UFO Mention in Soviet Space Conference

Summary

In December 1990, during a press conference broadcast from the Mir space station, a Soviet cosmonaut mentioned observing an object he initially thought was a UFO. Astronaut Gennadiy Strekalov described identifying it as a balloon casing, but his account stood out in the context of a Soviet-Japanese collaboration. The conference also featured Japanese astronaut Toyohiro Akiyama, who described Earth as a "sick pale blue globe." Though unclassified, this document shows how unidentified phenomena were occasionally mentioned in official settings, even as routine observations.