Petrozavodsk Phenomenon, Massive Sighting Across the Soviet Union

A large, jellyfish-shaped glowing object was observed over the city of Petrozavodsk in northwest Russia, with sightings reported across a vast area from Scandinavia to the Russian Far East. Police, naval personnel, and a TASS correspondent filed reports. The Soviet government responded by establishing the Setka programme, a network of military and academic institutions tasked with systematically collecting and analysing UFO reports. Setka gathered over 3,000 testimonies on more than 300 incidents. The event prompted the most comprehensive Soviet-era institutional response to the UFO phenomenon.