{"type":"programs","slug":"thread-iii-program","title":"Thread III Program","url":"https://disclosdex.com/programs/thread-iii-program","description":"Cold War Soviet initiative studying anomalous aerospace materials and classified experimental inertial mass propulsion technologies","date":"1983-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["UAP Task Force"],"updated":"2025-06-17T00:00:00.000Z","connectionCount":0,"content":{"markdown":"Thread III emerged in the late-Cold-War Soviet Union as an attempt to reverse-engineer anomalous aerospace material, manipulate inertial mass with high-temperature superconducting toroids, and explain radar tracks of objects sprinting at double-digit Mach numbers along the Northern Sea Route.[^1]\n\n<PDF src=\"https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0005517761.pdf\" />\n\nWestern intelligence first heard the program's name during a 1989 GRU defector debrief and later confirmed its budget lines inside the Air-Defence Forces' Scientific-Technical Committee.[^1][^2] A 250-page CIA file and the declassified ESDB-90-015 report show that its work ran in parallel with Threads I and II, which focused on directed-energy physics and re-entry-vehicle survivability.[^2][^3]\n\n<Dither\n  src=\"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GqYdJ_5XAAAsOlB.jpg\"\n  width={1080}\n  height={829}\n/>\n\nAfter the USSR collapsed the effort went dormant, but a 149-page dossier translated for the Defense Intelligence Agency's AAWSAP contract in 2010 revealed its scope and the role of Military Unit 73790 at Zhitkur.[^4][^5] That translation shaped AAWSAP propulsion studies and fed directly into AATIP and today's AARO archives.[^6] A 2024 leak of briefing slides revived public interest and confirmed Thread III as one of the Soviet projects framing modern UAP policy debates.[^7]\n\n## Timeline of major events\n\n| Year / Month    | Event                                                                                                                       |\n| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| 1983 (estimate) | Soviet Academy of Sciences creates three \"Thread\" portfolios; Thread III assigned to inertial-propulsion phenomenology.[^1] |\n| Sept 1989       | GRU defector provides first Western mention; CIA DS&T opens ESDB-90-015 case file.[^1][^2]                                  |\n| Oct 1989        | Soviet media interest in the Voronezh landing fuels internal funding for Thread III field teams.[^8]                        |\n| 1990            | CIA compiles a 250-page monograph on \"UFO Attack on a Military Unit in Siberia,\" cross-referencing Unit 73790 logs.[^3]     |\n| 1991 Q1         | Dedicated laboratory at Unit 73790 activated to study recovered alloys and gravity-modification toroids.[^4]                |\n| Dec 1991        | Soviet breakup freezes central funding; Thread III placed in caretaker status under Russian Air-Defence Forces.[^1]         |\n| July 2008       | US AAWSAP contract cites Thread III as an adversary capability gap; BAASS begins acquiring Russian-language material.[^6]   |\n| June 2010       | AAWSAP delivers a 149-page translated report to the DIA Defense Warning Office.[^4][^5]                                     |\n| Sept 2021       | _Skinwalkers at the Pentagon_ publicly names Thread III as precedent for AAWSAP work.[^5]                                   |\n| May 2024        | Whistle-blower slides appear online, displaying an organigram that matches Unit 73790 data from the 2010 translation.[^7]   |\n\n## Technical objectives and findings\n\n| Objective                     | Description                                                                                                                                                                        |\n| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Controlled-inertia propulsion | Laboratory notes describe superconducting toroidal arrays pulsed at 20 T to generate micro-newton thrust without reaction mass.[^1]                                                |\n| Materials analysis            | Metallographic work on crash-recovery shards reported magnesium–zinc ratios and isotopic shifts inconsistent with terrestrial stocks, echoing Voronezh soil-sample claims.[^8][^3] |\n| Field sensors                 | Unit 73790 installed phased-array radars on the Novaya Zemlya chain to track extreme-maneuver objects exceeding Mach 30 and 40 g.[^4]                                              |\n\n## Organization and key figures\n\n| Role                       | Name / Body                        | Note                                                                       |\n| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Scientific curator         | Acad. Yevgeny Velikhov (SAS)       | Allocated academy computing time to the Thread III laboratory cluster.[^1] |\n| Military lead              | Col. Sergey V. Sizyov (Unit 73790) | Ran field-collection detachments on Caspian and Arctic coasts.[^4]         |\n| First Western analyst      | Dr. Henry Shields (CIA DS&T)       | Authored ESDB-90-015 assessment.[^1]                                       |\n| US translation chief       | Dr. James T. Lacatski (DIA)        | Commissioned the 2010 English edition for AAWSAP.[^5]                      |\n| Public-disclosure catalyst | George Knapp (journalist)          | Obtained original Russian papers; cited in the 2024 leak.[^7]              |\n\n## Western intelligence exploitation\n\nThe ESDB-90-015 file prompted CIA requests for additional GRU technical annexes in early 1990, ultimately yielding schematic drawings of superconducting \"gravity generators.\"[^2] DIA analysts employed those drawings in 2008 to justify AAWSAP exotic-propulsion studies, arguing that Soviet work \"exceeded NERVA-class nuclear performance without propellant.\"[^6] The 2010 translation became a keystone document inside CAPELLA, AAWSAP's digital warehouse of UAP data.[^1][^6]\n\n## Current status and legacy\n\nThread III never reached flight test &mdash; Russia's 1990s budget crash halted construction of its superconducting ring-accelerator.[^1] Yet its archived papers guide modern US interest in inertial-mass research and feature in AARO briefings on foreign UAP technology.[^5] The 2024 leak has renewed calls for full declassification of the 149-page report and remaining CIA holdings.[^7][^9]\n\n[^1]: Disclosdex Analysis\n\n[^2]: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90M00551R002001250035-3.pdf\n\n[^3]: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0005517761.pdf\n\n[^4]: https://www.shortform.com/pdf/skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon-pdf-james-t-lacatski-colm-a-kelleher-and-george-knapp\n\n[^5]: https://www.bookey.app/book/skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon\n\n[^6]: https://www.academia.edu/121609473/On_the_AAWSAP_AATIP_Confusion\n\n[^7]: https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/1kjhd8v/baass_leak_is_authentic_soviet_military_unit/\n\n[^8]: https://time.com/3475954/voronezh-ufo-report-1989/\n\n[^9]: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1iud40k/eric_davis_claims_aawsap_had_multiple_sources_of/","readingTime":"4 min read"},"relatedRecords":[],"citation":{"canonicalUrl":"https://disclosdex.com/programs/thread-iii-program","title":"Thread III Program","publisher":"Disclosdex","retrievedFrom":"https://disclosdex.com/api/v1/programs/thread-iii-program","license":"CC-BY-4.0"}}