Height 611
A glowing red sphere crossed the sky over a Russian mining town and crashed into a hill. Scientists who climbed up found strange metal beads.
What was reported
On the evening of 29 January 1986, people in Dalnegorsk, a mining town in the Russian Far East, watched a reddish glowing sphere fly silently and slowly across the sky, then fall onto a hill known as Height 611. Witnesses said there was a flash and a fire.
When researchers reached the site, they found a small patch of scorched rock and burnt wood, surrounded by tiny metal beads, fine mesh-like fragments and droplets of metal. The case became known as Russia's Roswell.
Explanations offered
Analyses found the beads were made of common elements such as lead, iron and silicon, with traces of others. Suggestions include a meteorite, ball lightning, a piece of space debris or a weather probe. Researchers have never agreed on what fell on Height 611.
- When
- 29 January 1986
- Where
- Dalnegorsk, Primorsky Krai, Russia
- Witnesses
- Residents of Dalnegorsk
- Status
- Disputed
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.