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UFO Files

Pentagon UFO Files Include 1994 Tajik Air Report Over Kazakhstan

On May 8, the Pentagon released the first batch of U.S. Department of War files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), including a State Department cable describing a 1994 sighting by Tajik Air pilots over Kazakhstan. The new archive, called the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, was created in response to a directive from U.S. president Donald Trump. It covers unresolved cases where the government cannot make a definitive determination from available data, with further releases expected “every few weeks.” The department uses the current term UAP as well as the older term unidentified flying object (UFO). The release includes a three-page unclassified State Department cable from the U.S. embassy in Dushanbe. Dated January 31, 1994, it is titled “Tajik Air Pilots Report Unidentified Flying Object” and carries a State Department “Released in Full” stamp dated February 25, 2026. The same cable had previously appeared in CUFON’s archive of State Department UFO records, released in 2000 in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. According to the cable, Tajik Air chief pilot Ed Rhodes, identified as a United States citizen, and two American pilot colleagues reported that they had encountered a UFO on January 27, 1994, while flying at 41,000 feet in a Boeing 747SP. The location was given as latitude 45 north and longitude 55 east, over Kazakhstan. The pilots described the object as an intensely bright light approaching from the east at high speed and at an altitude far above their aircraft. They said they watched it for about 40 minutes as it moved in circles, corkscrews, and 90-degree turns. Rhodes reportedly took several photographs with a pocket Olympus camera and said copies would be sent to the embassy and to the Tajikistan desk at the State Department if they came out. No such photographs appear in the released cable. The crew could not identify the object’s shape because it was dark. They described its light as resembling a “bow wave,” and later said the aircraft flew beneath contrails left by the object after sunrise. Rhodes estimated those contrails to be at about 100,000 feet. The embassy suggested that the object might have been a meteor entering and skipping off the Earth’s atmosphere. Rhodes and the other pilots rejected that explanation, saying their years flying passenger aircraft for Pan Am had given them extensive experience with meteors and space junk. Based on the object’s reported speed and maneuverability, Rhodes expressed the view, which the cable says his crew seemed to support, that it was “extraterrestrial and under intelligent control.” The U.S. government recorded what the pilots said, but the cable does not confirm what they saw, as demonstrated in the file’s cautionary note: “We have no opinion and report the above for what it may be worth.” The release adds an official U.S. record to a regional history in which unexplained aerial reports have surfaced in Soviet research programs and, more recently, in media and online claims. During the Soviet period, reports of anomalous...

Space Exploration

Russia Signals Readiness to Train Turkmen Cosmonaut

Russia is prepared to support the training of a Turkmen cosmonaut if Turkmenistan expresses interest, Russian Ambassador Ivan Volynkin said on April 10 in Ashgabat. The statement was made during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, during which participants laid flowers at a bust of Yuri Gagarin. The remarks were reported by the Russian Embassy’s official Telegram channel. Volynkin highlighted the achievements of Oleg Kononenko, a native of Turkmenabat in Turkmenistan, who holds the record for the longest cumulative time spent in orbit, exceeding 1,100 days. He currently heads the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. According to the ambassador, cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan in the space sector holds significant potential. He said Moscow is ready to collaborate with Ashgabat on satellite production and launches, navigation technologies, and joint scientific research. The statement comes amid intensifying global competition in space, as more countries seek to expand their presence in orbit. Previous reporting has noted that major powers, including the United States, China, Russia, and European countries, are pursuing differing space strategies, while middle-income states increasingly view space as a means of economic development and technological advancement. In Central Asia, this trend is most evident in Kazakhstan, which is developing its satellite capabilities while continuing to utilize infrastructure such as the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Space

Kazakhstan Navigates a Fragmented Global Space Race

The United States, China, Russia, and Europe are pursuing different models of space strategy, ranging from institutional leadership to technological autonomy. At the same time, the number of middle powers that view space as a tool for economic development and the strengthening of sovereignty is growing. In this context, a multi-level system is emerging in which the architecture of near-Earth space is becoming an element of the global balance of power. For Kazakhstan, these changes are of direct importance. The country possesses a unique infrastructure asset, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and is gradually developing its own satellite and manufacturing capabilities. However, amid the fragmentation of the global space order, the question of strategic choice is becoming increasingly pressing. Will Kazakhstan remain primarily an infrastructure hub, or will it build a sustainable national model for participation in the evolving space architecture? Models of Space Strategies The United States remains the world’s leading space power in terms of funding and launch frequency. Total government space spending, including allocations for NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and intelligence programmes, reached a record $79.7 billion in 2024 out of approximately $135 billion in global government space spending. A defining feature of the U.S. model is the close integration between government institutions and the private sector. Companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have become integral to national strategy, helping to reduce launch costs and accelerate innovation. A central component of the current phase is the Artemis lunar programme. The Artemis II mission is planned to conduct a crewed flyby of the Moon, while Artemis III is intended to return humans to the lunar surface using a landing system being developed by SpaceX. China’s space strategy is built on the concept of long-term technological sovereignty and the phased expansion of its presence in space. Deployment began in 2021, and the three-module Tiangong space station was completed in 2022. Chinese astronauts now conduct scientific experiments and test technologies for long-duration missions in low Earth orbit. In lunar exploration, China is implementing a step-by-step research programme that includes returning soil samples and advancing plans for an international lunar research station. The Tianwen-1 Mars mission, which included the landing of the Zhurong rover, demonstrated the country’s capacity to carry out complex interplanetary operations independently. Amid sanctions pressure and reduced international cooperation, Russia’s space strategy is focused on ensuring independent access to space, maintaining orbital infrastructure, and preserving key capabilities in human spaceflight. Despite ongoing uncertainty over its long-term involvement, Russia continues to participate in the International Space Station programme, conducting regular crewed launches and sending Progress cargo spacecraft. At the same time, work is underway on the planned Russian Orbital Station (ROS), with initial deployment planned for the late 2020s. The project is viewed as an important step in preparing for future missions, including potential lunar initiatives. Europe’s space strategy emphasises strategic autonomy alongside broad international cooperation. In addition to traditional Ariane and Vega launch vehicles, European countries are investing in commercial startups such as Isar Aerospace and Orbex, which...

International Space Station

Cargo Spacecraft Docks at Space Station After Baikonur Lift-Off

A Russian cosmonaut on the International Space Station conducted a manual docking of an arriving cargo spacecraft on Tuesday, two days after the craft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The docking would normally be an automatic process, but the Russian space agency Roscosmos had said that an antenna used in that process remained unfolded after the uncrewed Progress MS-33 cargo ship launched on a Soyuz-2.1a rocket on Sunday. Troubleshooting efforts during the journey to the space station, or ISS, failed to fix the problem. On board the space station, cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov used a joystick during the manual docking. A live video feed on the NASA website showed that the procedure went smoothly as the cargo ship slowed down and approached its docking port on the Russian segment of the ISS. “Well done, congratulations on your successful work!” Roscosmos said on Telegram. A NASA commentator said the docking process occurred as the space station and cargo spacecraft flew about 400 kilometers over the border between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The Progress MS-33 had launched from a key Baikonur launch pad that was repaired and used for the first time since it was damaged in a lift-off in November. It carried about 2.7 tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station.

Baikonur

Russian Spacecraft Lifts Off from Repaired Launch Pad at Baikonur

An unmanned spacecraft has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, marking the first take-off from a key launch pad that was damaged in November. The Progress MS-33 spacecraft is carrying nearly three tons of food, fuel and other supplies for the International Space Station, where docking is scheduled to occur on Tuesday. An antenna used to ensure automatic docking with the space station remained unfolded after the cargo ship launched on a Soyuz-2.1a rocket on Sunday, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. As a result, cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Svichkov, who is on board the space station, will conduct a manual docking of the approaching spacecraft, it said. Cosmonauts regularly train for such manual approaches. Roscosmos had said the launch on Sunday would be the first from Baikonur’s “launch complex No. 31 after its reconstruction — the main platform for the Russian space program.” A spacecraft that launched in November with two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut safely reached the International Space Station, but damage to the launch pad raised concerns about delays in the resupply of the station. Supplies on the cargo ship currently heading to the space station include fuel, drinking water, food rations, equipment for repairs and maintenance, oxygen, and medical supplies. The craft will remain docked to the station for about six months “before departing for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew,” NASA said. The U.S. space agency noted that another Russian spacecraft had undocked from the station on March 16, “re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and burned up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.”

Baikonur

Roscosmos: Damaged Baikonur Launch Pad To Be Ready in Early 2026

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos says a Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad that was damaged during the lift-off of a crewed spacecraft in late November is being repaired and will be ready to resume operations at the end of February next year. “The manned program continues,” Roscosmos said following two weeks of speculation about the impact of delays on crewed flights from the leased Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan. If Russia meets its repair schedule, it would beat some predictions that said the launch pad might not back in operation for up to two years. More than 130 Roscosmos employees, working in two shifts from 8 a.m. to midnight, and 18 heavy vehicles are involved in replacing a service cabin that was damaged in the launch of the Soyuz MS-28 craft that took two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut to the International Space Station, the agency said on Monday. “Work has begun on priming and painting the cabin parts. As they become ready, they will be transported to the launch pad. Some of the equipment is already there,” Roscosmos said. “After priming and painting the parts, specialists will begin installing the cabin and conducting autonomous tests.” Space journalists and analysts said the previous mobile service platform was not properly secured during the November launch and collapsed into a flame duct below the launch pad. A cargo flight to the International Space Station had been scheduled for this month from Baikonur but was delayed after the mishap.