Soviet Space Centre Attacked
Type: Close encounter of the second kind
Place: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (then part of the USSR)
Date: June 1, 1982
The enormous Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was one of the former USSR's foremost spaceflight centres and it was from here that the first Soviet space shuttle mission - the Eastern bloc's response to the US Challenger program - was launched in November, 1988.
Scientists Dr Alexei Zolotov and Dr Vladimir Azhazha reported that on June 1, 1982, two UFOs hovered over the space centre. One came down directly toward launch pad one, while the other stayed near the centre's housing complex. The gantries at the launch pad suffered from split welded joints, and rivets had apparently been sucked out of them. At the housing complex, thousands of windows were shattered or holed. The base was closed for two weeks for repairs.
Assessment: It is possible that UFOs were blamed for a launch pad disaster tat the ever-secretive Soviets did not wish to admit. However, skeptic James Oberg confirmed that the Baikonur complex was out of action at this time, but he could not discover why. Welds are actually stronger than the sections of metal they join, so an unusually powerful force must have been behind the damage.

Source: UFO: The Complete Sightings Catalogue by Peter Brooksmith (Blitz Editions)

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