Visitors from outer space – The Ultimate Tourists
January 13th is not only Stariy Noviy God, it also marks the anniversary of one of the strangest events I have encountered here in Kyrgyzstan.
Back in 2003, before the two revolutions which we have experienced, the front pages of the local press carried stories and photographs of strange lights seen in the skies over Kyrgyzstan. The event was apparently caught on video taken by a motorist on a Sony video camcorder.
The 8 minute video clip shows a scene at daybreak. In the sky appear two brightly luminous objects. One of them was very similar to a “classical” UFO such as appears in Hollywood films. Shown clearly in a corner of the picture was the date of shooting – 13.01.2003 and the time.
Authors of Science Fiction often depict aliens visiting planet Earth. In many stories they visit large cities – the centers of civilization. In others they chose “out of the way” locations , where there are either small communities, or no human inhabitants at all, for their forays to this planet.
For some reason there have been a number of sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in Kyrgyzstan … some of them with considerable documentation – newspaper reports giving eye-witness accounts, photographs, etc.
During the Soviet period, the area was a centre for the training of pilots, and now that both the Russians and the Americans have Airbases near to Bishkek, it is possible that there is a rational explanation of some sightings that does not require a belief in extra-terrestrials, but all the same …
On this particular occasion, Kolbek Ryspaev, a Bishkek resident, was driving with his wife and young from Osh to Bishkek. Having passed through the tunnel at the Too-Ashuu pass and just before the checkpost in Sosnovka, he suddenly saw some luminous points in the dark sky to his right. They appeared to be about 3-4 kilometers away. In the beginning he thought that it must have been military-transport planes from the newly established Ganci air-base, flying from Afghanistan to “Manas”. But the objects, for some reason, began to slow down above Kara-Balta, where there are no air bases. Besides that, they were moving very smoothly, according to a completely inexplicable trajectory and they were flying completely silently, letting out pulsing flares.
This captured his attention – as he put it in the newspaper – “Before this, frankly speaking, I treated the subject of UFOs skeptically. And here suddenly such thing, moreover before my eyes!”
Having passed the village of Kyrgyz-Dyikan, he saw that the mysterious objects were now on his left. He stopped his vehicle, took his video camera and began to record. Being an amateur cameraman – and presumably somewhat overcome by what he was seeing, the picture is unsteady. He says that if he had had a stand (tripod) then it would have been very clear. He recorded two of them, the largest. After this, they began to fly off in direction of Sokuluk. He tried to give chase, but trees lining the road obscured the view.
His young son expressed concern: “It’s extraterrestrials… They won’t take us away, daddy?”. His voice is clearly audible on the recording.
The size of objects cannot be determined from the film, it was too far away, they were moving too fast and there was no point of reference to give an idea of scale.
Unsure what it was that he had filmed … he showed the film to family and friends. Opinions as to what it was he had recorded were divided.
Oddly enough, on the same day, two employees of one of the local television stations (KOORT) also reported seeing a UFO, a bright oval object which hung silently in the sky, somewhere in the direction of, or around, the Western Bus Station in Bishkek. It appeared to show signs of fires onboard, and seemed to shine down beams of light like spotlights.
There have been other occasions when bright lights have been seen over the city. In May 2004, another incident was reported in the local press … Children rushed into a house near the Spartak stadium in Central Bishkek in the early hours of the morning and interrupted a party with claims that there was a UFO. The guests and the owners of the house went outside and saw two bright circles. Attempts to video the UFOs failed: the streetlights were on and blocked the view and moreover it was very difficult to focus on the mysterious circles.
To be honest, to me it was not exactly convincing, but you can see the clip, and judge for yourselves:
Disclose.tv – UFO Over Kyrgyzstan January 13, 2003 Full Inedit Video
http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/15305/UFO_Over_Kyrgyzstan_January_13__2003_Full_Inedit/
I remember jokingly writing at the time to friends that perhaps we had missed an opportunity to identify a new potential market: visitors from outer space – The Ultimate Tourists.
Bishkek