Corkscrews at 41,000 feet
A Boeing 747 flying at 41,000 feet over Kazakhstan, with a Tajik pilot and three American citizens aboard, met a light of 'enormous intensity' coming over the horizon at great speed and far higher altitude. They photographed it making 90-degree turns, corkscrews and fast circles. It looked like a bullet in flight and left contrails estimated at 100,000 feet, too high for any ordinary aircraft. The U.S. embassy in Dushanbe cabled the account to Washington. war.gov also holds a 2022 military video of a UAP over Kazakhstan.
Evidence, in date order (1)
- 27 Jan 1994Three American citizens aboardwitnessshared the sighting and the photographs war.gov: State Department cable on the 747 encounter, 1994
How plausible · High
A released State Department cable records a 747 crew's sighting of a light making corkscrews at 41,000 ft; the photos were never released.
- ●●Access Flight crew in the cockpit.
- ●●No gain sought Embassy cable.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released cable.
- ●○Restraint Describes, no claims.
- ●○Character record Pilot and passengers unnamed.
- ●○Independent convergence Crew and three Americans aboard.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- A State Department cable from Dushanbe, January 31, 1994.
- A 2022 military intelligence video of a UAP near Kazakhstan (on DVIDS).A phone video of a luminous phenomenon near Karaganda airport, Kazakhstan (March 2022)