History of the Sverdlovsk UFO group: from UFOs to the KGB

In the 80s, the first UFO group in the Urals was organized in the Sverdlovsk region. Nikolai Ivanovich Churkin led enthusiastic researchers. It turned out that at that time this harmless and even a little "eccentric" hobby, as it might seem to a pragmatic Soviet citizen, could cost the researcher a career, cause a broken life and even lead to a restriction of freedom.

The idea of creating a research group came to Nikolai Ivanovich after participating in one of the first ufo expeditions to the Pamirs, in 1982, under the leadership of the most famous Soviet ufologists.

It is noteworthy that the researchers lived in different cities of the Sverdlovsk region: Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), Krasnoturinsk, Novouralsk, and Nizhny Tagil. The researchers kept in touch with each other via phone and email.

Despite this, not the most efficient way to exchange information, the group's archive was constantly updated with new messages. The main task is the analytical processing of reports from eyewitnesses of UFOs with the subsequent interpretation of the objects seen.

The scheme of the landing of UFOs. Made according to eyewitnesses

The presence of trained observers in different cities of the Ural region bore fruit. In April 1986, Nikolai Ivanovich was able to collect data on mass UFO sightings for the first time. Eyewitnesses from several cities reported the passage of an unidentified object.

After calculating the azimuths, observation time, motion vector of an unidentified object and comparing the details with the known characteristics of physical phenomena, the researcher could easily conclude that the UFO seen was quite terrestrial in nature and was associated with the launch of a spacecraft from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Subsequently, it was in this way that similar "phenomena" found their identity.

But there were also quite interesting cases. In the archive of the Sverdlovsk group, there are several reports of UFO landings, including the preservation of physical traces on the ground. For many years of work of ufologists, information has accumulated a huge amount. Only a selection of reports from eyewitnesses is a file of almost three hundred sheets. Now the archive of the group is kept at Nikolai Ivanovich's house. The secrets of Ural ufology barely fit into a bookshelf.

Nikolai Ivanovich Churkin

The increasing interest in the subject of UFOs among the masses could not go unnoticed by the state bodies controlling the public agenda. At the end of 1986, the All-Union "anti-drug" company was launched, the essence of which was to expose the activities of ufologists. The first swallow was an article in the newspaper "Soviet Latvia". The material was a vivid critical assessment of the activities of UFO researchers. For representatives of ufological organizations that worked as part of interdepartmental commissions for the study of anomalous atmospheric phenomena under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (projects: "Setka", "Horizon", "Galaxy", etc.), there was no threat, but for ufologists from the regions - difficult times came.

From witness reports

Nikolai Churkin was summoned to the local KGB office, where he was given an explanatory conversation, and a list of ufologists included in the group was compiled. KGB officers were more interested in the essence of the contents of the group's archive, as well as the information that researchers were able to collect from eyewitnesses.

The conversation in the KGB ended as strangely as it began: without explaining anything, Nikolai Ivanovich was released and no longer disturbed. However, the attention to the group did not weaken. Several times Nikolai Ivanovich found traces of an autopsy on correspondence that he received from colleagues from other cities. Later, problems began at work.

For unknown reasons, the ufologist was fired from his job, without even explaining the reasons. Nikolai Ivanovich assumed that such a decision could follow after communication between the company's management and employees of state security agencies. However, the most unpleasant story happened to one of the main members of their research team…

- Volodya Krylosov was one of the active participants of the research group, the author of several samizdat brochures about UFO sightings in the Urals, - says Nikolai Ivanovich - he often went to check reports about another unidentified object, talked with eyewitnesses.

Once, in the process of collecting information on the received message about the observation of an unusual object, Volodya was detained and forcibly sent for a medical examination. The psychiatrist had declared him mentally ill, although he certainly wasn't. All attempts to explain their interest in the UFO phenomenon from the scientific side of knowing the nature of this phenomenon, - continued the story of N. I., - did not bring success and Volodya was in a mental hospital.

 Nikolai Ivanovich points to the alleged landing site of a UFO. In 1990, several eyewitnesses reported the landing of a "flying saucer".

 

After undergoing a course of treatment that lasted about 40 days, Volodya Krylosov, according to the chief physician, became an absolutely normal person, however, in fact, everything turned out to be the opposite. The guy was stuffed with medications, which actually changed his consciousness. After this incident, which changed his whole life, he left the group forever and cut off all his old contacts. There was no place to complain or defend their rights.

The band broke up in the early 90s. It would seem that with the advent of the period of glasnost and democracy, UFO research should have received an impetus for development. However, the wave of fake messages that overwhelmed the researchers, as well as the difficult situation in personal well-being, forced them to curtail their research activities.

Well, that's all for today. Transcripts of witness reports, as well as KGB reports and their translation into English, you can read in our special section

---

About author:

Serg Toporkov Ufologist, Ph.D., blogger, I go on my own expeditions for UFOs. I use scientific methods to investigate the UAP phenomenon. Write to me

---

Related tags:

UFO sightings  Sverdlovsk  UFO group  UFOs  KGB  USSR  Setka  Horizon  Galaxy  ufologists  Plesetsk cosmodrome  Ural ufology