The Institute 22 organization was created in 1978, by the

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...

and the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Its mission was to investigate

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s in the Soviet Union. Institute 22 was a secret organization for 13 years (until the fall of the Soviet Union), and can be compared to the American

Project Blue Book Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, O ...

. During its existence a great number of soldiers, sailors and pilots of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

were given orders to watch for UFOs and other unexplained events, without any further information. The orders could be handed out quite easily since the Ministry of Defense was involved - thus no questions could be asked. Institute 22 have investigated around 3000 UFO reports. About 5-10% of all cases remained unexplained when the organization dissolved. There is a conspiracy theory that Institute 22 was involved in a cover-up of a near-nuclear launch. In 1982, one of the Soviet Nuclear Bases was brought online, and for no apparent reason a nuclear missile was ready to launch. After 30 seconds of panic and chaos, the launch was aborted as mysteriously as it had appeared. Later, witnesses said that there had been some UFO activity near the area of the base - thus the reason for Institute 22's involvement and cover-up. The UFOs were explained as flares, which the Army was testing from a higher altitude. The nuclear crisis was explained as a simple test.

References

{{UFOs Government responses to UFOs Military units and formations of the Soviet Union Science and technology in the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1978