Posted On: May 16, 2022

The year was 1948. The place, over the Soviet Union. On two separate occasions, the same pilot viewed a UFO while flying his military jet. The pilot’s jets were eventually disabled by the UFO and forced to land.

On June 16th, 1948, Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, a highly decorated Soviet Air Force pilot, was testing one of the latest Soviet jet aircraft, over the USSR. At this time he encountered a "cucumber-shaped" aerial phenomenon flying on a cross course to his. Cones of light beams radiated from the object, which appeared to be descending. Apraksin reported the sighting to his base at Kapustin Yar, Basunchak, and received confirmation that the object had been tracked on radar and had not acknowledged instructions to land. The test pilot was ordered to close with the UFO, and if it refused to land he was to open fire.

When Apraksin closed to within about ten kilometers of the UFO, the light beams "opened up in a fan" and struck his aircraft, temporarily blinding him. He discovered simultaneously that the entire electrical control systems as well as the engine were inoperable. He managed to glide the plane to a safe landing, however, the UFO having disappeared into a cloud layer.

A detailed statement was prepared and an expert arrived from Moscow who examined the aircraft in detail, cross-examined Apraksin, and checked the completed testimony for contradictions. The pilot was given a forty-five day leave, but ten days before its expiry he was summoned to the Air Force Directorate of the Defense Ministry in Moscow. Apraksin was then sent to an airfield in the European sector of the Arctic, where he was subjected to another interrogation. After spending three months at this airfield, where he test-flew another type of aircraft, Apraksin was recalled to the air base at Kapustin Yar.

On May 6th, 1949, Apraksin took a new plane for a test flight, and at its maximum ceiling of 15000 meters, he encountered another unidentified object, similar to the previous one. The "flying cucumber" once again directed cones of light at his aircraft from a distance of about ten to twelve kilometers, causing effects as before, but also damaging part of the cockpit canopy, resulting in loss of air pressure. Unable to communicate with base, Apraksin managed to land the plane on the banks of the Volga, forty-nine kilometers from Saratov. He then passed out.

On regaining consciousness, Apraksin found himself in a hospital at Saratov. A detailed statement was taken from him again, and after two and a half months, he was ordered to appear before a special medical board in Moscow, which then sent him to a psychological institute. During his six months’ stay at this "institute", Apraksin was subjected to psychotherapy and shock therapy. Taped interviews were compared with recordings of his previous report in an effort to uncover inconsistencies. In January 1950, Apraksin appeared before a medical board which judged him "Group One Disabled", effectively barring him from active service. Later that year, and in 1951, he went to the Defense Ministry in Moscow and was received by a deputy minister, but his application for return to duty was refused.

"He assures me that he is in perfect health," wrote Furmin in 1951, and "that everything which he saw occurred in fact; that they do not want to consider him normal for reasons he cannot understand, and that the failure to believe his story will bring harm to the Motherland."

 

Timothy Good advised that, so far he has been unable to trace a reference to Apraksin in recognized books on Soviet aviation. He is not mentioned in Bill Gunston’s definitive book, Aircraft of the Soviet Union, and the author told me that he has not come across the name. He then wrote to the Director of the M. V. Frunze Central House of Aviation and Space, Moscow, and eventually received the following reply: "The Central House of Aviation and Space, has no information about test flight activities of A. I. Apraksin. He is not a Hero of the Soviet Union."

Timothy Good began to suspect that the story had been concocted, but his confidence in the case was restored when he discovered a reference to it in an official statistical analysis of sightings in the Soviet Union published by the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The name of the pilot was not given, so he wrote to Dr. L. M. Gindilis of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, one of the authors of the report, requesting further details, and received the following helpful and interesting reply:

"I must regretfully note that, as it frequently occurs in the studies of anomalous phenomena, the most interesting cases turn out to be not reliable enough in one or another item. In this case, the eye witness, is Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, former pilot. This case, (as well as all the others forming the base for the statistical analysis in the work you cite), is taken from F. Yu. Zigel’s card collection. It was written down, from A. I. Apraksin’s words, by the assistant professor of the Voronezh University I. Ya. Furman, who was A. I. Apraksin’s chance co-traveler on a train, on 25 September 1951. I found I. Ya. Furman’s address and sent him a copy of the card from F. Yu. Zigel’s collection, asking him to write me whether he agreed with the quoted version and whether he had any additional information about Apraksin. I quote a phrase extracted from his letter of 24 May 1980:

"My one-time acquaintance with Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin is still exciting me, although during all these long years I was never imbued by a conviction that we have an evidence for existence in reality of the ‘brothers in intelligence’. By the way, at present, I have no information about Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, though till early 1970s I did make some attempts to find him." This is all I can communicate to you on this subject.

The case may not be reliable in the sense that there is so far no official trace of Apraksin, yet Furmin confirms his existence and was evidently impressed with the story. The Soviets are skillful in removing names from history books when occasion demands, and perhaps Apraksin, having committed what at that time must have been considered a blasphemy, fell victim to the system.

My Take: It’s a strange tale. How they treated their pilot, doesn’t seem right. The story mentioned that the object was caught on radar. Wouldn't that be enough to believe him? I would think that scaring him into silence would keep him in line. No need to black ball him out of the military. Maybe the pilot was making waves about not keeping quiet about the events.

Resources: Above Top Secret, Timothy Good, 1988

Posted On: May 16, 2022

The year was 1948. The place, over the Soviet Union. On two separate occasions, the same pilot viewed a UFO while flying his military jet. The pilot’s jets were eventually disabled by the UFO and forced to land.

On June 16th, 1948, Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, a highly decorated Soviet Air Force pilot, was testing one of the latest Soviet jet aircraft, over the USSR. At this time he encountered a "cucumber-shaped" aerial phenomenon flying on a cross course to his. Cones of light beams radiated from the object, which appeared to be descending. Apraksin reported the sighting to his base at Kapustin Yar, Basunchak, and received confirmation that the object had been tracked on radar and had not acknowledged instructions to land. The test pilot was ordered to close with the UFO, and if it refused to land he was to open fire.

When Apraksin closed to within about ten kilometers of the UFO, the light beams "opened up in a fan" and struck his aircraft, temporarily blinding him. He discovered simultaneously that the entire electrical control systems as well as the engine were inoperable. He managed to glide the plane to a safe landing, however, the UFO having disappeared into a cloud layer.

A detailed statement was prepared and an expert arrived from Moscow who examined the aircraft in detail, cross-examined Apraksin, and checked the completed testimony for contradictions. The pilot was given a forty-five day leave, but ten days before its expiry he was summoned to the Air Force Directorate of the Defense Ministry in Moscow. Apraksin was then sent to an airfield in the European sector of the Arctic, where he was subjected to another interrogation. After spending three months at this airfield, where he test-flew another type of aircraft, Apraksin was recalled to the air base at Kapustin Yar.

On May 6th, 1949, Apraksin took a new plane for a test flight, and at its maximum ceiling of 15000 meters, he encountered another unidentified object, similar to the previous one. The "flying cucumber" once again directed cones of light at his aircraft from a distance of about ten to twelve kilometers, causing effects as before, but also damaging part of the cockpit canopy, resulting in loss of air pressure. Unable to communicate with base, Apraksin managed to land the plane on the banks of the Volga, forty-nine kilometers from Saratov. He then passed out.

On regaining consciousness, Apraksin found himself in a hospital at Saratov. A detailed statement was taken from him again, and after two and a half months, he was ordered to appear before a special medical board in Moscow, which then sent him to a psychological institute. During his six months’ stay at this "institute", Apraksin was subjected to psychotherapy and shock therapy. Taped interviews were compared with recordings of his previous report in an effort to uncover inconsistencies. In January 1950, Apraksin appeared before a medical board which judged him "Group One Disabled", effectively barring him from active service. Later that year, and in 1951, he went to the Defense Ministry in Moscow and was received by a deputy minister, but his application for return to duty was refused.

"He assures me that he is in perfect health," wrote Furmin in 1951, and "that everything which he saw occurred in fact; that they do not want to consider him normal for reasons he cannot understand, and that the failure to believe his story will bring harm to the Motherland."

 

Timothy Good advised that, so far he has been unable to trace a reference to Apraksin in recognized books on Soviet aviation. He is not mentioned in Bill Gunston’s definitive book, Aircraft of the Soviet Union, and the author told me that he has not come across the name. He then wrote to the Director of the M. V. Frunze Central House of Aviation and Space, Moscow, and eventually received the following reply: "The Central House of Aviation and Space, has no information about test flight activities of A. I. Apraksin. He is not a Hero of the Soviet Union."

Timothy Good began to suspect that the story had been concocted, but his confidence in the case was restored when he discovered a reference to it in an official statistical analysis of sightings in the Soviet Union published by the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The name of the pilot was not given, so he wrote to Dr. L. M. Gindilis of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, one of the authors of the report, requesting further details, and received the following helpful and interesting reply:

"I must regretfully note that, as it frequently occurs in the studies of anomalous phenomena, the most interesting cases turn out to be not reliable enough in one or another item. In this case, the eye witness, is Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, former pilot. This case, (as well as all the others forming the base for the statistical analysis in the work you cite), is taken from F. Yu. Zigel’s card collection. It was written down, from A. I. Apraksin’s words, by the assistant professor of the Voronezh University I. Ya. Furman, who was A. I. Apraksin’s chance co-traveler on a train, on 25 September 1951. I found I. Ya. Furman’s address and sent him a copy of the card from F. Yu. Zigel’s collection, asking him to write me whether he agreed with the quoted version and whether he had any additional information about Apraksin. I quote a phrase extracted from his letter of 24 May 1980:

"My one-time acquaintance with Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin is still exciting me, although during all these long years I was never imbued by a conviction that we have an evidence for existence in reality of the ‘brothers in intelligence’. By the way, at present, I have no information about Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin, though till early 1970s I did make some attempts to find him." This is all I can communicate to you on this subject.

The case may not be reliable in the sense that there is so far no official trace of Apraksin, yet Furmin confirms his existence and was evidently impressed with the story. The Soviets are skillful in removing names from history books when occasion demands, and perhaps Apraksin, having committed what at that time must have been considered a blasphemy, fell victim to the system.

My Take: It’s a strange tale. How they treated their pilot, doesn’t seem right. The story mentioned that the object was caught on radar. Wouldn't that be enough to believe him? I would think that scaring him into silence would keep him in line. No need to black ball him out of the military. Maybe the pilot was making waves about not keeping quiet about the events.

Resources: Above Top Secret, Timothy Good, 1988