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SEPTEMBER 23, 1914, HURTSUGLY, ASTRAKHAN, RUSSIA, VASSILIY ALEXANDROVICH SOKOLOW:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

According to Albert Rosales, Russian ufologist Mikhail Gershtein said that in Hurtsugly, Harahusovskiy area, Kalmyk province Astrakhan region, Russia, on September 23, 1914, at 03:30 a.m., Vasiliy Alexandrovich Sokolov, contractor for stone works, had stopped to spend the night at the small village.

After drinking tea, early in the morning, he prepared to resume his journey. He went to the yard, harnessed his horse, but did not get far away as a "bright star-like object" suddenly appeared in the sky.

The object began increasing in size, descending from its high altitude moving in a declining trajectory. Soon, he began to make out a cigar-shaped body, outlined in a bright light. The cylinder was brown in color, with a bright light on the front.

The half moon was shining and the stars were visible, and the sky with completely cloud free.

Then the witness saw a kind of "suspended boat" under the cigar-shaped object, about 7 times smaller than the cigar-shaped part.

The shadows of several men could be seen in it. In total there were six "men". Five of them were sitting and one was maybe standing, as he looked higher than the rest. The witness did not see the figures move and he did not hear any noise or sound.

The object was seen in front of him towards the village of Harahusy.

After seeing this, the witness became afraid and ran to the yard, yelling at those present to switch the light of the room off and calling the Tatars there to come outside and watch the object.

Then a beam of light projected from the cigar-shaped object, flashing like a thunderbolt, it lit a square on the ground and temporarily blinded the witness.

At this very same moment, the cigar shaped object turned perpendicular to the previous direction of flight with its front lighted section pointed towards Astrakhan. The light became dim and decreased in size. During the turn of the object a "fast moving device" was noticed on the stern section of the craft.

Then the object turned and flew northward vanishing from sight.

Sokolov saw the object for about 10 minutes. He was convinced he had seen some kind of foreign dirigible. An official inquest was conducted by the chairman of the Kalmyk Province, B. Krishtafovich. Authorities in Saint Petersburg had been worried about possible German dirigibles penetrating Russian territory.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates that in Hurtsugly, Harahusovskiy area, Kalmyk province Astrakhan region, Russia, on September 23, 1914, at 03:30 a.m., "A witness named Vasiliy Alexandrovich Sokolov, contractor for stone works, had stopped to spend the night at the small village. After drinking tea, early in the morning he continued on his journey. He went to the yard, harnessed his horse, but did not get far away as a bright star-like object suddenly appeared in the sky. The object began increasing in size, descending from its high altitude moving in a declining trajectory. Soon he began to make out a cigar-shaped body, outlined in a bright light. The cylinder was brown in color, with a bright light on the front. The half moon was shining and the stars were visible, and the sky with completely cloud free. Then the witness saw a kind of "suspended boat" under the cigar shaped object, it was about 7 times smaller than the cigar shape object. The shadows of several men could be seen in it. In total there were six "men". Five of them were sitting and one was standing, as he looked higher than the rest. The witness did not see the figures move and he did not hear any noise or sound. The object was seen in front of him towards the village of Harahusy. After seeing this the witness became afraid and ran to the yard, yelling at those present to switch the light of the room off and calling the Tatars there to come outside and watch the object. Then a beam of light projected from the cigar-shaped object, flashing like a thunderbolt, which lit a square on the ground and temporarily blinded the witness. At this very same moment the cigar shaped object turned perpendicular to the previous direction of flight with its front lighted section pointed towards Astrakhan. The light became dim and decreased in size. During the turn of the object a fast moving device was noticed on the stern section of the craft. The witness saw the object for about 10 minutes. Then the object turned and flew northward vanishing from sight. Sokolov was convinced that he had seen some kind of foreign dirigible. An official inquest was conducted by the chairman of the Kalmyk Province, B. Krishtafovich. Authorities in Saint Petersburg had been worried about possible German dirigibles penetrating Russian territory."

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "Mikhail Gershtein, 'Mystery of the Astrakhanian Steppes' 'Crossroads of Centaurs' # 2 1999".

[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 23 September 1914 at "03:30", in Hurtsugly, Harahusovskiy area, Russia, "A witness named Vasiliy Alexandrovich Sokolov, contractor for stone works, had stopped to spend the night at the small village. After drinking tea, early in the morning he continued on his journey. He went to the yard, harnessed his horse, but did not get far away as a bright star-like object suddenly appeared in the sky. The object began increasing in size, descending from its high altitude moving in a declining trajectory. Soon he began to make out a cigar-shaped body, outlined in a bright light. The cylinder was brown in color, with a bright light on the front. The half moon was shining and the stars were visible, and the sky with completely cloud free. Then the witness saw a kind of "suspended boat" under the cigar shaped object, it was about 7 times smaller than the cigar shape object. The shadows of several men could be seen in it. In total there were six "men". Five of them were sitting and one was standing, as he looked higher than the rest. The witness did not see the figures move and he did not hear any noise or sound. The object was seen in front of him towards the village of Harahusy. After seeing this the witness became afraid and ran to the yard, yelling at those present to switch the light of the room off and calling the Tatars there to come outside and watch the object. Then a beam of light projected from the cigar-shaped object, flashing like a thunderbolt, which lit a square on the ground and temporarily blinded the witness. At this very same moment the cigar shaped object turned perpendicular to the previous direction of flight with its front lighted section pointed towards Astrakhan. The light became dim and decreased in size. During the turn of the object a fast moving device was noticed on the stern section of the craft. The witness saw the object for about 10 minutes. Then the object turned and flew northward vanishing from sight. Sokolov was convinced that he had seen some kind of foreign dirigible. An official inquest was conducted by the chairman of the Kalmyk Province, B. Krishtafovich. Authorities in Saint Petersburg had been worried about possible German dirigibles penetrating Russian territory."

The source indication is abroken link.

[Ref. js1:] JEAN SIDER:

The author indicates that the case is of September 23, 1914, at 05:30, in Harahusovskly, province of Kalmyk, Russia. Vasiliy Alexandrovich Sokolov, building contractor, had stopped in the small village of Hurtsugly to spend the night.

The next morning, he stood up very early in order to continue his trip, and preparing to harness his horse he saw an object, luminous like a star, moving in the sky, increasing its volume, and losing altitude on a declining trajectory.

Its real structure soon appeared: a cigar shape, wrapped of a brilliant light, of brown color, with a strong light at the front one. A half-moon shone at this time there and the stars were visible, the more so as the sky is entirely free clouds.

The witness then noticed a kind of cockpit suspended below the apparatus, of a size seven times smaller than the main structure, the shadows of several men are visible inside. Five of them sat and the sixth was standing as he was definitely taller than the others.

He dis not see them move and he heard no noise coming from the craft; which wass opposite him, moving towards the village. After having seen that, Mr. Sokolov became frightened, it crossed the court while shouting at whoever may hear that there is an extraordinary flying machine to see outside.

Then a beam of light was projected from the cigar-shaped machine, it lighted a surface of the ground as strongly as a thunderflash, even dazzling the witness. t the same time, the apparatus went into a position perpendicular to the previous line of flight, with its lightened prow directed towards Astrakhan. The light then became weaker and strongly decreased in size.

During the change of course of the ship, a device moving very quickly is noticed at its prow - Jean Sider wonders whether it was a propeller.

Contractor Sokolov followed the evolutions of the object during ten minutes, then the machine veered and moved towards the north to soon disappear from sight. Sokolov was convinced he had observed some kind of foreign airship.

An official investigation was carried out by the person in charge of the province of Kalmyk, B. Krishtafovitch. The authorities of Saint-Petersburg had already feared possible penetrations of the Russian territory by German airships.

Jean Sider indicates that the source is Rosales, quoting Mikhail Gershtein, Mystery of the Astrakhanan Steppes, in "Crossroads of Centaurs", #2, 1999.

He notes that the description does not correspond to a Zeppelin, for on this type of German balloon the cockpit was not suspended but attached to the huge carcass containing the small gas baloons. "It was in fact a parody of airship, as in many cases cited here."

Points to consider:

It is said that Sokolov called other witnesses, so it would have been nice to know whether other witnesses confirmed his observation

I have not been able to find any "Hurtsugly" in Russia, note that the name resembles the English "hurts ugly." Was it a translation of a Russian name to English by mistake?

No trace of "Harahusy", no trace of "Harahusovskly" either, while "Hrusovskly" is a common name. "Kalmyk" refers to a people of Western Mongolia. If the place is in this region, if it was an airship, a airship piloted by German can be excluded.

Right before World War I, Russia had 13 operational military airships, six French-made, 2 German-made, the other Russian-made, four more were under construction. Some of them flew since 1910.

All match really well with the description given by Mr. Sokolov, his interpretation may very well be the correct explanation, except that it it happenned in the Kalmyk region there is little chance that the airship was flown by foreigners, it would have been simply Russian.

On the contrary, I see nothing here really "UFO-esque", much less "alien" or otherwise "paranormal".

Russian Clément-Bayard.

Table of Russsian airships in 1914:

(All belonged to the Russian Army).

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Probable Russian dirigible airship.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [---] ? "Mystery of the Astrakhan Steppes", by Mikhail Gershtein, in Crossroads of Centaurs, #2, 1999.
• [ar1] * "1914 Humanoid Sighting Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2004, at www.aforteanosla.com.ar/albert/anuarios/1914%20Humanoid%20Reports.pdf
• [ud1] * "23 Sep 1914 - Hurtsugly, Harahusovskiy area, Russia", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2006, at thecid.com/ufo/uf19/uf4/194761.htm
• [js1] * "Les 'Extraterrestres' Avant les Soucoupes Volantes", book by Jean Sider, JMG publisher, France, pp 202-203, 2007.

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