Script  

What did Senator Russell see in the skies of the USSR in 1955? Was it a UFO, a Soviet psyop, or a radically new Soviet aircraft? Watch to find out!

 In October 1955, a weathered passenger train crept along the shoreline of the Caspian Sea, bathed in the gentle glow of autumn's setting sun. Four Americans surveyed the landscape in the last train car through dirty windows streaked with oil. They had departed from Baku, the capital city of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. As the train rattled down the tracks, they watched the peninsula's coastline fade away while observing the presence of oil rigs, watchtowers, and military installations dotting the coastline. Azerbaijan was an essential part of the USSR's industrial base focused on oil production.

Due to a mishap by Intourist, the Soviet travel agency controlled by the KGB, the train’s departure was delayed by nearly two hours. This delay created a sense of unease among the Americans. They had been in the USSR for a month and were undoubtedly accustomed to the uncertainty of travel in the communist country. In one compartment, three of the Americans—Army Lieutenant Colonel Edward N. Hathaway, Washington DC attorney Reuben Efron, and Californian businessman Robert Gros—were immersed in a conversation. In the compartment next to them, Senator Richard Brevard Russell, under the weather with a cold, rested in his bunk. Soon, they would experience something extraordinary, far beyond any expectations.

Hi, I'm MF Thomas, and welcome to My Dark Path, where I explore the fringes of history, science, and the paranormal. So, if you geek out over these subjects, you're among friends here at My Dark Path. Check us out on X, YouTube, Instagram, and mydarkpath.com. I'm grateful for our Patreon supporters, who get exclusive monthly content, copies of my novels, t-shirts, and more.   Finally, thank you for choosing to walk the Dark Paths of the world with me. There is much to explore and ponder, even while we keep our eyes set on what matters most. Let's follow a dark path now and explore Senator Russell's UFO Incident in the USSR, episode 62.

In the Spring of 1955, Senator Russell, the Georgian Democrat, had decided to undertake a fact-finding mission of American military facilities across Europe. Born on November 2, 1897, in Winder, Georgia, Russell became interested in politics early, influenced by his father, a judge and a state legislator. Russell embarked on his political career after graduating from law school in 1918. He served briefly in the Georgia House of Representatives before enlisting in the Navy during World War I. After the war, he was elected governor in 1931 but only served two years before being elected to the US Senate in 1933. 

Russell was the chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee and one of the most powerful US senators. At this time, there was formal congressional oversight of the CIA, and he was one of the agency's staunchest allies in the Senate.   Russell was also a friend to many defense contractors. Lockheed's operations in his home state of Georgia employed thousands. Lockheed also had top secret projects, like the development of the Air Force's Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program, designed to power bombers with unlimited range. 

A trip like this wouldn't be Russell's first. He'd used his tours of US military bases to advocate for larger defense budgets. While his visit to the USSR hadn’t been made public, there was still press speculation that he’d try to visit the communist country at the end of his European tour. His office had publicly denied the plan, but his staff had applied for his Soviet visa earlier in the year.

Russell's journey took him to the capitals of the UK, Spain, and France. While the trip had been productive, Russell felt a tinge of disappointment over the absence of his close friend in the Senate. The majority leader, Lyndon Johnson, and his wife, Lady Bird, had to cancel their accompanying plans due to Johnson's heart attack. In early September, Russell flew to Germany to visit a future operational site of the new U-2 spy plane. This wasn't strictly a military operation, as the CIA operated the

U-2 program.

Russell traveled to Finland to reach the USSR, where Reuben Efron, a Russian emigrant and U.S. citizen, joined him. Efron would serve as Russell's interpreter for the trip. In my first few readings of the history of this event, I relegated Efron to be a secondary player, simply someone who would corroborate Russell's experience. However, much more about Efron’s life has come into view since 2023, making his part in this story much more intriguing. 

Reuben Efron was born In Lithuania on April 12, 1911, to parents Avrom and Sora. His father died at the young age of 38 from pneumonia. Rueben escaped Lithuania just before Nazi Germany started the mass murder of Jews in the country. Starting in July of 1941, Nazi mobile killing units entered the country and began massacring hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. Unlike their use of gas chambers, the Nazis had other methods of mass murder. Instead, they lined people up at the edge of pits before shooting them in the head, and the murdered people would fall into their mass graves.

In many cases, Nazis forced them to dig their graves. Efron’s mother and two brothers did not escape the country. They were all murdered in Lithuania during the Holocaust. However, Efron got to Cuba and immigrated to the US in 1939 before being naturalized in 1943. 

So, what has been uncovered about Reuben Efron recently? His name was just unveiled on May 11, 2023, with the release of more previously secret information about the JFK assassination. Efron was identified as the person who was opening and reading Lee Harvey Oswald's mail for the CIA's HTLINGUAL project. This person was the same Lee Harvey Oswald, who the CIA maintained was a lone wolf and was of no interest to them before he assassinated JFK in Dallas. There is more to this story to be discussed in an upcoming episode, but I share Efron’s background here for the following reasons. 

He was not an ordinary lawyer but an employee of the CIA—whether or not he was paid directly or indirectly. This confirms the deep connection that Senator Russell had with the CIA. The CIA provided a trusted agent to accompany Russell. The connection between the JFK assassination, Efron, and Russell goes even further, as Russell was a member of the Warren Commission. Again, I only share this to point out that the connection among these men was not limited to the extraordinary events I’ll share here.

With Stalin’s death in 1953, there was a slight thaw in the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union, allowing for some increase in the number of Americans visiting the communist country. Their trip was a unique opportunity for the CIA to gather intelligence. On the surface, Efron’s responsibilities were to document observations about the Soviet way of life and economic conditions and translate for Senator Russell. Colonel Hathaway would scrutinize defense-related aspects.

Russell, Efron, and Hathaway reached Leningrad on September 23 and then took a train to Moscow. Once in the Soviet capital, they spent several days sightseeing. And there, the group of Russell, Efron, and Hatheway crossed paths with another American, Robert R. Gros, an executive of the California utility Pacific Gas & Electric. He joined the group, but I don’t believe this to be a random event. In 1955, while still employed full-time, he was also deeply involved in international affairs. At the time of his death in 1997 at 82, he had made dozens of fact finding trips aboard meeting world leaders, had flown aboard aircraft carrying supplies during the Berlin airlift and had interviewed 11 US presidents. And his connection with the Soviet Union wouldn't end in 1955. He would be San Francisco's official escort for Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to the Bay Area in 1959. So, I have to conclude that Gros wasn't simply wandering around the USSR without an itinerary like a college student on a backpacking trip. The CIA or DOD must have planned their meeting in advance. After researching each of these men and their connections to the CIA…I now wonder about the purpose of their trip to the USSR. I strongly believe they were not just passively collecting intelligence. Instead, they had specific targets for their intelligence gathering.

So, this eclectic group of 4 took the train to Stalingrad then flew to Baku, the renowned oil hub of Azerbaijan within the Soviet Union.

If the Americans carefully planned their trip and the participants, then the Soviets, likewise, would have been aware of their backgrounds and directed them to locations and events they wanted them to see and experience. Their chaperon here would be their new Intourist guide—half host and half intelligence officer. Every foreigner visiting the USSR was required to have one, and itineraries were carefully planned with the KGB. 

The person assigned to Russell’s group was a woman with distinctive steel teeth, whom Russell humorously dubbed "Snappin' Annie." There is no word on how Annie felt about this moniker or, more importantly, what she thought about her steel teeth.

Annie escorted them to standard tourist attractions around Baku. Yet the group's curiosity about the Caspian Sea's panoramic views persuaded her to take them to a memorial with a commanding view of the city and water.

Armed with their photographic equipment – Senator Russell and Colonel Hathaway with their 35mm cameras, and Gros with his 16mm movie camera and Leica loaded with Kodachrome film – they took as many photos as they could of the shore, despite Annie's objections. The group seemed to have a great deal of interest in the coastline. Gros thought he could see submarines in the Caspian Sea. If true, this would be very peculiar. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water, not connected with any ocean. Ships and ocean-going craft here would only be useful for development and not easily deployed elsewhere.

On the evening of October 4, 1955, with their time in Baku complete, the Americans went to the train station to board for Tbilisi, Georgia. Settling into their compartments, they noted the presence of a tall, imposing military figure, identified by his insignia as a one-star general, in a nearby compartment. The general's presence didn't raise any alarms. Their train commenced its journey at six pm, hugging the Caspian's shoreline before veering west-northwest near Alyat, bringing them within a mere seventy-five miles of the Iranian frontier.

The train paused briefly at Alyat station around seven pm. Feeling under the weather, Senator Russell was alone, resting and watching the passing landscape from a different compartment from the other three. He'd dimmed the lights to rest. As the train pulled away from the station, a peculiar light caught his attention through the window to the south. Initially, he dismissed it as a mere reflection on the train glass. Quickly, he realized the object wasn't a reflection. It was spinning, glowing a yellow-green color. It flew quickly into the sky on nearly a vertical trajectory.

Excited, Russell ran to his fellow travelers in the adjacent compartment, exclaiming, "I just saw a flying saucer!"

He turned off the lights in the second cabin, and the four men rushed to the window just in time to witness the first mysterious object vanish into the night sky, passing to the north. Gros struggled to retrieve his cameras from his luggage to capture this phenomenon. In the meantime, a second object appeared and seemed to follow the trajectory of the first.

To Hathaway and Efron, the object appeared circular, roughly the size of a fighter jet, but it rotated. It seemed to have a faint glowing color like fire or sparks coming from underneath it. But there was no sound, and it left no smoky trail like an airplane or rocket would. Gros thought it moved unusually fast and called out, "It shot into the sky!"

They observed the two objects revolving to the right like "a discus in flight" during their ascent. Each object had two lights on top. As each object rose to about 6,000 feet, its velocity increased sharply, and it sped off in a northern direction. As they passed over their train, no one saw protrusions like wings, engines, or propellers on the craft.

The men sat in stunned silence for a few minutes. This was a very unusual event.

The presence of searchlights, pointing straight into the air near the launch site suggested a military facility, though no runways or buildings were visible. They remained peering through the window, hoping to see more flying objects as darkness drew across the land and the train continued its journey. Soon, conductors entered the cabin and closed the blinds, indicating that the Americans were not permitted to sightsee during the rest of their train ride.

Part 2

The UFO sighting deeply impacted each of the four men as they continued their trip. Gros would be the first to share the events with US officials. Two days after arriving in Tbilisi, Gros bid farewell to Russell and returned to Moscow. But before he left, he described the UFO sighting to staff at the US embassy, causing a sensation. Quickly, the senior officials at the embassy, including the CIA head of station suggested to him that the area was a simply a missile testing site. Once Gros returned to California, the CIA visited him and confiscated all the photos and film of the event. CIA director Allen Dulles reportedly urged Gros to remain silent about the encounter.

Meanwhile, Russell, Efron, and Hathaway traveled west towards Czechoslovakia via Kiev. Arriving at the U.S. Mission in Prague on October 12, Hathaway bluntly told the U.S. Air Attaché, Lt Col Thomas Ryan:

“I doubt if you are going to believe this, but we all saw it. Senator Russell was the first to see this flying disc. We've been told for years that there isn't such a thing, but all of us saw it.”  

Lt Col Ryan scheduled a formal debrief for the group the next morning. But only Hathaway and Efron would attend, as Russell had official duties to attend to. At this point, I wonder: Was Russell communicating directly with more senior leaders in the military or CIA while Hathaway and Efron spoke with the mid-level Ryan? If so, what was he telling them? Would it be different from the official story that Ryan was documenting?

Ryan sequestered Hathaway and Efron in a conference and started to debrief the two Americans. As this interview was unplanned, Ryan asked general questions about their trip, capturing notes about the Soviet military assets and economic conditions. But soon the discussion turned to the Baku saucers. Hathaway portrayed the object with the precision one would expect of a military officer. And Efron echoed his description – the objects had a circular, disc-like shape, and the rotated clockwise. 

Ryan thought their story was credible. Based on the interview, he was responsible for writing an Air Information Report – a document that summarizes the intelligence he had just gathered. There are copies of his report on the internet – but they are very difficult to read as they have many redactions. Ryan reported the following

• The two-disc aircraft were seen out of a window on the left side of the

• One disc aircraft ascended almost vertically, at a relatively slow speed with its outer surface revolving slowly to the right, to an altitude of about 6000 feet where its speed then increased sharply as it headed north and was no longer visible as it crossed over the

• Some sparking or flame came out of the bottom as the craft rose.

• The rate of ascent being relatively slow in comparison to the high speed which the object took off at when it reached

• There were two lights towards the inside of the disc which remained stationary as the outer surface went around. The lights sat near the top of the

• The aircraft was circular. It seemed to have the shape of a discus, round and circular. It had no protrusions or sticks or bulges.

• There was no noticeable color. However, the witnesses said that as it was dusk, identifying color would have been.

• The second flying disc was seen performing the same actions about one minute

• The takeoff area was about 1-2 miles south of the rail line, where two searchlight beams were seen pointing up almost vertically. 

In summary, Ryan wrote that Hathaway and Efron “remained convinced that these unconventional aircraft were flying saucers or flying discs.”

Ryan’s debrief also captured another odd event that took place 2 days after the sighting. By itself, it was innocuous. But this encounter reinforced that the Americans had witnessed something unusual. While aboard a train journey from Tbilisi to Sochi, the Americans met a drunk middle-aged Russian gentleman. Upon learning their nationality, he introduced himself as Pyotr Ilyich Egorov. He told the Amercians he'd been to the USA in the 1930s when he piloted an airplane non-stop over the north pole to Washington State. He also explained that he was a Hero of the Soviet Union as well as an ace, having shot down 17 German planes during World War II.

Ryan wrote that this was a “most significant coincidence...taking into account the observations which were reported in the Atjaty region. It is difficult for me to believe that this experienced pilot in polar navigation would be retired and doing nothing but travelling around the Trans Caucasus region.”

Ryan reported the name Egorov and his claims. Yet, Ryan must have been aware of some unique long-distance flights in the 1930s. During this time, several Soviet aircraft made record-breaking flights to the United States, flying non-stop from Moscow, over the North Pole to the United States or the "route of Stalin."  On June 20, 1937, three Soviet pilots landed their Tupolev ANT-25 at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, setting a world record for distance with 63 hours of flight.

Mikhail Gromov led the second non-stop Soviet-US polar flight of the 1930s, and was commonly referred to as "Yegorov."  Gromov flew from Moscow to San Jacinto, California alongside two other pilots, covering more than 6,300 miles and landing July 14, 1937.

While Ryan captured the name Pyotr Ilyich Egorov, everyone thought it was actually Mikhal Yegorov Gromov, the pilot of the second non-stop flight to the USA.

Mikhail Gromov had been deeply involved in high-profile Soviet aviation projects, many made for propaganda. And he was accustomed to working with Americans. Following his record-breaking flight to California in 1937, Gromov and his crew were hosted by Eddie Rickenbacker, a World War I ace and Eastern Air Lines General Manager, in New York City. Gromov and Rickenbacker met again, this time in Moscow in 1943, when Rickenbacker was there to negotiate a Lend-Lease arms deal. And after World War II, Gromov flight tested the Tupolev Tu-70, a Soviet aircraft derived from the U.S. B-29 bomber. Gromov’s experience in long-distance flights to the US might have made him an ideal candidate to fly a top-secret mission over the US using a brand new type of plane.

This encounter with Gromov struck Ryan as remarkably coincidental, coming so close to their observation of the objects near Baku. Ryan suspected that Gromov was somehow connected to the unique flying objects. The most obvious answer was that these aircraft were a unique Soviet aircraft designed for extraordinarily long flights. Remember, Senator Russell was a proponent of the nuclear-powered bombers that would have virtually unlimited range, enabling them to stay on station just outside the Soviet borders. Could the Baku objects be a Soviet version of a unique aircraft that could strike the US? The questions rattled Ryan and prompted him to communicate more urgently after he wrapped up the interviews.

He sent an urgent, top-secret cable to USAF headquarters. It specified that it needed to be read overnight…not even waiting until the next day in the US. You can read the full cable on mydarkpath.com, but here’s a version of it that I’ve only editing for simplicity:

THREE RELIABLE US OBSERVERS, SENATOR RICHARD RUSSELL, LT. COL. HATHAWAY, ARMY, MR. RUBEN EFRON, VISITED PRAGUE 12-14 OCT. ARRIVING DIRECT FROM KIEV... AND REPORTED FOLLOWING

ON OCTOBER 4 55 AT 1910 HOURS, TEN MINUTES BY RAIL AFTER DEPARTING ATJATY IN TRANS CAUCASUS REGION, TWO ROUND AND CIRCULAR UNCONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT RESEMBLING FLYING DISCS OR FLYING SAUCERS WERE SEEN TAKING OFF ALMOST VERTICALLY ONE MINUTE APART. DISC AIRCRAFT ASCENDED NEAR DUSK WITH OUTER SURFACE REVOLVING SLOWLY TO RIGHT AND WITH TWO LIGHTS STATIONARY ON TOP NEAR MIDDLE PART. SPARKS OR FLAME SEEN COMING FROM AIRCRAFT. NO PROTRUSIONS SEEN ON AIRCRAFT WHICH PASSED OVER OBSERVERS' TRAIN. BOTH FLYING DISC AIRCRAFT ASCENDED RELATIVELY SLOWLY TO ABOUT 6000 FEET, THEN SPEED INCREASED SHARPLY IN HORIZONTAL FLIGHT BOTH ON NORTHERLY HEADING. FLYING ATTITUDE OF DISC REMAINED SAME DURING ASCENT AS IN CRUISE, LIKE A DISCUS IN FLIGHT. TWO OPERATING SEARCHLIGHTS POINTING ALMOST VERTICAL SEEN NEAR TAKEOFF AREA LOCATED ABOUT 1-2 MILES SOUTH OF railroad LINE.

 AFTER SIGHTING SOVIET TRAINMEN BECAME EXCITED AND LOWERED CURTAINS AND REFUSED PERMISSION TO LOOK OUT WINDOWS. US OBSERVERS FIRMLY BELIEVE THESE UNCONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT WERE GENUINE SAUCER OR DISC AIRCRAFT.

RECOMMEND COMPLETE DEBRIEFING OF RUSSELL GROUP UPON RETURN AND SUGGEST COMMENDATION FROM D/I FOR EFFORTS.... 

With this urgent cable sent, Ryan followed up with his in-depth Air Intelligence Information Report, including an illustration of the observed discs, alongside a statement that Russell’s observation could validate many of the historical saucer sightings that were typically dismissed.

Ryan’s cable and follow up report jolted the CIA and air force into action. 

Part 3

The CIA was already trying to understand the implications of a crash of a Tu-104 bomber just a few months earlier in August. The advanced Tupolev bomber, an almost exact replica of the American B-29 Superfortress, collided with a fighter jet during an airshow. But now, had the Soviets invented a flying saucer?

While various governmental sources had routinely dismissed UFOs, many in the US aerospace industry entertained the idea of saucer-shaped high-performance aircraft as a near-future reality. For example, in December 1954, the Air Intelligence Digest had written about a disc shaped aircraft. This publication was not a tabloid, publishing spurious rumors. Instead, it was a publication by Air Force intelligence which published insights into military aviation technology, tactics, and intelligence assessments. For instance, it included detailed analyses of foreign military technologies, such as Soviet MiG aircraft, and was read widely by U.S. military and intelligence communities. It also covered topics on more esoteric topics, including unconventional aircraft and UFO phenomena. In one instance, the Digest included discussions about German experimental aircraft from World War II and their potential use by the Soviets.

When the Air Intelligence Digest wrote about disc-shaped aircraft, it reflected the topic's credibility with the Air Force and American military leadership. For example, the December article described the performance characteristics of a UFO-like aircraft as one that "is expected to take off, land vertically, and be able to hover. It may cruise at 1,500 knots and have a range of 15,000 nautical miles."

The article posed a strategic question to its air force readers: 

One of the big questions facing the United States is this: What are the Soviets doing in the disc-aircraft field? If the United States accepts the possibility of success of circular-shaped aircraft, then it must also conclude that the Soviet Union is capable of developing such aircraft. If readers assume, at the end of the possibility scale, that the USSR is several years ahead right now, these questions must occur to them 

would the United States air defense system be able to detect, identify, intercept and destroy a bomber or reconnaissance aircraft moving at a 1,500 knot clip at an altitude of 65,000 feet?

What would be the capability of the Strategic Air Command with present-day aircraft to penetrate the Soviet Union on bombing missions if the Soviets defended themselves with disc-type interceptor aircraft with the above performance?

When Ryan's cable and report arrived, the air force and CIA were already anxiously thinking about these questions. For the source to be Senator Russell – already deeply trusted by the US military, CIA and defense contractors – well, you couldn’t have had a more credible source.

As CIA analysts started to dissect Ryan’s reports, a third observation only heightened their alarm. Remember that Americans, Gros in particular, had thought they had seen submarines in the water of the Caspian Sea. In theory, Gros had even taken photos of them. The same article from the Air Intelligence Digest described, with illustrations, how Soviets would want to launch and recover saucer-like aircraft from their submarines. The disc shaped aircraft, the submarines and pilot Mikhal Gromov all pointed to one conclusion – the Soviets had built an aircraft that as still just being dreamed about in the USA.

Interestingly, the CIAs fears were so significant about Soviet UFO development that it implemented a protocol for evaluating such evidence in June of the prior year. When any intelligence about these aircraft types came forward, the CIA's Applied Science Division took accountability for its evaluation. In particular, they wanted intelligence on "saucer-like" planes like those under development by Avro Canada in the late 1950s for the US military. The Avrocar was a disk-shaped craft, making it resemble what is popularly associated with UFOs. A turbojet engine propelled and lifted it, creating a cushion of air beneath it, a concept known as ground effect.

So, the CIA's Applied Science Division dove into the evidence and arrived at several conclusions.

On October 18, a week before Senator Russell returned to the country, CIA Director Allen Dulles briefed the Intelligence Advisory Committee—an assembly of intelligence chiefs from military branches, the FBI, Atomic Energy Commission, and State Department—about Senator Russell’s sighting.

The day after that meeting, Wilton E. Lexow, head of Applied Science Division, issued a memo that included the

• The objects reportedly sighted by Senator Russell are described to be similar to Project "Y" which is in the research stage at Avro Aircraft Ltd., Canada, under contract to the US Air Force.

• Project "Y" is being directed by John Frost. Mr. Frost is reported to have obtained his original idea for the flying machine from a group of Germans just after World War II. The Soviets may also have obtained information from this German

• Since the objects were reportedly seen in operation in an area where it is most unlikely that experimental flying would be conducted, it is likely that these objects were in service. This would indicate very rapid progress in this development for the Soviets. It does, however, seem inconsistent that the Soviets, if they have such an object in service, would continue their large development and production programs on conventional type

• Since our first information on Project "Y" in early 1953, ASD has been on the alert for information which might indicate that the Soviets were working on such a project. Prior to the sighting by [Russell] no such information has been

• In order to properly evaluate the report by [Russell] and group, it will be necessary to have additional information and details of the sighting. The Air Force has made arrangements for technically competent persons to question the party.

So while the CIA and air force were quietly evaluating the evidence, they came up with a different plan for communicating with the American public.

Concerned that news of Russell’s UFO sighting would reach the public, the Air Force and CIA decided to preempt any leaks. On October 25, the day that Senator Russell was to return to the US, the air force issued a news release summarizing the results of an investigation into UFOs that started in 1947. 

In the release, Secretary of the Air Force Donald A. Quarles said

“On the basis of this study we believe that no objects such as those popularly described as flying saucers have overflown the United States. I feel certain that even the unknown three per cent could have been explained as conventional phenomena or illusions if more complete observational data had been available. However, we are now entering a period of aviation technology in which aircraft of unusual configuration and flight characteristics will begin to appear.”

This is a fascinating press release for many reasons. It leaves open the idea that the Soviet UFO type aircraft could be flying, just not over the USA. It completely denies of the potential that unresolved cases could be of extraterrestrial origin. And, of course, is its timing, the day of Russell's return, completely overshadows any rumors that the press may have heard. By the way, all the materials are available on mydarkpath.com.

The press release ends with another Quarles statement: "I think we must recognize that other countries also have the capability of developing vertical-rising aircraft, perhaps of unconventional shapes. However, we are satisfied at this time that none of the sightings of so-called flying saucers reported in this country were in fact aircraft of foreign origin.”

I found a copy of the press release in a 1966 privately published book by Dr. Leon Davidson. I've made a short YouTube video of it in full detail. A link is in the show notes if you want to see the whole release.

Accompanying the release, the Air Force provided journalists copies of Project Blue Book Special Report 14 and an illustration depicting the MX-1794 "Silver Bug" saucer. The release also announced the development of a novel jet-powered VTOL – or vertical takeoff and landing – aircraft, the Ryan X-13 Vertijet. This unique, delta-winged tailsitter had been under development for some time, with its inaugural flight in a horizontal takeoff configuration occurring on December 10.

So, this diversionary message from this quickly planned but meticulously worded press release filled the newspapers, radio waves, and the newly popular medium of TV. With the public relations work started, the CIA was still anxious to interview Russell. 

Part 4

Pete Scoville, the Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence, arranged to debrief him in person. He was a long-time nuclear arms control activist in both government and private life. After leaving the CIA in 1963, he became a leading arms control advocate, working on nuclear test bans and non-proliferation treaties. So it's interesting that he was the person to interview Russell. I tried to find his opinions about the USSR to no avail – but in general I'll assume that he would have an advocate for tamping down any ideas that the Soviet Union was a threat. Still, Scoville must have known that Russell was an ally of the agency and would need to debrief him respectfully. Scoville also had a very negative view of the value of human intelligence, which likely colored his opinions about Russell's observations.

Having read the written reports from Ryan, Scoville's went into the interview with two hypotheses. The first was that Ryan's written report had inflated key facts. His second hypothesis was that Russell had been a victim of Soviet misinformation campaign that could have had two objectives: either to convince the Americans that a launch site existed between Baku and the Iranian border; or to make them think they had seen a Soviet saucer.

And so started Scoville's interview with Russell. We have no records from either party about their discussion, but we do have Scoville's analysis that he shared with Allen Dulles: 

The testimony of [Senator Russell's party] does not in my opinion support the theory that the Russians have developed saucer-like or unconventional aircraft. It is quite possible that the objects seen were the exhausts of normal jet aircraft in a steep climb. The fact that none were seen on the ground might indicate that the aircraft were in a dive followed by a sharp pull-up so that nothing was seen until the exhausts were visible to the observers on the train. However, it is possible that the aircraft were indeed of the short or almost vertical take-off variety.

He did not even address the possibility of the sightings being of non-earthly origin or that the men had seen any breakthroughs in Soviet aircraft development. These are reasonable findings…yet I wonder how Scoville's bias against human intelligence affected his findings. 

What did Senator Russell say about this finding? Was his relationship with CIA director Dulles strong enough that he knew of Scoville's interpretation? Did he agree or object to this description? Sadly, there's no public record. But we do know one thing…the press campaign orchestrated by Secretary of the Air Force Donald Quarles? It worked brilliantly.  

After Quarles' announcement, media outlets buzzed with features on saucer-like vertical takeoff vehicles. U.S. News and World Report, on November 4, heralded "Flying Saucers: You'll See Some Official Ones Soon," a detailed piece reflecting on Quarles' disclosure, adorned with an illustration of the Avro saucer.

Man-made "saucers," now to be built, will have the same basic characteristics that, since 1947, have astounded thousands of persons who reported seeing "flying saucers." The new craft will be able to rise vertically, or almost vertically, travel horizontally at speeds far above normal airplane speeds, maneuver more rapidly than conventional planes, perform feats of turning and climbing that would be impossible with conventional aircraft.

This article was one of many that assured the American public that anything unusual they might see in the sky could be easily explained. 

But Quarel’s press campaign infuriated the people working on UFO investigations in the government. Ed Ruppelt, the director of Project Blue book until late 1953, questioned the Air Force's rationale for withholding Special Report for an extended period.

Donald Keyhoe, the Marine Corps pilot who became the director of NICAP, saw the release of Special Report 14 as an orchestrated cover-up. He publicly described Quarles statement on October 27 as an "insult" and a "deliberate attempt to conceal the truth.”

Keyhoe thought the air force had compiled and analyzed irrelevant data for this seasoned saucer investigator, using it as a calculated move to hide the truth. The cases he championed, which he believed unequivocally demonstrated the physical reality of alien spacecraft, were conspicuously absent.

Amid the behind-the-scenes frustration, rumors about Russell’s experience percolated among the media. Efron, Gros, and Hathaway maintained their silence, mirroring Russell’s discretion. Intriguingly, Efron didn’t even record the event in his classified diary. Russell's public statements were conspicuously ordinary, centering on Soviet healthcare routines instead of his remarkable encounter. While the three had no political leverage and needed to stay silent to preserve their jobs and reputations, Senator Russell felt safe enough to leave small hints in the public record.

His trip increased his concerns about Soviet airpower. Within months of returning, he established an airpower subcommittee in the Senate, focusing his attention on air defense strategies.   He must have shared his experience with his senate subcommittee as a muddled version was captured in the subcommittee’s proceedings in 1956. Some of the Senator’s friends heard the story behind the closed doors of the senate cloakrooms. And some oblique references even entered his public speeches.

For example, when the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite in 1957, Russell's very first speech on the topic linked Gromov's 1937 flight to the US to Soviet missile technology: 

"The principal significance of this announcement is not solely in the fact that the Russians have launched the first satellite…we have consistently under-estimated the productive capacity of the Russians. I have reminded the officials of the Executive Branch of the Government time and again of the fact that the Russians built and successfully flew aircraft over the North Pole and into this country back in the early 1930's.

He also corresponded with several scientists about how their technologies would advance the US's ability to develop saucer-like aircraft.

At this point, we have, of course, 3 hypotheses about what Russell’s group observed that I’ve teased throughout this episode.

First - they saw two standard Soviet aircraft at the time and mistakenly identified them.

Second -  they saw an incredibly advanced Soviet disc-shaped aircraft with unusually powerful flight abilities.

Third - they were subject to a Soviet psy-ops effort to make the head of the US armed services committee believe the Soviets had an incredibly advanced disc shaped aircraft.

Fourth - they did see something that was not of human origin. 

I’ve put them in this order based on my own sense of the likelihood of the event.

Even as someone who wants to believe in the existence of alien life and that UFOs visit the earth, I also recognize that most sightings are simply misinterpretations of natural or man-made phenomena. There's nothing wrong with people reporting these events—it's only important to recognize that most sightings can be explained.

Second, I believe it’s reasonable that the group saw a new Soviet technology that was under development. The 50s was a period of Soviet advances in jet powered aircraft – including the MiG-15 and it’s improved variant, the MiG-17. The Yak-25 was also an advancement as an air defense aircraft. And its hard to explain, although not impossible, the presence of the Soviet war hero and pilot. They may have been developing a secret long-range aircraft, but putting the tests so close to the Iranian border seems unwise. At the time, Iran was an American ally, led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who a CIA coup had installed.

Third, the event may have been a psy-ops effort. Certainly the Soviets tried to influence was Russell and his group saw – a happy, productive Soviet Union. If they engineered this UFO observation to scare or make the Amercians think they had developed new technology – they failed. If it had been a psy-ops effort, there are a dozen ways that they could have left no doubt in the Amercian’s minds instead of providing a view of something that left so much to the imagination.  

Fourth….well, we want to believe. And for me, the unique nature of the spinning disc shaped aircraft, observed by 4 people, is difficult to explain any other way.

But before we leave this episode, I want to share one last dimension of this story that shows how UFO fact and fiction can become hopelessly intertwined.

Part 5

In 1952, a prominent Hollywood producer, Clarence Greene witnessed a peculiar object maneuvering in the sky, capturing his attention and curiosity. Greene reported his UFO sighting, reaching out to Albert M. Chop, a public information officer with the US Air Force, who worked for Project Blue Book and addressing UFO inquiries from the media and the public. When Chop told Greene that UFOs had been caught on film, Green obtained copies of the footage and decided to make a film about UFOs. To prepare. Greene started to analyze the UFO films meticulously, planning to feature them prominently in his movie. He wanted his movie to tell a compelling story and provide compelling visual evidence.

The film, released on May 9, 1956, started with the following statement

"Many times in the history of our civilization the introduction of a new thought has brought skepticism, even ridicule. Despite this, there always has remained the duty and inalienable right to tell the people the truth. The Motion Picture you are about to see is true. It is not fiction. Much of the information in it has never been told. You will see it here for the first time."

The story follows a semi-fictionalized protagonist named Albert Chop, who starts the story as a skeptic but eventually comes to believe that some UFOs are, in fact, alien in origin. The movie is called Unidentified Flying Objects, which is the true story of flying saucers. It was written as a semi–documentary, with real UFO cases shared but most characters played by actors.

And who played Albert M Chop? Thomas Towers would play the role in his first and last role in the movies. You see, Towers was the aviation editor for the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper. Towers had loved aviation from an early age and joined the US Army Air Corps (the precursor to the US Air Force) in 1942, becoming a captain in the army air corp intelligence branch. Guided by his interest in UFOs, he had met Albert M. Chop, the press spokesman for Project Blue Book. As I mentioned, Thomas was not an actor, but his familiarity with the UFO topic and his real-world job as a journalist made him perfect to play the role of Albert Chop

And just as the shooting for the film had wrapped up, Towers caught wind of Senator Russell’s Baku incident from a source. So Tower, eager for a scoop, reached out to the Senator. And his inquiry went unacknowledged. Undeterred, Towers sent a second letter. I can't find evidence that Senator Russell ever saw or commented on the movie featuring Thomas Towers or commented on it.

But either way, Senator Russell responded, perhaps as expected of an insider, with a vague and non-committal letter:  

Permit me to acknowledge your letters relative to reports that have come to you regarding aerial objects seen in Europe last year. I received your letter but I have discussed this matter with the affected agencies of the government.  

And, so, we leave this episode educated about the sighting of two UFOs near Baku in 1955.  And we also leave, with Senator Russell's final words to Towers in that letter, very much symbolic of our search for the truth:

“[the government is] of the opinion that it is not wise to publicize this matter at this time. I regret very much that I am unable to be of assistance to you.“

Whatever the four men saw, whatever it was they experienced, it has passed with them, even as they have passed from this mortal life.

Thank you for joining me on this episode of My Dark Path. I'm so grateful for you! If you'd like the support the show, please leave a rating and consider joining My Dark Path plus on Patreon.

Until next time, good night.