BELARUS: Details of Inquiry Into Balloon Downing

This report, translated from the Belarusian newspaper ZVYAZDA, details the official inquiry into the downing of a U.S. balloon over Belarusian territory on September 12, 1995. The incident occurred in the Byarozawski rayon of the Brest Oblast. According to the state commission established by the president, the Antiaircraft Defense detected an unidentified balloon at 0914 hours. Because there were no flight permits on file, Major General Valeryy Kastenka, commander of the Antiaircraft Defense, ordered a state of high alert. At 1136 hours, an MI-24 combat helicopter was dispatched from Pruzhany airfield to identify the object. The helicopter crew approached the object at a distance of 100 meters, approximately 4 km from the Asowtsy airbase. They described the object as a balloon with a diameter of 3 to 4 meters, carrying a closed freight container weighing approximately one tonne. The crew noted there were no identifying signs on the object and that it did not respond to inquiries on the 121.5 mHz international emergency frequency. The object was traveling at an altitude of 2,300 meters in a north-easterly direction near a strategic missile deployment site. After the MI-24 fired warning shots from 600 meters with no reaction, the Air Defense commander ordered the destruction of the balloon. The helicopter maneuvered, and at 1154 hours, the balloon was destroyed.