Major General Alexejev Confirms Soviet UFO Research in Magazin 2000 Interview

In 2000, journalist Valerii Uvarov, correspondent for the Russian publication Magazin 2000, interviewed Major General Vasily Alexejev of the Russian Air Force, commander of the Space Communications Center in Moscow. Alexejev spoke openly about secret UFO research conducted in the Soviet Union. He confirmed that his office received a large number of incident reports from military installations throughout the entire Soviet Union, which were forwarded to the highest authorities and evaluated under strict secrecy by the Ministry of Defense, the Academy of Sciences, and the intelligence services.

The military compiled a chart of approximately 50 observed UFO shapes, ranging from ellipses to spheres to what were described as proper spacecraft, which was used systematically to question witnesses. UFOs appeared frequently near objects of strategic importance, particularly rocket complexes and scientific test facilities. Individual officers conducted independent investigations and noted that UFOs appeared regularly in connection with heightened military activity or when special cargo was being transported, which allegedly allowed their appearance to be predicted.

Alexejev also described interactive contacts with the objects: Soviet personnel used physical gestures — such as pointing arms in a direction — and the spherical craft reportedly flattened and moved accordingly. In the early 1980s, on orders from Soviet leadership, experiments with geodetic instruments and radar stations were conducted. In one case, experts attempted to target an object with a rangefinder; the moment the beam touched it, the object vanished and reappeared elsewhere. Alexejev concluded that intelligence was behind the UFO phenomenon. The full interview was reprinted with permission from editor Michael Hesemann as Appendix 1 of Robert Fleischer's book.