Salyut-6: Kovalyonok and Savinykh See Entities in Spherical Craft

EVENT TITLE: Salyut-6: Kovalyonok and Savinykh See Entities in Spherical Craft
EVENT DATE: 1981-05-15
EVENT TYPE: sighting
EXISTING SUMMARY: Between May 14-18, 1981, following docking of Soyuz T-4 with Salyut-6, cosmonauts Kovalyonok and Savinykh observe an unidentified spherical ship approximately 30 feet in diameter. The metallic object with many windows approaches within 100 feet. Through binoculars, the cosmonauts see three brown-col

SOURCE TEXT FROM RICHARD DOLAN "UFOs and the National Security State Vol.2":
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mild statement. State police officer Gabriel Valdez also saw the vents, and
vehemently disagreed that they were fake. Like so much else in the cloak-
and-dagger world of UFOs, this matter remains unresolved. dx
One thing is known: as a result of everything he had been seeing and
recording, Bennewitz began writing to New Mexico Senators Pete
Domenici and Harrison Schmitt, describing his observations and giving his
opinion that aliens were taking over the base beneath Dulce. dxi

World Sightings through May

After Trans-en-Provence, UFO sightings slowed down. A British CAA
report described an interesting radar target near Lyons, France, on February
13. Although it was not seen visually, it was “a sizeable oval shaped target”
that moved toward an aircraft “at very high speed.” dxii After this, the next
important sighting did not occur until May, and that happened to be in
Earth’s orbit.

This was aboard the Soviet Salyut-6 space station on May 5, 1981. Oddly
(or not), the United States had recently launched its first reusable manned
space vehicle, the Space Shuttle Columbia . Its first mission, known as
STS-1, lasted from April 12 to 14, 1981. Three weeks later, the Salyut-6
was in orbit over Southern Africa, and cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok
had just finished exercising when he looked through a porthole. Astonished,
he saw a rotating, elliptical object, flying along with the space station.
Lacking all reference points in space, he could not determine either its
distance or its size. He called his partner Viktor Savinykh to observe, who
was about to photograph it when the object exploded in “golden light.” This
was followed immediately by a second explosion, leaving behind two
“golden and very beautiful” spheres and a residue of white smoke. The
space station soon entered the Earth’s shadow, and the spheres vanished
into blackness. As cautiously as possible, the men reported their sighting to
mission control.

Later, Kovalyonok learned that Soviet scientists had regist
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1. An introductory paragraph (2-3 sentences summarizing the event)
2. Then sections using ### headings:
- ### The Incident (what happened, chronologically)
- ### Investigation (official response, if applicable)
- ### Significance (why this matters in the broader UFO context)

Salyut-6: Kovalyonok and Savinykh See Entities in Spherical Craft

On May 5, 1981, while aboard the Soviet Salyut-6 space station, cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok observed an unusual object. The object, described as rotating and elliptical, was witnessed by Kovalyonok and his partner Viktor Savinykh before it reportedly exploded.

The Incident

* On May 5, 1981, the Salyut-6 space station was in orbit over Southern Africa.
* Cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok had just finished exercising when he looked through a porthole and saw a rotating, elliptical object flying along with the space station. He could not determine its distance or size.
* Kovalyonok called his partner Viktor Savinykh to observe the object.
* As Savinykh was about to photograph it, the object exploded in "golden light."
* A second explosion immediately followed, leaving behind two "golden and very beautiful" spheres and a residue of white smoke.
* The space station then entered the Earth's shadow, and the spheres vanished into blackness.
* The cosmonauts cautiously reported their sighting to mission control.
* Between May 14-18, 1981, following docking of Soyuz T-4 with Salyut-6, cosmonauts Kovalyonok and Savinykh observed an unidentified spherical ship approximately 30 feet in diameter. The metallic object with many windows approached within 100 feet. Through binoculars, the cosmonauts saw three brown-col

Investigation

* The source text mentions that Kovalyonok later learned that Soviet scientists had registered something related to the event, but the details are not provided.

Significance

This event is significant as it represents a UFO sighting by trained observers in space. The reported explosions and subsequent appearance of spheres add to the unusual nature of the encounter. The timing of the event, shortly after the United States launched its first reusable manned space vehicle, the Space Shuttle Columbia, may also be noteworthy.