*necro-posting/bump*
I found this story yesterday and was completely flabbergasted. And then even more so by the research people on here have done. Excellent work,
all!!
A couple of thoughts, sometimes repeating things from above, but I figured it was easier to do it thusly.
First, it seems there are two reports. The Earlier Event, which seems to be more straightforward, can be found here:
www.ufoevidence.org...
The gist of this is that the cosmonauts saw something weird, it appeared to explode, they didn't have time to take a photo. This is reported to have
happened on May 5th, 1981. This is where the drawing comes from (see link). Original story looks to have been published by Pravda
(
www.pravda.ru...).
We then have the Later Event report, claimed to have occurred between May 14th and May 18th, 1981. I think this second set of events is likely an
elaboration/fabrication on the first, documented event, for several reasons.
First, as yeebsy pointed out above, two other cosmonauts were on board Salyut-6 during the time period of the Later Event. Why no mention of them in
the article from Brazialian Ufologia (full text here:
tr.im...)? Seems odd that neither of these other cosmonauts, who surely would have
witnessed the events, would be mentioned. Oddly, the article says "three cosmonauts," but then goes on to speak as if there were only two, despite
the fact that there were actually four on board...
Second, when we compare the sketch drawn by Kovalyonok (at the ufoevidence URL above) and the description in the Later Event, we find no match at all.
Kovalyonok's drawing shows an elongated, mushroom-shaped UFO. No indication of windows (well, maybe one; I'm having a Russian friend translate the
text on that image, and will post here when I have it), it's not round, etc.
Third, the Ufologia article says that the story was broken by the magazine Manchete. I have been able to determine (from articles cited in other
places) that Manchete was published as early as 1979, and as late as 1994. However, the Ufologia article says that, in Manchete the words were "in a
relatively minor position on the inside left-hand corner of the cover." It isn't clear if this is referring to a table of contents, or the article
itself. If it IS referring to the article itself, it was obviously a rather small blurb, likely similar to the account of the Earlier Event published
by Pravda. So, where does Ufologia get all of that extra information?
Given that the report of the Later Event seems to be fabricated, or at least exaggerated, I've been trying to nit-pick the article and see if I can
find other possible problems with the account. To that end:
Binoculars (which one might not predict would be carried into space) were indeed aboard Salyut-6 (
tr.im...).
It seems a "high-potency light source" was used for signaling, presumable a flashlight. Anyone know if these get/got taken on missions?
Finally, the "celestial map:" "two of the aliens did exactly the same thing, opening a map so that Kovalyonok could clearly perceive out [sic]
solar system in the upper right-hand corner." I find this hard to believe. A map of stars is, after all, a map with tons and tons of dots.
Further, our (human) star maps don't usually include the Sun on them, but rather portray the stars as they are viewed from Earth. It is probable
that other alien civilizations would do the same. So, from 30 meters, through binoculars, on a map based from an alien star, we are asked to believe
that Kovalyonok was able to pick out our Sun? Honestly, I find this the hardest part of the article to believe. That is a truly amazing ability in
both vision and in mental prowess!!
So, in short, I think the purported video would indeed be a "smoking gun," but I doubt it exists, since I can't find anything to corroborate the
account.