Petrozavodsk phenomenon (nonfiction)

A copy of the lost photograph of the Petrozavodsk phenomenon.

The Petrozavodsk phenomenon was a series of celestial events of a disputed nature that occurred on September 20, 1977. The sightings were reported over a vast territory, from Copenhagen and Helsinki in the west to Vladivostok in the east.[1] It is named after the city of Petrozavodsk in Russia (then in the Soviet Union), where a glowing object was widely reported that showered the city with numerous rays.

Government officials from northern European countries sent letters to Anatoly Aleksandrov, president of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, expressing concern about whether the observed phenomenon was caused by Soviet weapons testing and whether it constituted a threat to the region’s environment. Since 1977, the phenomenon has been often (though not universally) attributed to the launch of the Soviet satellite Kosmos-955. In the same year, a preliminary report for the Academy of Sciences of the USSR contained an immense body of visual observations, radiolocation reports, physical measurements, and accompanying meteorological data. It concluded that "based on the available data, it is unfeasible to satisfactorily understand the observed phenomenon". The Petrozavodsk phenomenon contributed to the creation of Setka AN, a Soviet research program for anomalous atmospheric phenomena.

Fiction cross-reference

• Crimes against physical constants
• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links:

• Petrozavodsk phenomenon @ Wikipedia

Attribution: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36921679