Case file · Sighting
The Aeroflot 8352 sighting near Minsk
Early on 7 September 1984 the crew of Aeroflot flight 8352, a Tu-134 from Tbilisi to Tallinn led by Igor Cherkashin, saw a bright light near Minsk that turned into a glowing cloud with a beam, appeared to follow the airliner and was reportedly seen by ground controllers.
1984 CE · 53.95, 27.60 · status: explained
The account
The Soviet newspaper Trud published the story in January 1985, one of the first UFO reports allowed in the Soviet press; it was widely repeated in the West. Investigators such as James Oberg later matched the time and description to a missile launch seen from a great distance.
The sceptical view
The descriptions match a night-time rocket launch plume lit by the sun at high altitude.