CIA-UAP-D024 is an Office of Scientific Intelligence assessment examining Soviet radar networks, space surveillance systems, and foreign institutional responses to atmospheric anomalies. The document was declassified and released publicly for the first time as part of PURSUE Release 05 on August 7, 2026. The assessment was completed on August 25, 1971, in Washington, D.C. 123
Provenance and Context
Produced by the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence, this report reflects the agency's routine work monitoring foreign technological and scientific capabilities. Rather than analyzing domestic sightings, the assessment looks outward at how the Soviet Union detected and responded to unidentified atmospheric anomalies through its own radar and surveillance networks.3
Detailed Content / Analysis
The assessment reviews intelligence on Soviet radar installations and early space surveillance systems, and describes how Soviet military and scientific bodies categorized anomalous returns. It asks whether Soviet systems were registering the same kinds of unidentified phenomena reported by U.S. personnel, and it evaluates the institutional frameworks the Soviets used to investigate such events. The document weighs whether the Soviets had reached any deeper understanding of the anomalies than U.S. analysts had.3
What the Record Supports
The record confirms that OSI produced a formal assessment of Soviet detection and response capabilities in 1971, showing the intelligence community treated the anomaly issue as a subject worth tracking in an adversary nation. It does not indicate that Soviet analysts had recovered anomalous technology or reached conclusions beyond what U.S. agencies already held.3