1994 State Department UAP Cable 2, Kazakhstan, January 31, 1994

Page 1 --- 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, SEC…’ aiBriefing: ’## Document Overview

This is an unclassified diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to the State Department in Washington, D.C., dated January 31, 1994. It forwards a report from American pilots with Tajik Air describing an encounter with an unidentified flying object during a flight over Kazakhstan on January 27, 1994.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Page 01

What This Document Contains

• A firsthand account by the chief pilot of Tajik Air (a U.S. citizen) and two American colleagues of a bright, maneuvering light observed for approximately 40 minutes at high altitude over Kazakhstan.

• Description of the object’s movements (circles, corkscrews, 90-degree turns at high speed), an estimate that its contrails formed at around 100,000 feet — conditions in which normal aircraft contrails would not be expected — and the pilot’s decision to take photographs with a personal camera.

• Routine dissemination of the report to multiple U.S. embassies (Moscow, Tashkent, Ashgabat, Almaty, Beijing, Bishkek) as well as the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Pages 01-02

Key Observations

• “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 FLYING AT 41,000 FEET IN THEIR BOEING 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.”

• “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.”

• “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…”

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Pages 01-02

Context & Significance

This cable is an early post-Cold War example of a U.S. diplomatic post formally reporting a pilot-observed UAP to Washington. The incident occurred over a region with significant U.S. government interest, and the cable was shared with intelligence agencies, indicating that UAP reports from credible military or civilian aviation personnel were routinely collected. The document contributes to the historical record of unclassified UAP reports by professional aviators, though it provides no physical evidence or independent verification.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Page 01 (distribution list)

Evidence Assessment

What this document shows:

• Multiple trained pilots reported a distinctive light with unusual flight characteristics and contrails at an estimated extreme altitude over Kazakhstan in January 1994.

• The U.S. Embassy transmitted the report to Washington and intelligence entities without drawing conclusions about the object’s origin.

What this document does NOT show:

• No confirmation of extraterrestrial origin or technology.

• No definitive identification of the observed phenomena; the object remains an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon.

• No photographic or sensor evidence is included; the cable notes photographs were taken but had not yet been shared and their quality was unknown.

• Independent analysis should refer to the original document.

[WARN] Assessment: This is a single-source human observation with no corroborating radar or other sensor data. The witness estimates — particularly the 100,000-foot contrail altitude and the attribution of a “bow wave” — are subjective and could arise from atmospheric or perceptual factors. The report’s unclassified nature and informal dissemination limit its evidentiary weight, but it reflects the types of aviation-related UAP accounts that U.S. government channels collected during this period.’ keyFindings: [] tags:

• DOW
• Cable
• N/A relatedFiles: [] featured: false heroImage: /pdf-covers/state-department-uap-cable-2-kazakhstan-january-31-1994.png documentType: Cable region: N/A decade: 1990s releaseBatch: Release 01 coverImage: /pdf-covers/state-department-uap-cable-2-kazakhstan-january-31-1994.png archiveId: State_Department_UAP_Cable_2,_Kazakhstan,_January_31,_1994 warGovUrl: https://www.war.gov/ufo/#State Department Uap Cable 2 Kazakhstan January 31 1994 officialDescription: ’--- Page 1 --- 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’ evidenceLevel: Historical Record hasUAPObservation: true mentionsPhysicalEvidence: false mentionsBiological: false ocrQuality: high

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[WARN] AI-Generated Summary: This summary is generated from publicly released government documents for informational purposes only. Always refer to the original document linked below for the complete unredacted record.

Document Overview

This is an unclassified diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to the State Department in Washington, D.C., dated January 31, 1994. It forwards a report from American pilots with Tajik Air describing an encounter with an unidentified flying object during a flight over Kazakhstan on January 27, 1994.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Page 01

What This Document Contains

• A firsthand account by the chief pilot of Tajik Air (a U.S. citizen) and two American colleagues of a bright, maneuvering light observed for approximately 40 minutes at high altitude over Kazakhstan.
• Description of the object’s movements (circles, corkscrews, 90-degree turns at high speed), an estimate that its contrails formed at around 100,000 feet — conditions in which normal aircraft contrails would not be expected — and the pilot’s decision to take photographs with a personal camera.
• Routine dissemination of the report to multiple U.S. embassies (Moscow, Tashkent, Ashgabat, Almaty, Beijing, Bishkek) as well as the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Pages 01-02

Key Observations

• “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 FLYING AT 41,000 FEET IN THEIR BOEING 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.”
• “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.”
• “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…”

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Pages 01-02

Context & Significance

This cable is an early post-Cold War example of a U.S. diplomatic post formally reporting a pilot-observed UAP to Washington. The incident occurred over a region with significant U.S. government interest, and the cable was shared with intelligence agencies, indicating that UAP reports from credible military or civilian aviation personnel were routinely collected. The document contributes to the historical record of unclassified UAP reports by professional aviators, though it provides no physical evidence or independent verification.

Source: 94 DUSHANBE 259, Page 01 (distribution list)

Evidence Assessment

What this document shows:

• Multiple trained pilots reported a distinctive light with unusual flight characteristics and contrails at an estimated extreme altitude over Kazakhstan in January 1994.
• The U.S. Embassy transmitted the report to Washington and intelligence entities without drawing conclusions about the object’s origin.

What this document does NOT show:

• No confirmation of extraterrestrial origin or technology.
• No definitive identification of the observed phenomena; the object remains an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon.
• No photographic or sensor evidence is included; the cable notes photographs were taken but had not yet been shared and their quality was unknown.
• Independent analysis should refer to the original document.

[WARN] Assessment: This is a single-source human observation with no corroborating radar or other sensor data. The witness estimates — particularly the 100,000-foot contrail altitude and the attribution of a “bow wave” — are subjective and could arise from atmospheric or perceptual factors. The report’s unclassified nature and informal dissemination limit its evidentiary weight, but it reflects the types of aviation-related UAP accounts that U.S. government channels collected during this period.