ufo - UFOs at close sight: ACUFO catalog - Case of Moscow, Russia, in 1938

In the 2000's, Albert Rosales compiled a huge catalogue of cases of “close encounter of the third kind”, i.e., UFO sighting reports in which UFO occupants were reported. In his catalogue, there are also cases where no occupant is reported, but in which, according to Rosales, there must have been occupants in the UFO because an “abduction” occurred.

One of the cases was that near Moscow, in Russia, in 1938, at an unknown hour, a huge unidentified “aircraft” appeared, causing panic among the military command. Thinking that it was a foreign hostile airplane or a spy balloon or a dirigible, the alarmed local military authorities scrambled several armed I-16 aircraft with order to force the UFO to land or to shoot it down. After the interception failed, the aircraft opened fire.

Immediately after that, the UFO approached one of the aircraft and then both aircraft and UFO suddenly vanished from the clear blue sky in front of astounded witnesses on the ground. The remains of the aircraft and the pilot were never found; they were apparently abducted by the UFO.

Rosales gave the source as one Evgeniy Valmer, supposedly a “retired officer”, who told this in issue 5 of a Russian publication called “Fourth Dimension and UFO”, in 1999.

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Geographical data:

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Sources:

Date:	1938
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1999
Reporting delay:	6 decades.

Country:	Russia
State/Department:
City or place:	Near Moscow.

Number of alleged witnesses:	Several.
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Reporting channel:	Russian UFO magazine.
Visibility conditions:	?
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Absorbs a plane.
Witnesses action:	Attack.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Sensors:	[X] Visual: Several. [ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: N/A. [ ] Height finder ground radar: N/A. [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	?
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, four 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	3
ACUFO:	Possible invention, unknown credibility.

Location: Near Moscow, Russia.

Date: 1938.

Time: Unknown.

A huge unidentified “aircraft” appeared near the Soviet capital, causing panic among the military command. Thinking that it was a foreign hostile airplane or a spy balloon or dirigible, the local military authorities became alarmed and scrambled several armed I-16 aircraft with clear orders to force the UFO to land or to shoot it down. After the interception failed, the aircraft opened fire. Immediately after that, the UFO approached one of the aircrafts and then both aircraft and UFO suddenly vanished from the clear blue sky in front of astounded witnesses on the ground. The remains of the aircraft and the pilot were never found; they were apparently abducted by the UFO. A similar event reportedly occurred in 1954 (see 1954 summaries).

HC addendum.

Source: Egveniy Valmer [sic, Evgeniy], retired officer in 'Fourth Dimension and NLO,' #5, 1999. Type: G?

Comments: Permanent abduction, reminds me of the Soo Locks interception and aircraft disappearance in 1953 (Felix Moncla and R. R. Wilson).

1938 - u. d. Day, near Moscow, Russia: CE4?

No humanoid(s) in this case, but we thought it is useful to report it anyway.

A huge unknown aerial object appears in the sky near the capital, causing panic within the military high command. Thinking that it was a hostile foreign aircraft on a spy mission (plane, balloon or airship), the local military authorities, very alarmed, ordered the scramble of several I-16 fighters with the order to intercept the intruder and force it to land, or destroy it if it does not comply. After the interception attempt aborted, a fighter opens fire on the object. Immediately afterwards, the apparatus approached the plane and both merged and disappeared before the frightened eyes of witnesses on the ground.

The remains of the fighter and its pilot were never found. Apparently both seem to have been “gobbled up” by the unidentified device. A similar incident also occurred in 1954. (Rosales, according to Evgeniy Valmer, retired officer in Fourth Dimension and NLO, Russian ufological journals, unless we are mistaken).

Everything that comes from the countries of the former USSR is unfortunately often very questionable, so is this type of testimony. However, we remind the reader that there are two cases of the same apparently serious nature occurring in the United States, one in 1953, the other in 1955. Another case is said to have occurred in France in 1967, but it could have been an optical illusion, although there were two witnesses placed in two different places and who did not know each other. For more details on these cases, refer to our source. (LDLN n° 361, April 2006, pp. 8-13).

Delivered with the necessary reservations.

Aircraft information:

“I-16” corresponds to the Soviet fighter plane Polikarpov I-16, which entered in service in 1935. A high-performance aircraft, it was involved in the Spanish Civil War, in which the nationalists called it “Rata” (the rat).

During World War II, it was the main fighter of the Soviet Air Forces in 1941, but it was already outdated then.

It was armed with 2 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns in the nose (650 rounds) and 2 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns in the wings (900 rounds).

Discussion:

I was unable to find either the given source or any other source mentioning the alleged incident.

Evaluation:

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	April 30, 2024	Creation, [ars1], [jsr1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 30, 2024	First published.

ACUFO:

Moscow, Russia, in 1938:

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