with expanding rings in the USSR; reports on the Sary Shagan weapons range and Aeroflot crew research; and a never-before-released 2008 report on a sighting at Harare International Airport, Zimbabwe.^[1]

The records

CIA-UAP-018, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity

Open CIA-UAP-018 (PDF) on war.gov →

A 1955 report on a UFO sighting in Hungary. The information came from a letter between Hungarian relatives, living in the USA and Budapest. A more redacted version of the report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-013, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity

Open CIA-UAP-013 (PDF) on war.gov →

This 1956 CIA Information Report describes flying object sightings reported by a Budapest-based sub-source, including a sketch showing the objects’ suspected formation and flight path between Budapest and Moscow. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-009, Unknown Flying Objects Observed Over Budapest

Open CIA-UAP-009 (PDF) on war.gov →

This is a 1957 CIA Information Report regarding UFO sightings over Budapest. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-010, Report on Conversations with Soviet Scientists on Subject of Unidentified Flying Objects in the USSR

Open CIA-UAP-010 (PDF) on war.gov →

This CIA document from August 1967 reports on conversations about UFO sightings with Soviet scientists during a US astrophysicist’s trip to the USSR.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-016, Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan

Open CIA-UAP-016 (PDF) on war.gov →

A 1968 report about UFO sightings in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. Seven UFO sightings are listed that took place between 19 Feb. to 25 Mar. 1968. A more redacted version of the report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-008, Speculative Paper By N Kardashev and A Sakharov on Charged Mass in Space at Conference on Origins Of Life, Armenia, 6-8 September 1971/Low Scientific Level Of Other Soviet Papers

Open CIA-UAP-008 (PDF) on war.gov →

This 1972 CIA Intelligence Information Report summarizes a US attendee’s observations of a speculative paper regarding charged mass behavior in space presented by Soviet scientists N.S. Kardashev and A. Sakharov at a conference in Armenia. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

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

Open CIA-UAP-D001 (PDF) on 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.
— Official PURSUE description

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

Open CIA-UAP-011 (PDF) on war.gov →

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.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-012, Combating Fatigue In Crewmembers

Open CIA-UAP-012 (PDF) on war.gov →

This November 1976 CIA Foreign Intelligence Information Report summarizes Soviet Aeroflot’s involvement in aerospace medical research, including their methods for combating crew fatigue through physical conditioning, automated biological testing equipment that measures vital signs in 1-3 minutes, and discussions about UFO phenomena with a Soviet radiation biologist. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA’s public website.
— Official PURSUE description

CIA-UAP-017, Placement on High Alert Due to Perceived Aggressive Foreign Posturing

Open CIA-UAP-017 (PDF) on war.gov →

A never before released July 2008 report on a UFO sighting at the Harare International Airport. Individuals debated if the sighting was an advanced reconnaissance device of a foreign government or of extraterrestrial origins.
— Official PURSUE description

Analysis

Known explanations. A luminous green object surrounded by concentric expanding rings that slowly fades (CIA-UAP-D001) is the classic appearance of a rocket launch seen from far away, when the exhaust plume spreads in the thin upper atmosphere; the Soviet Union hid such launches, and the 1977 “Petrozavodsk phenomenon” was later traced to one. Sary Shagan was a secret anti-ballistic-missile and laser test range, so unusual lights there are expected. Hungarian sightings in the 1950s often coincided with Soviet aircraft activity during the Cold War. The 2008 Harare report records officials debating whether the object was a foreign reconnaissance device or extraterrestrial, without a conclusion.^[2]

Why the CIA cared. The interest was intelligence, not aliens: sightings could reveal Soviet missile, space or aircraft tests, and Soviet scientists’ views showed how seriously the USSR took the topic. Kardashev, known for the Kardashev scale of civilizations, and Sakharov, the nuclear physicist and later Nobel Peace laureate, were prominent figures whose speculative work interested U.S. analysts.

New or previously released? Mostly previously released in more redacted form on CIA’s website. The 2008 Harare report is described as never before released.

Released files

PURSUE ID	Title	Type
CIA-UAP-018	Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity	PDF
CIA-UAP-013	Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity	PDF
CIA-UAP-009	Unknown Flying Objects Observed Over Budapest	PDF
CIA-UAP-010	Report on Conversations with Soviet Scientists on Subject of Unidentified Flying Objects in the USSR	PDF
CIA-UAP-016	Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan	PDF
CIA-UAP-008	Speculative Paper By N Kardashev and A Sakharov on Charged Mass in Space at Conference on Origins Of Life, Armenia, 6-8 September 1971/Low Scientific Level Of Other Soviet Papers	PDF
CIA-UAP-D001	Intelligence Information Report, USSR, 1973	PDF
CIA-UAP-011	The Sary Shagan Weapons Testing Range	PDF
CIA-UAP-012	Combating Fatigue In Crewmembers	PDF
CIA-UAP-017	Placement on High Alert Due to Perceived Aggressive Foreign Posturing	PDF

References

^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 03 (June 12, 2026), Release 02 (May 22, 2026): CIA-UAP-018, CIA-UAP-013, CIA-UAP-009, CIA-UAP-010, CIA-UAP-016, CIA-UAP-008, CIA-UAP-D001, CIA-UAP-011, CIA-UAP-012, CIA-UAP-017, with official descriptions. war.gov/ufo.
^ Gindilis, L. M., et al., and later analyses identifying the 1977 Petrozavodsk event with the Kosmos-955 launch from Plesetsk.

Source: U.S. Department of War, PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters), war.gov/ufo. Official records are U.S. government works in the public domain; summaries and analysis on this page are by UFO UAP Wiki.