CIA Intelligence Information Report: An Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon at the Sary Shagan Weapons Range, USSR, 1973
CIA Intelligence Information Report: An Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon at the Sary Shagan Weapons Range, USSR, 1973
Source file: CIA-UAP-D001_Intelligence_Information_Report_USSR_1973.pdf Originating agency: Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Operations Report number: FIRK-311/01638-77 Classification: CONFIDENTIAL (Approved for Release 2026) Date of Information (DOI): November 1972 – November 1973 Page count: 3 (all read) PURSUE Release: 2
Summary
This is a declassified CIA Directorate of Operations Intelligence Information Report, number FIRK-311/01638-77, concerning the Sary Shagan weapons testing range in the Soviet Union. The source is described as a former Soviet citizen who served at the range; the information was acquired in Germany. The bulk of the report covers the range's facilities, work areas, security fencing, its regional headquarters (V/Ch 03080), and a warhead checkout unit (V/Ch 03142), along with the System-75 (SA-2) and System-300/Aldan (ABM-1 GALOSH) warheads and rumored laser-weapons research. The document's significance for this archive lies in its final paragraphs: the source's first-hand account of an unidentified aerial phenomenon — a bright green circular object that expanded into concentric rings — observed over the range one evening in late summer 1973.
The report is explicitly marked "THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE."
Research Article
The document and its source
Sary Shagan, in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, was the Soviet Union's principal anti-ballistic-missile (ABM) test range — the proving ground for systems built to intercept incoming strategic warheads. A CIA report on its internal layout and weapons would have been a priority collection target during the Cold War. This report's source is identified only as "a former Soviet citizen who served" at the range; the report was acquired through CIA channels in Germany and carries a distribution date in December 1977, several years after the period of information it covers (November 1972 to November 1973).
The report's own summary frames the contents: "This report provides limited information on the Sary Shagan weapons testing range, to include facilities, work areas, security fencing, the regional headquarters (V/Ch 03080), and a warhead checkout unit (V/Ch 03142). Also included is limited information on the following: System-75 [SA-2] and System-300/Aldan [ABM-1 GALOSH] warheads; rumored laser research; and an unidentified aerial phenomenon."
Technical content: warheads and rumored lasers
Before the UAP account, the report relays technical detail that establishes the source's access and credibility. At "Site 4," warheads were checked for a missile system known as the System-300 and/or Aldan, which a field comment identifies in reference material as the ABM-1/GALOSH — the Soviet nuclear-tipped ABM interceptor that ringed Moscow. The source described the System-300/Aldan warhead as roughly two meters long and 80 to 100 centimeters in diameter, weighing approximately 400 kilograms, and containing black cassettes (45 by 12 centimeters) housing metal balls ("shariki"). By contrast, the System-75 (SA-2) warhead held about 100 grey cassettes (30 by 7 centimeters), each with 200 to 300 metal balls no more than 1.5 centimeters in diameter. The source, who had no knowledge of nuclear warheads, stated that all work done by his department was "basically experimental."
The report also notes, "according to hearsay," that "experiments involving laser weapons were being conducted at an unknown location at the range," supposedly involving "powerful antennas." This places the UAP observation in a specific context: a strategic site where directed-energy and ABM research were actively under way.
The observation
The unidentified-phenomenon account is brief and precise. "On one evening in late Summer 1973, Source observed an unidentified phenomenon at Site 7." The circumstances are mundane and oddly specific: "While watching a sport competition between Canada and the USSR on television, he stepped outside for some air and observed an unidentified sharp (bright) green circular object or mass in the sky."
The geometry is recorded: "The object was situated west of the site at an angle of sighting of approximately 70 degrees. The altitude of the object was undeterminable." A field comment adds that although the sky was cloudless, the source "believed that the green mass would have been higher than cloud level," and that he could not estimate the object's diameter.
The behavior is the report's most striking element: "Within 10 to 15 seconds of observation, the green circle widened and within a brief period of time 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." A closing field comment notes the source "had no opinion as to what this phenomenon was," that there were "no resultant rumors," and that he could provide no further details.
Significance
The value of this document is contextual and historical rather than evidentiary in the modern sensor-data sense. It is the first CIA document in this archive, and it situates a UAP observation directly over a top-tier Soviet strategic-weapons facility during a period of active ABM and rumored directed-energy testing — echoing a recurring pattern across the PURSUE collection in which anomalous aerial activity is reported in close proximity to nuclear and missile infrastructure, on both sides of the Cold War.
The observation itself resists easy explanation but should be read with care. A bright green expanding circle that develops concentric rings and fades silently within minutes could be consistent with a number of phenomena, including upper-atmosphere or high-altitude events; the source himself offered no interpretation, and the CIA reporting officer explicitly flagged the report as un-evaluated. What the document reliably establishes is that a credentialed insider at Sary Shagan reported an unexplained green aerial phenomenon to the point that it was captured, decades later declassified, and folded into the United States' own UAP disclosure collection.
Key People
| Role | Identity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Former Soviet citizen who served at Sary Shagan | Identity withheld; account acquired in Germany |
| Reporting / field officer | CIA Directorate of Operations | Added evaluative field comments |
Locations
| Location | Details |
|---|---|
| Sary Shagan weapons testing range | Soviet ABM test range, Kazakh SSR |
| "Site 7" | Location of the green-object observation |
| "Site 4" | Warhead checkout unit (System-300/Aldan, System-75) |
| Regional headquarters | V/Ch 03080 |
Incidents
| Incident | Date | Location | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright green circular object forming concentric rings | Late summer 1973, evening | Site 7, west of site, ~70° elevation | 2-3 |
| Rumored laser-weapons / "powerful antennas" research | 1972-1973 | Unknown location on range | 2 |
Notable Quotes
"On one evening in late Summer 1973, Source observed an unidentified phenomenon at Site 7." — page 2-3
"...he stepped outside for some air and 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. The altitude of the object was undeterminable." — page 3
"Within 10 to 15 seconds of observation, the green circle widened and within a brief period of time 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." — page 3
"Also included is limited information on the following: System-75 [SA-2] and System-300/Aldan [ABM-1 GALOSH] warheads; rumored laser research; and an unidentified aerial phenomenon." — page 1, Summary
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