UFO. Bulgaria

Izvestia, November 23, 1967:

SOFIA, November 23rd. The BTA agency reports: On the evening of November 21, during sunset, a huge luminous object could be observed over the center of Sofia with a simple eye. At first glance, this object resembled a ball slightly larger than the Sun, but later the shape of a trapezoid was outlined. The reflections of the body were similar to those of welding work. Fifteen minutes later, when observed with a telescope magnifying 40 times, against the background of the darkening sky, one could see this object, which already looked like a balloon or parachute. Its upper part was a solid flattened dark disk surrounded by a wide light ribbon.

The Trud newspaper publishes a snapshot of this subject and an interview with Dimitar Simetchiev, a researcher on duty at the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology.

The fact that the object was moving perpendicular to the direction of the wind suggests that it had its own engine. The body was, in my opinion, at an altitude of over thirty kilometers from the surface of the Earth. I was also impressed by the fact that its presence did not cause interference in radio broadcasts, D. Simetchiev said.

The material was transmitted from Sofia on November 23 by telephone by the editorial office of the Bulgarian trade union newspaper Trud. Trud, November 24, 1967:

IS IT A FLYING SAUCER AGAIN?

The sun has just set. A glowing object of unusual shape appeared above Sofia, against the background of a red sunset. At first it looked like a ball, larger than the sun's disk. But after a while it took the form of a trapezoid. It should be noted that this flying saucer, if it can be so conditionally called, moved extremely slowly, and for some time even was in a stationary state.

We had a telescope "Luneta" at our disposal, magnifying 40 times. In her lens, the flying object appeared to us in the form of a ball or, more precisely, a parachute. In its upper part, it looked like a flattened dark disk surrounded by a wide light ribbon. At first, this balloon-parachute emitted a silvery-blue light, similar to a flame. Gradually, this flame turned orange. Finally, this luminous and increasingly receding object disappeared into the darkening sky in the direction of the east.

The editorial board immediately contacted D. Simetchiev, a researcher on duty at the Hydrological and Meteorological Institute, and asked him to express his opinion. That's what he said:

- I observed a flying object with a simple eye and therefore cannot give exhaustive data. But the undeniable fact is that he was moving in the direction opposite to the wind. This circumstance allows us to make the assumption that the object had its own engine. In my opinion, he was flying at an altitude of 30 kilometers from the earth's surface. It is also interesting to note that his presence did not cause any interference in the radio network.

"Week", 1967, No. 48:

As already reported in Izvestia (No. 277), on November 22, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency transmitted information about an unusual flying object, the flight of which was seen by many residents of Sofia.

We asked our friends from the editorial office of the Bulgarian magazine Pogled to tell us about this curious case in more detail. This is what Alexander Alexandrov, a special correspondent of Pogled, told us by phone from Sofia:

The appearance of unknown flying bodies over the territory of Bulgaria has so far been registered only twice. For the first time, an unknown flying object appeared over the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora on April 7 this year. The researchers watched him for 45 minutes, while a strange flying celestial body "hung" over the city. It had a triangular shape, flew slowly and could in no way be confused with either an airplane or an artificial satellite of the Earth. The editors of Pogled, with the help of their special correspondents, managed to establish almost all the details of the flight of this unknown flying object at that time. The staff of the M. Belinsk Observatory, photographer M. Gogoshev accurately determined the path of the mysterious body, its external shape, and the power of light.

And six months later, on November 21 at 17.10, a large unknown flying body appeared over the city of Sofia, which especially strongly emitted a pale blue light similar to the light of fluorescent lamps. The sun was already sinking towards the horizon when an unknown object appeared in the air at about an altitude of 30 km. People immediately gathered in the streets and squares. Everyone's interest was aroused by the fact that the unknown object was flying along a precisely defined route and moving quite slowly. Observers found it difficult to determine the external shapes of this flying object. At the very beginning, it seemed to them to be larger in diameter than the disk of the sun. A few minutes later, the object acquired the clear shape of a trapezoid, which stopped and hung motionless over the city. Then it seemed to float in a northeasterly direction. With the help of a telescope, which, unfortunately, magnified only 40 times, journalists from the Trud newspaper managed to examine this mysterious flying object. Against the background of the darkening sky, the contours of a large balloon, like an open parachute, were clearly visible. In the uppermost part there was a dark disk, near which a very interesting, glowing green halo with sharp, sparkling ribbons was formed. It was clearly visible how then this balloon-parachute, if, of course, it can be roughly called that, lit up with a silvery-blue light. Then the flame turned to an orange hue, and finally, as it moved away, the object disappeared on the horizon in a red misty cloud.

Immediately after that, we contacted the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and its institutes engaged in sky observation and control. At the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, the duty researcher D. Simetchiev, who observed this unusual flight, explained to us:

- Of course, the fact of the appearance of such a mysterious flying and glowing object in the Sofia sky is especially interesting. Of course, at the moment it is very difficult to determine what kind of object it is. We have established an extremely important detail: the object was flying perpendicular to the direction of the wind. This is an indicative fact, which led us to the idea that maybe this luminous and flying object so calmly has its own engine. In my opinion, - D. Simetchiev further stated, - the flying object was at an altitude of more than 30 km. The second feature that left us with the impression is that since the flight of this object, its presence has not caused interference in the operation of our radio and television stations. Of course, the appearance of this luminous and flying object will be studied in all aspects, since other institutions and services of our country were also monitoring it.

And here's what another researcher at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Secretary of the Astronomy Section Bogomil Kovachev, told us:

- First of all, I must state that the flying unknown object over the Bulgarian capital was not an artificial satellite of the Earth. The flying mysterious body moved at times much faster than an ordinary satellite, and the light it emitted. it was much brighter than the satellite's light. We are well aware of all the satellites that are currently flying over our planet. We monitor their flights and draw our own conclusions. Everyone knows that it is difficult to see the satellite because it flies at a very high altitude, and the body that flew over Sofia was at an altitude of about 30 km. from the surface of the Earth. Changes in the shades of radiation from a flying object can be explained by the setting of the Sun. After its setting, it disappeared into the darkness of the night and, as it were, went out in front of everyone's eyes.

Sofia, November 23rd. The BTA Agency transmits:

On the evening of November 21, during sunset, a huge luminous object could be observed over the center of Sofia with a simple eye. At first glance, this object resembled a ball slightly larger than the Sun, but later the shape of a trapezoid was outlined. The reflections of the body were similar to those of welding work. After 15 minutes, when observing with a telescope magnifying 40 times, against the background of the darkening sky, one could see this object, which already looked like a balloon or parachute. Its upper part was a solid flattened dark disk surrounded by a wide light ribbon. Gradually, its silvery-blue glow turned orange, and finally the reddish dot disappeared into the misty horizon to the east.

We asked the famous Soviet astronomer, associate professor of MAI F. Y. SIEGEL, to comment on this message. That's what he told us:

- The object reported by the Bulgarian newspaper. a typical representative of the so-called UFOs - unidentified flying objects. There have been many such observations in our country - both disks and other shapes, in particular, crescent-shaped ones. There is a lot of mystery in the behavior and nature of these objects.

Unfortunately, UFO sightings using telescopes and cameras are very poor. It can be considered that in this case the Bulgarian specialist was "lucky". UFOs have been repeatedly observed using radar installations, but no one has ever managed to obtain a UFO spectrum that would certainly shed some light on their origin.

By the way, there are quite a lot of hypotheses trying to figure out the mystery of UFOs, and before giving any of them preference, you need to put experiments. Perhaps UFOs are nothing more than plasma phenomena in the upper atmosphere.

In the Soviet Union, many scientists are interested in this problem and are seriously studying it.

Almost simultaneously with this publication, the weekly "Week", No. 48 for 1967, published an article "The Mystery of the Sofia Sky".

The representative of our UFO Initiative Group, physicist V. K. Zhuravlev, visited Sofia in December, talked with employees of academic institutions and found out the following:

1. The UFO that appeared on November 21, 1967, hung in the Sofia sky from the evening of the specified day until the next morning. It was a flat object with a diameter of at least 130-150 meters, which had a shape close to triangular. It resembled a mercury lamp in color. By nightfall, the edges of the UFO turned red, flashes were observed from below the object, as during electric welding.

The UFO radar gave an altitude of 33 km. Wind speed at an altitude of 24 km. (according to the balloon probes) was 30 m/sec.

UFOs were observed by Soviet scientists, participants of the symposium on clouds - I. I. Gaivoronsky, professors Levin, Volkovitsky, Ploude, Nikandrov, Kachurin and others.

2. A similar-shaped UFO was observed over Sofia on May 2, 1967. Planes were climbing up to it (reports in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense).

3. An anomalous UFO was also observed by astronomers of the Stara Zagora Observatory on April 6, 1967.

Below are the reports of Bulgarian scientists on UFO sightings on November 21 and May 2, 1967, collected by V. K. Zhuravlev:

Message 1.

On November 21, 1967, the weather was clear. The sun was hidden behind the roofs of the houses. At 17 o'clock (maybe at 17.30) I was on Skobelev Boulevard, in Sofia. I saw people looking up. I looked up too. About in the same direction where the Sun was setting, in the sky at an altitude of 40-90 degrees from the Ground, I saw a trapezoid-shaped body positioned so that the bases were approximately vertical.

At that moment, the body was motionless. Its size is 1/4 of the Moon (uncertainly). Against the background of a grayish-blue sky, the body had a shine, and its color can be compared with the color of a neon lamp (this is a very accurate comparison). The shine did not change, there were no sounds. The body looked like a flat sheet, like a kite, the volume was not felt. After watching for a few minutes, I went home. I live on the Pashov Brothers street, building 10, entrance B, floor 3. At home I took military binoculars and, going out on the balcony, saw this body again. Now it has become smaller, its shape has changed, it was visible without binoculars, the color has changed slightly and has become reddish. Now it could no longer be compared to the color of a neon lamp. The balcony faces east, therefore, during the time I was walking home, the body moved to the eastern part of the sky. I walked home for 4-5 minutes. I watched from the balcony with my brother, who works at the same institute as me. The shape of the body was changing, it was visible both with a simple eye and through binoculars. The coloring was not homogeneous, there was a red "border" along the edges, it was wider on the right, then the red "border" expanded up and to the left and took up almost half of the body. This happened when the body began to rise. In the end, there was something like an asterisk in the middle, and the rest turned reddish. The shape of the body changed as follows: from a circle to an ellipse, increasingly elongated, but these changes did not occur continuously: sometimes the shape of the body returned to the previous one, no pattern was noticed in these "returns". When the body was still round, an airplane passed far to the right side parallel to my line of sight; maybe 10 or more lunar disks would fit between the body and its path. The plane was almost invisible, it flashed only once, only its white trace was visible, which usually remain from airplanes. The plane was a military one, the pilot apparently observed the body. As the plane departed, the body began to change shape and size. The newspapers later wrote that an unusual object was observed over Sofia.

Ivanka Ivanova, 26 years old, researcher at the Physical Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia.

Message 2

I observed an unusual triangle-shaped body over Sofia on November 21 and on the night of November 22, 1967. There was no trajectory bend, which happens with a satellite.

On the night of November 21-22, I was at home and went out on the balcony at about 11:30 a.m. In the northern part of the sky, close to the zenith, I saw the same triangle that I saw during the day. Below him, flashes were visible, moving from time to time in turn from left to right.

Velko Piskov, 31, weather forecaster at the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia.

(D. Simetchiev also saw these flashes. "Flashes" are the short—term appearance of a spot that is brighter than the general background of the triangle. Piskov observed this body at night for less than half an hour (he managed to smoke two cigarettes during this time, he believes that about 18 minutes have passed). Visibility was poor, and the body was significantly higher than the cirrus, it "shone through" the cirrus, or, more precisely, that the cirrus veiled the body.

Piskov reported how the wind speed was measured during the observation of the body. The meteorological situation was quasi-stationary. The direction of the wind was from north to south. The direction of movement of the body during the day was in the sun. The analysis of the synoptic situation on November 21 was carried out at 00 and at 12 o'clock GMT and on November 22 at 00 o'clock. The wind direction during these periods remained constant from north to south. The wind direction up to a height of 24 km was determined by the aerological method. The radiosonde was rising at a speed of 350 m/min. On November 21 at 00 GMT, the wind up to a height of 24 km was northerly. At 12 o'clock, the wind direction did not change, the pressure was up to 50 MB. The wind was very strong up to 30 m/sec.)

Message 3

On November 21, 1967, at 5:10 p.m., I was in Sofia near Lenin Square. I watched the body, it was motionless at the zenith for 30-40 minutes.

The body color is white-bluish, like the Moon during the day, with a metallic sheen. The glow was constant, much brighter than the moon. The body size is about 1/8 of the moon. I went in a northerly direction, and when I had walked about 2 km, the body shifted from the zenith to the south and the angle from the normal for it at that moment was already 15-20 °. Two planes appeared, and I saw their good tracks. The planes were making turns. The body started moving, it seems, when the planes appeared. Then the planes disappeared. At home, I went out on the balcony (with my brother and mother), after 4-5 minutes the body disappeared behind the house located on the opposite side of the street. The width of the street is 60 meters, the height of the balcony is 6 meters, the height of the house behind which the body went is 30 meters, therefore, at the time of entering the house, the angular height of the body was 26 - all estimates are approximate. At that time, it turned red, turned first orange, then red, and it was already difficult to determine its shape at that time — it turned into a red speck (but it was larger than a star). The staff of the Institute of Physics of the BAN saw a similar object also the next day - on November 22, 1967 over Lozinskaya Mountain in the morning. Details or names of employees who saw the object on November 22 can be reported by an employee of the Institute of Physics Stepan Ryzhikov.

Ilya Iliev, an assistant at the Department of Physics at Sofia University, noticed that at the time when the described object was observed over the city, there was strong interference in the operation of the galvanometer, so the experiment had to be stopped, both on November 21 and 22. On the evening of November 22 and 23, the galvanometer was working normally.

Vladimir Georgiev Sharov, 34, Researcher at the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia,

Message 4

On May 2, 1967, at 10 a.m., I was on Vitosha (altitude 1700 m).

The weather was sunny and visibility was good. I noticed the noise of the plane. I looked up and wanted to see the plane, but I saw a "parachute". After a while, I noticed that the "parachute" was not falling. It was clearly a triangular-shaped body. The color is white, shiny, silvery.

When the planes took to the sky, a large number of people who were on Vitosha began to look at this object. I decided to estimate the height of the body and did it this way: I used a telegraph pole (10-15 meters high) and a felled branch, arranging them so that I could mentally build similar triangles. The height of the branch was about 1.5 meters, the distance between the post and the branch was 10-15 meters. I defined the height of the body as approximately 30 km. I decided to check if the body was moving or if it was stationary. To do this, I observed the body for a long time, trying to notice its displacement relative to my sights — the pillar and the branch. For a long time, the body was motionless.

The body changed shape — the triangle sometimes turned into a straight line — this was when the noise of the plane was heard (it was 3-4 times). A day later, when I came to work, I found out that the duty officer of the airbase contacted our forecaster and asked him: "Is this your balloon? If not, we will take action." After 3-4 hours, the body began to move on the CER and gain altitude. Its height has probably become 2-2.5 times higher than it was at the beginning. This assessment was made as follows: just at that time, there was a passenger plane, which usually flies at an altitude of 7-8 km. I mentally raised its angular height above the horizon several times.

When an airplane was designed on the body, it could be seen that the apparent size of the body was several dozen times larger than the plane, and the plane was visible as a round dot.

The next day, Rosica Selector, an employee of the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, saw the same body through artillery binoculars (magnification by 30 times). But she describes the shape of the body in a slightly different way: below the triangle, she saw a horizontally positioned rectangle ("gondola").

Nikola Godev, 40 years old, researcher at the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Sofia.

Message 5

Angel Bonov, an assistant at the Astronomical Observatory of Sofia University, observed an unusual object over Sofia on May 2, 1967 through a telescope. From 10 to 14 o'clock it hung motionless or slowly shifting, its luster changed. Then he began to move — from the NW to the St. This object was observed not only over Sofia, but also over many other points in Bulgaria. Letters came to the Astronomical Observatory, newspapers wrote about it, and according to these data it was possible to establish that the object passed over Veliko Tarnovo, then over Ruse, changed the direction of movement once more — turned to the North, crossed the Danube and went to Romania. A. Bonov drew its trajectory. All materials related to these observations are in the possession of Bogomil Kovachev, Scientific Secretary of the Astronomical Section of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, with whom Bonov was engaged in processing these data. Bonov heard that the height of the body was determined using radar and turned out to be 33 km. In November, Bonov himself did not see the unusual object that the newspapers wrote about, but based on the stories that he managed to hear, he is convinced that the same object was observed in November as in May. He is convinced that it is not a satellite, and that this body does not belong to the competence of astronomers. Since he has heard from meteorologists that the object is not a meteorological probe, he does not undertake to judge what it is.

About the UFO that appeared over Bulgaria on April 6, 1967, the Bulgarian magazine Pogled No. 16 for 1967 published the following article:

UNKNOWN FLYING BODY

Eyewitnesses tell us... What the experts think...

Stories like this are likely to be in the future — more often or less often, sensational or unnoticed, aroused more or less emotion. Time and life demand it. Maybe they are not so interesting and significant, but the good thing about them is that they break and change the direction of thinking, create a new psychology. And these circumstances in themselves are a prerequisite for directing human activity to areas unknown until yesterday in science. However, that's the story itself.

It began with one message to the editor that on April 6, citizens and scientists of the observatory in Stara Zagora observed for 45 minutes a "strange celestial body" over the city. What an event! After all, everyone already has such "strange bodies" and "eyewitnesses" tell fabulous legends about them! Why shouldn't we have one?

We went with a mixed feeling of doubt and ... a secret hope to find out something unknown.

Eyewitnesses told:

Stefan Stoinov:

- It was a constantly glowing body of triangular shape, with the sides of the triangle pressed inwards. It could not be confused with airplanes or with satellites, which we often observe from the same observatory, through the same telescope. The body looked like this...

Nikolai Dushkov:

— I observed the body through the telescope of the observatory. It had a triangular shape. It was moving from west to east. I watched him for more than 40 minutes. In the end, it turned pale and disappeared.

Antoineta Nikolova:

— This luminous body looked like a triangle with a tail. I watched him with the naked eye on the street. Everyone could see him. It was somewhere around 7 p.m.

Ivan Todorov:

— I noticed this strange glowing body on the street around 7 o'clock. It had the shape of a purplish-red disk with yellowish edges in the form of a halo. It was over the city for more than an hour.

Yordanka Stoyanova from the city of Chirpan:

"It was just after sunset. It had a spherical shape and glowed with a yellow-red light. My hostess, with whom we watched the body, said that maybe it was an airplane, but this luminous body was visible in the sky for quite a long time.

Ivan Belinsky:

"What I saw looked like three glowing balls connected to each other.

Margarita Belinska, photographer of the observatory:

— The body had a triangular shape. I was surprised when something resembling a tail appeared in the picture.

Yordan Sarnivanov:

— I noticed him on April 7 in the evening. It seemed to be standing over the Chapel. Then it moved along the river. I think it was three polyethylene cylinders, probably launched by DOSO.

And again, and again... Everyone who looked up saw it, a phenomenon with many unknowns. But the fact remains that the most reasonable thing is to listen to what the experts from the observatory will tell you. The observatory is located on the 4th floor of the school building. A narrow ship's staircase leads to the terrace where the monitoring devices are located. From this terrace, the cadets of the observatory or, more precisely, the station for observing artificial satellites at the USSR Academy of Sciences, noticed a "strange celestial body". The excitement that followed was like the commotion of a fire. Of course, the incident is recorded more dispassionately in the station's diary:

Cadets Stefan Stoinov, Nikolai Dushkov, Stefan Noikov and Ekaterina Paskaleva, coming to observe at about 6.30 pm, noticed a celestial body in the west, which they could not characterize either as an airplane or as a satellite (they were all experienced observers). An attempt was made to photograph this body with an astrograph on 27 din film, but due to the fact that the "strange celestial body" was not visible in the camera, the pictures were not very successful. The position of the "strange celestial body" in the firmament was determined. The angular velocity was also determined, which was 3.17 angular minutes per second.

Mitko Gogoshev, physicist:

— I am skeptical, recently a lot has been said and written about these "flying saucers" and interest in them is exceptionally great. If I hadn't seen the strange body, I wouldn't have believed it was appearing over the city. I arrived at the station at seven o'clock in the evening, just after sunset. I found a revival. Everyone crowded over the instruments to observe a glowing triangular object that was moving across the sky in a direction from west to east. I can assure you that it was not a satellite. Satellites look different. I was most surprised by the shape of the body. It looked like a triangle with deepened, depressed sides. And these changes in brilliance...

The physicist from the station was extremely restrained, but undoubtedly excited.

— Perhaps we are talking about a meteorological balloon?

— These cylinders have a spherical shape. In addition, they rise vertically. It's a pity that we couldn't take good pictures. Those who saw it before sunset claim that it was very spectacular.

And here is the opinion of the Doctor of Physical Sciences, Associate Professor Stoycho Panchev from Sofia University:

- I found out about the sightings in Stara Zagora the very next day. I find them interesting. I am currently studying a report on atmospheric research, which talks about the latest data obtained by research centers in many countries. Recently, balloons have been launched in some countries in order to study atmospheric currents. But I haven't heard anything about triangular balloons.

What could we say in conclusion?

Nothing concrete in terms of interpretations. Strange or not, this body is imprinted on a photosensitive emulsion. There may be disputes about its appearance, high-flown opinions may be expressed. It is important not to ignore the facts with the disregard that is so characteristic of ignorance and mediocrity.

Tamara Dzhedzheva, Emil Hristov

In February 1968, Literaturnaya Gazeta (No. 7) published an article that expresses the official point of view on Bulgarian UFOs.

Bulgarian Army Major General Simeon Simeonov stated that "... an unknown flying object observed by many residents of Sofia in November last year turned out to be one of the reconnaissance balloons sent by NATO spy centers into the airspace of foreign countries."

It seems to us, however, that the observed properties of Bulgarian UFOs (in particular, their movement against strong winds) can hardly be attributed to any "balloons" capable only of passive flight. It seems that the material about Bulgarian UFOs deserves detailed study today.

"Soviet Latvia", Riga, December 2, 1967:

LIEPAJA. The city newspaper "Communist" published a message about the appearance of a moving luminous hemisphere over the sea.

- It happened in the middle of November, - the head of the hydrometeorological station P. O. Litava told the LTA correspondent. - At that time, our workers who observed this phenomenon did not attach much importance to it, considering it as an optical illusion caused by the refraction of the rays of the rising sun. But when an article appeared in Nedelya magazine under the heading "The Mystery of the Sofia Sky", we thought that we had perhaps given too hasty an interpretation to the unusual sight we had seen. Here is a detailed description of this event.

An entry in the journal of the hydrometeorological station says that on November 14, at about 6 a.m., a large hemisphere, shining with a bright crimson light, appeared against the background of the still dark sky, which hung motionless low over the sea. After a few minutes, the blinding hemisphere moved off, floated through the air in a northwesterly direction and disappeared over the horizon.

The entry in the journal was made by the employee of the hydrometeorological station A.M. Pankratova, who observed the mysterious phenomenon. Other residents of the city are also eyewitnesses. Interestingly, after the disappearance of the floating hemisphere, the horizon above the sea was plunged into darkness again. The sun rose after eight o'clock.

Bulgaria Magazine, 1968, N 3:

For more than one year, mysterious "flying discs" have been moving over Sofia, Ruse, Panagyurishte, Kazanlak, Stara Zagora, Shumen, Gorno-Oryakhovitsa, Chirpan, Chepelare and other towns and villages in Bulgaria. Their appearance cannot be called sensational, because the same bodies have been seen over many countries of the world.

Some of these phenomena were filmed in Bulgaria without the help of a telescope. Residents of Sofia were able to observe a strange flying body that appeared over the capital on May 2 last year at about 11 a.m. It resembled a triangle with a branch extending from one side, resembling an antenna. The object was at an altitude of more than 25,000 meters and emitted a trembling pinkish light. It hung over the city for about two hours, changing its shape several times during this time. After that, he quickly headed north and disappeared from the field of view of the observers. The Sofians were unable to photograph him.

No less interesting was the appearance of an unknown flying body over Stara Zagora. If in other places such phenomena were observed by random persons, then here the luminous body was examined with the help of appropriate equipment and filmed. All competent eyewitnesses declare that it was a circle inscribed in a triangle (a triangle with concave sides). The body was moving from the west to the east, its size was equal to half or one third of the lunar disk. Boncho Bochev, the head of the observatory, resolutely rules out the assumption that it was an artificial satellite. The satellites farthest from earth, he said, which move much slower in the sky, can be observed for at most 20-25 minutes, and this body was observed for almost an hour and a half, and everyone examined its shapes.

But the "most sensational" case occurred on November 21 last year, when the sun began to set over Sofia. On the streets and squares, many people watched a huge glowing body flying high above the city, almost at the zenith. Journalists from the newspaper "Trud" through a telescope, which gives a forty-fold magnification, managed to examine a body resembling a balloon parachute, which with its upper part pushed a flattened disk surrounded by a wide lighter ribbon. At first, this balloon parachute emitted a silvery-blue glow. Gradually, the glow turned orange, and finally, the receding point of light disappeared on the horizon in a pinkish misty cloud. Dimitar Simetchiev, a researcher on duty at the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, gave the following explanation. "I was looking at the flying body with a simple eye. It was moving perpendicular to the direction of the wind. This circumstance leads me to assume that the body could have its own engine. According to my assumptions, it was located at an altitude of more than 30 kilometers above the earth's surface. I was also impressed by the fact that it did not cause interference in the work of our radio and television stations."

Unknown flying bodies appeared a long time ago and, probably, we will see them in the sky more than once. But it is difficult to give an accurate scientific explanation for these phenomena observed over our country. Therefore, we only give the facts and place a picture of the last mysterious unidentified body, which was taken by LYUBEN DONOV, a photojournalist for the Trud newspaper, on November 21, 1967.