Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — Finland, 12 February 1961

On February 12, 1961, at approximately 0410 local time, four Finnair pilots flying over Finland observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The object was described as a glowing silver, round plate, roughly the size of a full moon, with hazy, non-sharp edges. The light was compared to the intensity of the northern lights. Over the course of a ten-minute observation, the object moved toward the north at an altitude of 20 to 30 degrees above the horizon. As the observation progressed, the center of the object appeared to fade, leaving a ring of light that eventually disappeared completely at 0420. The pilots were flying above cloud formations at the time. Military intelligence reports indicate that the phenomenon was likely the Soviet Venus probe, which was launched on the same date. While the exact time of the launch remained unknown to the reporting agency, officials concluded that the object observed by the pilots was likely the rocket during its ascent. The report includes specific positional data from the pilots, noting that the object appeared to move toward the north, with individual pilots reporting positions near Parkano, Haapayarvi, and Jyvaskyla. The report emphasizes that the phenomenon could not have been stable, as two pilots observed stars through the ring formed by the object. No northern lights were reported in the area on the night of February 11-12.