National Affairs Scientific Affairs: Prognoz-6 Launch and Petrozavodsk Phenomenon

This document, dated September 23, 1977, is a compilation of TASS reports concerning scientific and unusual events in the USSR. The first section details the launch of the Prognoz-6 automatic space station, which was designed to conduct research into solar plasma, magnetic fields, and various forms of radiation. The station, a collaborative effort between the USSR and France, was placed into a highly elliptical orbit to study the earth's magnetosphere. The second section reports on an 'unusual natural phenomenon' observed in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, on September 20, 1977. According to eyewitness accounts, a 'medusa'-shaped object appeared in the dark sky around 0400, emitting shafts of light toward the earth before moving toward Petrozavodsk. The object later transformed into a bright semi-circle with a red center and white sides, eventually moving toward Lake Onega. The phenomenon lasted between 10 and 12 minutes. Yu. Gromov, the director of the Petrozavodsk hydrometeorological observatory, confirmed that no technical experiments were being conducted at the time and stated that the event could not be explained as a mirage, noting that the evidence from numerous eyewitnesses was consistent. The final section of the document briefly mentions that a crew of six women set two world flight records in an IL-62 passenger plane.