Air Intelligence Report IR 193-55: Senatorial Eyewitnesses to Flying Discs in the Soviet Union, October 1955

Source file: 341_110677_numerical_file_5-2500.pdf Originating agency: U.S. Air Force (Record Group 341 — USAF HQ) — Numerical File 5-2500 Date range: October 1955 (report dated October 14, 1955; events of October 4, 1955) Page count: 10 (all read) High-significance pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Official Blurb (from war.gov)

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.

Summary

This document is a classified Air Intelligence Information Report, number IR 193-55, prepared by the U.S. Air Attache in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on October 14, 1955. It records the direct eyewitness accounts of three senior American officials who, on October 4, 1955, observed two large, round, disc-shaped aircraft — explicitly described as "flying saucers" or "flying discs" — ascending from a location west of their train line while traveling through the Trans-Caucasus region of the Soviet Union. The document was classified SECRET NOFORN and later declassified under authority NND 857013. Beyond the UAP observations, the report contains wide-ranging military intelligence on Soviet fighter aircraft, weaponry, radar sites, military personnel, and transportation infrastructure.

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Research Article

Introduction

Among all U.S. Air Force intelligence documents dealing with unidentified aerial phenomena, Report IR 193-55 occupies a uniquely distinguished position. The reason is straightforward: the eyewitnesses are not ordinary enlisted men, not pilots whose fatigue or emotion might color their judgment, and not anonymous civilians whose reliability is difficult to verify. The eyewitnesses are Senator Richard Russell, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee; Lt. Col. E. U. Hathaway of the U.S. Army, attached to that committee; and a man named Ruben Efron, a committee consultant. All three were traveling by train through Soviet territory when, in the evening hours of October 4, 1955, they observed two round, disc-shaped aircraft ascending from a point west of the railway line.

The report was signed by Lt. Col. Thomas S. Ryan, the U.S. Air Intelligence Officer in Prague, who stated explicitly that "the significance of this report re the USAF project 'Unidentified Flying Objects' is remarkable and lends credence to many 'saucer' reports."

Background: The Russell Delegation in the Soviet Union

In late September and October 1955, a small group of senior American officials conducted a rare visit to Soviet territory. The group included Senator Richard Russell — one of the most senior and influential members of the Senate at that time — consultant Ruben Efron, and Lt. Col. E. U. Hathaway, a U.S. Army staff officer attached to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Their itinerary included travel from Moscow through Kiev, Baku, Tiflis, Dnieperpetrovsk, and finally to Prague via the COP border crossing between the USSR and Czechoslovakia.

Such a journey in 1955 was highly unusual. The Soviet government had permitted these individuals to travel routes that Americans almost never reached. Thus, without prior planning, they found themselves witnesses to one of the most credible UAP observations ever recorded in American intelligence files.

The UAP Observations: The Central Event

On October 4, 1955, at 19:10 hours, while the train was running between stations ATJATY and ADZHIJABUL in the Trans-Caucasus region — just ten minutes after departing ATJATY — Senator Russell observed the first craft.

Description of the first craft: Senator Russell, seated at a train window, identified a large round object ascending west of the railway line (that is, from a southerly direction relative to their direction of travel). He immediately called Col. Hathaway and Mr. Efron over, and all three observed the craft. Hathaway reached the window in time to see the first craft together with the Senator, while Efron caught only a brief glimpse of it due to crowding.

Description of the second craft: Approximately one minute later, an identical second craft appeared, ascending from precisely the same location and following exactly the same flight path.

Precise characteristics described by the witnesses:

1. The craft were round and large, disc or saucer in shape. "The aircraft was round." "It appeared in the shape of a discus."
2. Their ascent was nearly vertical, at a relatively slow rate of climb, along an angle that was not precisely vertical but "with a slight arc from the vertical."
3. Altitude at leveling-off before acceleration: approximately 6,000 feet.
4. After reaching altitude, the craft's speed increased sharply and it turned northward.
5. The outer surface rotated slowly to the right (clockwise).
6. Two steady lights were observed inside the disc, positioned approximately one-third of the way from the rim, "near the top of the disc." The lights remained stationary while the outer surface continued to rotate.
7. Sparks or flames emerged from the underside during ascent.
8. No protrusions, "sticks," or external appendages were observed.
9. The "flying attitude" remained constant during both the ascent and the horizontal flight phase, resembling a discus in flight.
10. Two searchlights pointed upward at a nearly vertical angle near the takeoff area.

Soviet crew reaction: Immediately after the Americans observed the craft, the Soviet train attendants displayed unmistakable agitation: they closed the curtains, refused to allow passengers to look out the windows, and offered no explanation whatsoever. Efron noted in his written account: "After we saw the two discs the Soviet train attendants became excited, pulled the shades, and told us we were not permitted to look out the windows." This reaction, in the judgment of intelligence officer Ryan, indicates that the Americans had witnessed something they were not supposed to see.

Discussion: Were These Soviet Secret Aircraft?

Ryan's report offers a balanced and professional analysis. On one hand, he notes that the aerodynamic characteristics described — near-vertical ascent, external rotation of the hull, and a dramatic speed increase — do not correspond to any known conventional aircraft of 1955. On the other hand, he refrains from drawing categorical conclusions, merely stating that the report "lends credence to many 'saucer' reports."

The USAIRA (United States Air Intelligence Reporting Activity) added an internal notation proposing that the source rating should be B-2, meaning a relatively reliable source with information that has not been independently confirmed. Nevertheless, a B-2 rating for three senior witnesses — including a sitting U.S. Senator — is high given the circumstances.

Additional Intelligence Content: Observations of Soviet Military Forces

The report contains further intelligence of considerable value, divided into sections.

Section B: Observations in Baku A long ER train with flatcars was observed outside Baku. On each flatcar sat a company-sized landing craft with a slot at the rear for an outboard motor and a canvas cover over the deck. One jet-type aircraft was observed flying high over Baku. Beyond the civil airfield, Col. Hathaway passed a military airfield on which dark-green transport vehicles were identified.

Section C: Observations at Dnieperpetrovsk Airfield On October 9, 1955, Hathaway arrived at Dnieperpetrovsk airfield. The field was covered with grass sod. He counted 42 small, stubby jet fighter aircraft parked on the field and described them as "short, stubby, smaller, with a higher horizontal tail, flatter wings, canopy more forward" — neither FAGOT (MiG-15) nor FRESCO (MiG-17), possibly a newer type documented as SRI. One jet bomber was also observed on the field. Page 8 of the report includes a hand-drawn profile sketch of the jet bomber: forward cockpit, fabric cover on the engines, wing swept far aft, low tail, and a silver protrusion on the rear nose.

Section D: Observations Near Moscow The group was taken to a point exactly at kilometer 42 on the Moscow-Minsk Highway, where 200–250 meters to the right of the road a radar site was observed with two radar installations. Based on Hathaway's sketches, these were tentatively identified as Woodgage (gap-filler) and Freya (a sophisticated German wartime radar).

Section E: Observations from Tiflis to Sochi In Tiflis on October 5, 1955, Hathaway observed a large helicopter of banana-like shape with two large main rotors at the tips and more windows than a similar type he had seen in the United States. Between Tiflis and Sochi on the Black Sea coast, the group met a Russian on the train named EGOROV, approximately 55 years old, who claimed to have been the Soviet flag pilot who performed a trans-polar flight to America in 1935 or 1936 and to be a Hero of the Soviet Union. Hathaway also observed a T-34 tank with a muzzle brake that appeared markedly different from those he had encountered in Korea.

Section F: Observations at the COP Border and Czech Railways At the COP crossing between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, the group underwent a rail-gauge switching operation — changing from the wide Soviet gauge to the Czech standard gauge — which is described in a detailed technical diagram on page 10 of the report. On the road into Czechoslovakia, enormous rail marshaling yards with watchtowers were observed, and in the first city inside Czechoslovakia an industrial facility believed to be producing aluminum-bodied rail cars was noted.

Significance

Report IR 193-55 is among the most important UAP documents ever disclosed, for several reasons.

Witness credibility: It is difficult to imagine more credible witnesses than a sitting U.S. Senator, a senior Army staff officer, and a senior government official. All three declared themselves "completely convinced that they had seen real disc or saucer-type aircraft."

Geographic context: The incident occurred on Soviet territory, in the Trans-Caucasus region, in an area where the USAIRA itself noted that other UAP observations from the ATJATY district had recurred — possibly indicating a Soviet operational site.

Governmental authority: Ryan reported immediately to DINTA in Washington, CINCUSAFE, and USAIRA Moscow, at TOP SECRET classification. He recommended a full debriefing of all three witnesses upon their return to the United States and commendations for their efforts.

Implications for the Air Force UAP project: Intelligence officer Ryan wrote explicitly that the findings were connected to the USAF project "Unidentified Flying Objects" and "lends credence to many 'saucer' reports." This constitutes an explicit acknowledgment within official intelligence records that the phenomenon is real and significant.

The Soviet dynamic: The craft may have represented a highly secret Soviet experimental program. The train attendants' reaction — closing the curtains and preventing any further observation — strongly suggests that the Soviet state was aware that something was being concealed there. If these were Soviet classified vehicles, their characteristics — near-vertical ascent, rotating hull, dramatic speed transition — are consistent with "lenticular" type projects explored during that era, although no specific program has been confirmed.

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Key People

• Senator Richard Russell — U.S. Senator, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Primary eyewitness to the UAP sighting. He first spotted the initial disc and called the others to the window.
• Lt. Col. E. U. Hathaway — U.S. Army staff officer attached to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reached the window in time to see the first craft alongside Senator Russell; observed the second craft in its entirety. Served as the primary technical describer.
• Ruben Efron — Committee consultant. Caught a brief glimpse of the first craft but observed the second in its entirety. Maintained detailed written notes which he presented to the intelligence officer.
• Lt. Col. Thomas S. Ryan — U.S. Air Attache (USAIRA) in Prague; conducted the debriefing and authored the report. Signed as "T.S. Ryan, Lt. Col. USAF."
• Col. Thomas Dooley — U.S. Army Attache in Prague; present at the debriefing.
• Harold Vedler — Acting Chief of Mission in Prague; received the Russell group.
• EGOROV — Former Soviet pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, who claimed to have executed trans-polar flights in 1935–36; encountered by the group on the train between Tiflis and Sochi.

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Locations

• ATJATY — Railway station in the Trans-Caucasus region, USSR; the reference point for the UAP observation
• ADZHIJABUL — The next station after ATJATY; the discs were observed between the two stations
• Baku — City from which the train departed; landing craft, fighter aircraft, and additional forces were observed there
• Dnieperpetrovsk — Airfield visited October 9, 1955; 42 fighter aircraft and one jet bomber observed there
• Tiflis — City where a large banana-shaped helicopter was observed on October 5, 1955
• Sochi — Destination between Tiflis and the border; site of the meeting with EGOROV
• Moscow-Minsk Highway, Km 42 — Soviet radar site
• COP — Border crossing between the USSR and Czechoslovakia; October 12, 1955
• Prague — Location of the USAIRA debriefing; the Russell group arrived there on October 12, 1955

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Incidents

Incident	Date	Location	Pages
Observation of two flying discs from train	October 4, 1955, 19:10	Between ATJATY and ADZHIJABUL, Trans-Caucasus, USSR	2, 3, 4, 5
Large banana-shaped helicopter (twin rotors)	October 5, 1955	Tiflis, USSR	6
42 fighter aircraft + jet bomber at airfield	October 9, 1955	Dnieperpetrovsk, USSR	5, 8
Soviet radar site (Woodgage + Freya)	October 1955	Km 42, Moscow-Minsk Highway	6
Landing craft on ER flatcar train	October 1955	Outside Baku, USSR	5
T-34 tank with new muzzle brake	October 1955	Vicinity of Sochi	7
Meeting with pilot EGOROV (Hero of the USSR)	Between Tiflis and Sochi	Train along Black Sea coast	6
Debriefing of Russell group at USAIRA Prague	October 13, 1955	Prague, Czechoslovakia	2, 3

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Notable Quotes

"THREE RELIABLE US OBSERVERS, SENATOR RICHARD RUSSELL, LT. COL. E.U. HATHAWAY, ARMY, MR. RUBEN EFRON, VISITED PRAGUE 12-13 OCT... TWO ROUND AND CIRCULAR UNCONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT RESEMBLING FLYING DISCS OR FLYING SAUCERS WERE SEEN TAKING OFF ALMOST VERTICALLY ONE MINUTE APART." — classified cable, October 13, 1955

"The significance of this report re the USAF project 'Unidentified Flying Objects' is remarkable and lends credence to many 'saucer' reports." — report summary on UAP significance

"I doubt if you're going to believe this but we all saw it. Sen. Russell was the first to see this flying saucer and he called us to the window, and we both saw the second one... We've been told for years that there isn't such a thing, but we all saw it, including Sen. Russell." — Col. Hathaway at the debriefing

"The whole object whirred and then levelled and zoomed off at very high speed... the outer surface of the object revolved slowly in a clockwise direction or to the right, with the rate of ascent being relatively slow in comparison to the high speed which the object took on at when it reached altitude." — description of craft characteristics

"I believe that further debriefing of all three US observers in a more relaxed atmosphere and with more time would produce much more valuable technical details than the hurried interview above." — USAIRA note