State Department UAP Cable 2, Kazakhstan, January 31, 1994
Agency: Department of State
Incident date: 1/27/94
Incident location: Kazakhstan

This document is a U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. on January 31, 1994.
On January 27, 1994 one Tajik pilot and three American citizens encountered an UAP flying a 747 jet at 41,000 feet over Kazakhstan.  Object was a bright light of enormous intensity and approached over the horizon to the east at great speed and a much higher altitude.  Several pictures were taken of the craft making 90 degree turns, doing corkscrews and maneuvering in circles a great rates of speed.  Object was reported as resembling a bullet in flight.  Visual estimation of the contrails were at 100,000 feet, which was too high to leave contrails by ordinary aircraft.

UNCLASSIFIED 
CSP-2025-00040 
B-00002707028 
"UNCLASSIFIED" 
3/2/2026 
UNCLASSIFIED 
MRN: 
94 DUSHANBE 259 
Date/DTG: 
Jan 31 , 1994 / 310000Z Jan 94 
From: 
AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 
Action: 
WASHDC, SECSTATE ROUTINE; MOSCOW, AMEMBASSY ROUTINE 
E.O.: 
Unknown 
TAGS: 
TSPA, EAIR, KZ, Tl, TAJIK AIR, (RHODES, ED) 
Reference: 
n/a 
Subject: 
TAJIK AIR PILOTS REPORT UNIDENTIFIED FL YING OBJECT 
UNCLASSIFIED 
PAGE 01 
DUSHAN 00259 310310Z 
ACTION OES-09 
INFO LOG-00 AID-01 AMAD-01 OASY-00 DOTE-00 EAP-01 EB-01 
EUR-01 FAAE-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 ADS-00 NSAE-00 SSO-00 
SNIS-00 NISC-02 
/016W 
--1FA298 310310Z/38 
R 310258Z JAN 94 
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2150 
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 
AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 
AMEMBASSY ALMATY 
AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 
CIA WASHDC 0224 
DIA WASHDC 0232 
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 00259 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES/S 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: TSAP, EAIR, Tl 
SUBJECT: TAJIK AIR PILOTS REPORT UNIDENTIFIED FL YING OBJECT 
1. TAJIK AIR CHIEF PILOT, AMCIT ED RHODES, AND HIS TWO AMERICAN 
PILOT COLLEAGUES REPORTED JANUARY 29 THAT, ON JANUARY 27, THEY 
HAD ENCOUNTERED A UFO WHILE FL YING AT 41,000 FEET IN THEIR BOEING 
UNCLASSIFIED 
Released in Full 
John Powers, Acting-Director 
US Department of State 
2/25/2026 
UNCLASSIFIED 
Pagel of 3

UNCLASSIFIED 
CSP-2025-00040 
B-00002707028 
"UNCLASSIFIED" 
3/2/2026 
UNCLASSIFIED 
PAGE 02 
DUSHAN 00259 310310Z 
747SP AT LAT 45 NORTH AND LONG 55 EAST, OVER KAZAKHSTAN. THEY 
FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE OBJECT AS A BRIGHT LIGHT OF ENORMOUS 
INTENSITY, APPROACHING THEM FROM OVER THE HORIZON TO THE EAST AT 
A GREAT RATE OF SPEED AND AT A MUCH HIGHER ALTITUDE THAN THEIR 
OWN. THEY WATCHED THE OBJECT FOR SOME FORTY MINUTES AS IT 
MANEUVERED IN CIRCLES, CORKSCREWS AND MADE 90-DEGREE TURNS AT 
RAPID RATES OF SPEED AND UNDER VERY HIGH G'S. CAPTAIN RHODES 
TOOK SEVERAL PHOTOS WITH A POCKET OLYMPUS CAMERA AND WILL SEND 
COPIES TO THE EMBASSY AND THE TAJIKISTAN DESK (LOWRY TAYLOR) IN 
THE DEPARTMENT, IF THEY COME OUT. AFTER SOME TIME, THE OBJECT 
ADOPTED A HORIZONTAL HIGH-SPEED COURSE AND DISAPPEARED OVER THE 
HORIZON. 
2. AS IT WAS DARK WHEN THE OBJECT WAS OBSERVED, THE CREW WERE 
UNABLE TO DISCERN ITS SHAPE. THEY DESCRIBED THE LIGHT IT EMITTED 
AS HAVING A "BOW WAVE" AND AS RESEMBLING A HIGH-SPEED PHOTO OF A 
BULLET IN FLIGHT, IN WHICH A VERY SMALL OBJECT GIVES OFF A MUCH 
LARGER TRAILING WAVE OF HEAT/LIGHT. SOME FORTY-FIVE MINUTES 
AFTER THE INITIAL SIGHTING, AS THE SUN WAS RISING, THE AIRCRAFT 
FLEW UNDER THE CONTRAILS WHICH THE OBJECT HAD LEFT BEHIND. THE 
PLANE WAS MAKING OVER 500 KNOTS. RHODES ESTIMATED THE ALTITUDE 
OF THE CONTRAILS AT APPROXIMATELY 100,000 FEET, NOTING THAT THERE 
IS TOO LITTLE AIR/MOISTURE AT THAT EXTREME ALTITUDE TO ENABLE THE 
CREATION OF CONTRAILS BY THE PROPULSION MECHANISMS OF ORDINARY 
AIRCRAFT WHICH MIGHT BE ABLE TO REACH THAT HEIGHT. THE PATHS OF 
THE CONTRAILS REFLECTED THE MANEUVERS OF THE OBJECT, I.E., 
CIRCLES, CORKSCREWS, ETC. 
3. TO OUR SUGGESTION THAT THE OBJECT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A METEOR 
ENTERING AND SKIPPING OFF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE, RHODES AND HIS 
CREW WERE ADAMANT THAT THEY HAD SEEN THOUSANDS OF "FALLING STARS" 
UNCLASSIFIED 
UNCLASSIFIED 
PAGE 03 
DUSHAN 00259 310310Z 
AND OTHER SPACE JUNK ENTERING THE ATMOSPHERE IN THEIR YEARS OF 
FL YING PASSENGER AIRCRAFT FOR PANAM. THIS, THEY INSISTED, WAS 
NOTHING LIKE A METEOR. ON THE BASIS OF ITS SPEED AND 
MANEUVERABILITY, RHODES EXPRESSED THE OPINION, WHICH HIS CREW 
SEEMED TO SUPPORT, THAT THE OBJECT WAS EXTRATERRESTRIAL AND UNDER 
INTELLIGENT CONTROL. 
4. COMMENT: WE HAVE NO OPINION AND REPORT THE ABOVE FOR WHAT IT 
MAY BE WORTH. 
ESCUDERO 
UNCLASSIFIED 
UNCLASSIFIED 
Page 2 of 3

UNCLASSIFIED 
CSP-2025-00040 
B-00002707028 
"UNCLASSIFIED" 
3/2/2026 
NNNN 
Dissemination Rule: 
Archive Copy 
UNCLASSIFIED 
UNCLASSIFIED 
Page 3 of 3