By Paul Balmer | Source

A playground. A giant. A glowing craft. A missing boy. Terrified parents & children.

Welcome back to Forgotten Encounters—the blog series that shines a light on real, strange, and largely forgotten UFO and alien encounters from around the world.

Not all alien encounters happen on lonely roads or deep in the woods. Some happen in plain sight—in broad daylight—with dozens of witnesses. This is one of those cases.

In 1989, at the tail end of the Soviet era, something extraordinary happened in a city park in Voronezh, Russia. Parents & Children playing after school looked up to see a red, glowing sphere descending from the sky. What followed was a scene so strange, so surreal, that it defied even the wildest expectations of UFO lore: a 9-foot humanoid, a floating orb, a cube-shaped robot, and a child who vanished and returned.

It made headlines around the world, but then—like so many encounters that don’t fit the usual narrative—it faded into obscurity.

📍 Location:

Voronezh, Russia (then USSR) – a city 300 miles south of Moscow

📅 Date:

September 27, 1989

👥 Witnesses:

• Dozens of children and several adults in a public park

• Later corroborated by police, journalists, and Soviet scientists

THE ENCOUNTER

On the evening of September 27, 1989, dozens of children and a few adults were playing and relaxing in South Park, Voronezh, when a glowing red sphere, about 10–15 feet wide, silently descended and landed on the grass.

Witnesses saw three humanoid figures emerge from the craft:

• One was around 9 feet tall, wearing a shiny metallic suit with a disc on its chest and a three-eyed face—with one eye in the center of its forehead.

• The other one or two beings were shorter (5–6 feet), similarly dressed, but less imposing.

• Floating near them was a pulsing orb, about 1 foot wide, glowing blue and yellow.

• Several children also described seeing a small cube-shaped robot—boxy, about the size of a microwave, that moved stiffly on the ground and seemed to scan the area.

Without warning, the tall being raised a tube-like device—and a boy named Vasya vanished instantly in front of the crowd.

Screams broke out. Some fled. A few adults reportedly fainted. The sphere and its occupants disappeared—then returned minutes later, hovered silently, and vanished once more. Shortly after, Vasya reappeared, silent and dazed. (More details on the disappearance below.)

THE VANISHING BOY

Multiple witnesses claimed that during the encounter, a young boy named Vasya (often Vasya Surin in Russian retellings) suddenly vanished after the tall being pointed a tube or device at him. He reappeared minutes later, unharmed but visibly shaken.

When questioned afterward, Vasya gave only a vague and fragmented account. According to both early news reports and witness interviews:

He didn’t recall being inside a spaceship, nor did he report medical procedures or long communication. His memory was described as “foggy” or “incomplete,” and he struggled to explain what had happened.

Soviet investigators at the time noted that Vasya wasn’t injured, and he wasn’t known to fabricate stories. His behavior during interviews was described as quiet, nervous, and confused—but not hysterical.

Some later sources (mostly UFO literature from the early 1990s) claim that he refused to talk about the event ever again and seemed disturbed when reminded of it.

THE INVESTIGATION

What set the Voronezh Landing apart from so many other UFO sightings was the serious response it received from Soviet authorities. Instead of being dismissed or ignored, it was reported nationwide through TASS, the official Soviet news agency—an extraordinary move in a country known for suppressing such stories.

The All-Union Institute of Geophysical Research sent a team of scientists to the site to conduct a formal investigation. Led by Dr. Yuri Logunov, the team examined the landing area for any physical or environmental anomalies.

Key findings included:

• Radiation levels at the site were significantly above background levels—not dangerous, but abnormal for a city park.

• The ground showed a large circular depression, approximately 3–4 meters in diameter, consistent with a heavy object having landed.

• Soil samples revealed signs of heat exposure and compression, but no trace of chemical contaminants.

• Witness testimonies, particularly from the children, were remarkably consistent, even when interviewed separately by different officials and scientists.

• Some local officials reported short-term electromagnetic disturbances in the area around the time of the encounter, though this was not officially confirmed.

Despite these findings, the official conclusion was… noncommittal.

The TASS report acknowledged that “anomalous phenomena had occurred” but stopped short of declaring it extraterrestrial in nature. Scientists involved in the investigation described the event as “unexplained but credible.”

Interestingly, after the initial media storm, official interest faded rapidly. The case was not pursued further by the Soviet government, and like so many others, it was soon buried beneath a pile of more convenient explanations.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

One of the children, interviewed days after the event, said:

An adult present claimed:

Soviet physicist Dr. Yuri Logunov, who visited the site, stated:

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

Skeptics have speculated:

• Mass hysteria among children, possibly sparked by Cold War anxiety or media influence

• Soviet propaganda, aimed at testing public response or confusing Western observers

• Or simply misinterpretation, fueled by fear and suggestion

But the range of witnesses, the official Soviet scientific involvement, and the physical site anomalies make it harder to dismiss.

The Voronezh Landing doesn’t fit neatly into any known UFO narrative. The entities weren’t “Greys.” The craft wasn’t sleek or subtle. The glowing ball, the tall being, the robotic orb—it all reads more like a surreal sci-fi dream sequence than a traditional alien visitation.

And that’s exactly what makes it so compelling.