THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION

Magazine Overview

Title: THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION
Issue: OMNI, Vol. 3
Date: October 1980
Publisher: Omni Publications International Ltd.
Country: USA
Price: $2.00

This issue of OMNI features an article titled "UFO UPDATE: THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION" by James Oberg, which critically examines the sensational UFO claims published in the National Enquirer. The article traces the origins of these stories to a small group of Soviet enthusiasts and explores the role of media sensationalism and psychological perception in UFO reports.

The Russian UFO Scene

The article begins by noting the proliferation of sensational UFO headlines in the National Enquirer, such as "Crippled UFO Orbits Earth" and "First UFO to Inflict Damage on a City." Oberg points out that these claims, while ignored by the mainstream UFO movement, have captured public attention. He reveals that the sources for many of these stories can be traced from Florida to Los Angeles and then to Moscow.

In the Soviet Union, UFOs are a sensitive topic, and such sensational headlines would never be printed. However, the regime appears to tolerate UFO rumors as a safety valve for ideological dissent. The leading figure in the Russian ufology scene is identified as Feliks Zigel, an astronomy lecturer at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Zigel has authored popular books and articles on UFOs and is reputed to have written a circulating underground "lecture" on the subject. Other notable figures include science-fiction author Aleksandr Kazantsev, who promotes ancient-astronaut theories, and Aleksey Zolotov, a professor who believes the 1908 Tunguska event was a spaceship crash. Physicists Vladimir Azhazha and Sergey Bozhich are also mentioned for embellishing foreign UFO reports.

These Russian enthusiasts' reports are often considered credible by Western ufologists when published in UFO magazines and newsletters. Their American contact man is Henry Gris, a Russian-speaking editor and coauthor of books on UFOs and parapsychology. Gris is accused of taking liberties with reality by presenting these individuals as "top Russian scientists" and "leading Russian physicists," despite their absence from scientific literature indexes.

Case Studies and Critiques

The article scrutinizes several specific UFO incidents reported by the National Enquirer:

• Petrozavodsk Incident (September 29, 1977): Billed as the "First UFO to Inflict Damage on a City," this event was quickly explained in the West as the sunlit exhaust trails from a predawn spy satellite launch. However, Soviet UFO buffs, including Kazantsev and Zolotov, embraced it as evidence of alien reconnaissance.
• "Crippled UFO Orbits Earth" (July 17, 1979): This story appears to be plagiarism, with Bozhich quoting an American scientist's article from 1969 about a natural moonlet breaking up in orbit.
• "UFO Base on Saturn Moon" (November 13, 1979): Bozhich claimed Soviet observatories monitored alien radio signals and radar tracked UFOs ascending toward Saturn, with the Petrozavodsk UFO being a key piece of evidence. This story is linked to the success of America's Pioneer Saturn probe and suggestions that Russian radio interference might have affected NASA's data on Titan.

Vladimir V. Migulin, from the Academy of Sciences' Ionospheric Physics Laboratory, is presented as a lone Soviet official trying to reassure the Russian public, caught in a difficult position between UFO claims and state security regulations.

UFO Perception and Scientific Study

On the Western side of the Iron Curtain, drawings of UFOs reported over 30 years show immense variety. Ufologist Robert Sheaffer suggests that UFOs are often "made of Silly Putty," implying their descriptions are not based on reality. Dr. Richard F. Haines, a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, is introduced as a specialist in visual perception who studies UFO sightings scientifically.

Haines conducted an experiment where he asked UFO witnesses to sketch what they saw and compared these drawings to those made by people who had never seen a UFO. Impartial judges could not distinguish between the two groups, suggesting that participants might hold a stereotyped image of a UFO, influenced by prior exposure to photographs or drawings. Haines posits that this suggests a UFO sighting might be heavily influenced by the witness's mind conjuring details from memory, rather than accurately perceiving external data.

Haines hopes that recognition charts showing varied UFO shapes and sizes could help resolve this ambiguity, but acknowledges that if perceptions are already compromised, even scientific approaches might be insufficient. He concludes that more research is needed on basic perceptual processes.

The article ends with a cautionary note: if UFOs are eventually proven to exist, the new theories will likely be championed by discredited ufologists, hindering scientific acceptance.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The issue strongly emphasizes the critical examination of sensational UFO claims, particularly those originating from or attributed to the Soviet Union. It highlights the role of media, specifically tabloids like the National Enquirer, in amplifying unsubstantiated stories. The article also delves into the psychological aspects of UFO sightings, questioning the reliability of eyewitness accounts and drawings through the lens of perception and memory. The editorial stance appears to be one of skepticism towards sensationalism and a call for rigorous scientific investigation, while acknowledging the public's fascination with the UFO phenomenon. The piece implicitly criticizes the uncritical acceptance of reports from certain Soviet sources by Western ufologists and media.