Summary
This U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable, sent January 31, 1994 from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to the Secretary of State, describes a January 27, 1994 encounter. A Tajik pilot and three American citizens aboard a 747 at 41,000 feet over Kazakhstan reported an intensely bright object that approached at great speed from the east at higher altitude. Photographs were said to show the object making 90-degree turns, corkscrews, and circles at high speed, with contrails estimated near 100,000 feet.
Detail
This U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable was sent on January 31, 1994 from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C.
It recounts that on January 27, 1994, a Tajik pilot and three American citizens flying a 747 at 41,000 feet over Kazakhstan encountered an unidentified anomalous phenomenon. The object was described as a bright light of enormous intensity that approached from the east over the horizon at great speed and a much higher altitude. According to the cable, several photographs were taken showing the object making 90-degree turns, corkscrews, and circles at high rates of speed, and resembling a bullet in flight. The contrails were visually estimated at around 100,000 feet, considered too high for ordinary aircraft to leave contrails. The record was released through the PURSUE declassification.
