The Cloud That Chased a Soviet Airliner
Over Belarus at night, a Soviet airliner's crew saw a star shoot a beam of light to the ground, and then a glowing cloud seemed to follow their plane for hundreds of kilometres.
What was reported
On 7 September 1984, the crew of an Aeroflot airliner flying over Belarus, near Minsk, reported seeing a bright, yellowish point of light in the sky. It sent a beam down towards the ground, then turned the beam towards the plane. A glowing, greenish cloud then appeared, which seemed to follow the aircraft and change shape, apparently also seen by other crews and on the ground.
The story was reported in the Soviet newspaper Trud in 1985, unusual at the time, and became one of the best-known UFO cases from the Soviet Union.
Explanations offered
Some researchers think the crew saw the effects of a secret Soviet rocket or missile launch, whose exhaust can produce glowing clouds and beams of light at high altitude. The Soviet military never confirmed this. The case is still unexplained.
- When
- 7 September 1984
- Where
- Near Minsk, Belarus
- Witnesses
- The crew and passengers of an Aeroflot flight
- Status
- Unexplained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.