Kosmopoisk (, full name: Общеросси́йская нау́чно-иссле́довательская обще́ственная организа́ция, ОНИОО, translated "All-Russian Research Public Organization"), also known as Spacesearch, is a group with interests in
ufology
Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy ( or ), is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary claims, extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial hypothesis, extrate ...
,
cryptozoology
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...
, and other mystery investigations.
It started in 1980, and expanded in 2001, to an international movement.
In 2004, it registered under the name All-Russian Scientific Organization. Many of the activities are in the form of expeditions to sites that are reputed to have extraterrestrial activity or unusual creatures.
Formation
The organization was founded by Russian science-fiction writer
Alexander Kazantsev, aerospace engineer
Vadim Chernobrov, astronaut
Georgy Beregovoy, and other enthusiasts, in order to explore the mysteries of the universe and nature, research new ways of space technology development, and work on breakthrough branches of science. In 1945, Kanzanstev started to research the
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 TNT equivalent, megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over ...
of 1908 and link it to a
UFO crash and explosion. Two years later, there were UFO sightings in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
In 1980, Chernobrov and his colleagues from the
Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute () is an engineering research university in Moscow, Russia. It is designated a National Research University. Since its inception the institute has been spearheading advances in aerospace technology both within Russia a ...
created the group whose objectives were to collect information about UFOs and anomalous events in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, to develop a
Lovondatr device (also known as "time car"), and to send expeditions to explore the most promising anomalous zones. In 2004, the group registered themselves as Kosmopoisk (All-Russian Scientific Organization). They consider themselves the largest non-commercial public research organization in the world
Membership
The organization has more than 2,500 active members, in more than 100 groups in 25 countries. It has organized more than 250 expeditions.
Expeditions
In the 1990s, the group made expeditions an annual event. To save costs, they would hitchhike as a main way of traveling. For instance, in 1999, the group made an expedition to the remote Labynkyr Lake in
Yakutia
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...
,
Sakha Republic
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...
, where an underwater monster, similar to
Nessie, has been believed to exist since the 1960s. They hitchhiked the
Kolyma
Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...
federal road to get to Labynkyr Lake in
Yakutia
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...
. They then collected their results of anomalous events into a database.
One of the events the group would investigate was the meteorite landing at Korenevo in
Kaluga Oblast
Kaluga Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kaluga. The Russian Census (2021), 2021 Russian Census found a population o ...
. The meteorite landed in October 1996. The group conducted expeditions annually from 1997 to 2003. They also held a Kosmopoisk conference in May in Korenevo. Its objective was not only to search for the impact point, but also a way to involve a large number of people, mostly from educational institutions, in the public research process. During one expedition to Kaluga they allegedly found a 300 million year old screw.
Another annual event is the "monitoring" expedition to Southern Russia, mostly to
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...
to investigate
crop circles before they become structurally damaged by tourists. The group deployed "UfoSETI" to collect and analyze the reports about UFO spottings and crop circle discoveries in Russia.
Another popular expedition site is the She-Bear Ridge (Russian: Медведицкая гряда; ''Medveditskaya gryada''), which is situated in
Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast ( rus, Волгоградская область, p=vəɫɡɐˈgratskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, lower Volga region of Southern Russia ...
. It is considered to be one of the most impressive anomalous zones in Russia, including multiple observations of "triangle
UFOs", "crazy lightnings slope", mysterious tunnels, and a possible Lovondatr-7
time travel
Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
experiment. The group started exploring the ridge in the 1980s.
In 2002 and 2003, the group made expeditions to
Brosno Lake in
Tver Oblast
Tver Oblast (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was known as Kalinin Oblast (). Population:
Tver Oblast is a region of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno. Much o ...
in search of the Brosno Dragon, "Brosnya", an underwater creature.
The group did a complete
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...
underwater scan and coastal monitoring.
They concluded that the Brosnya was likely caused by massive gas eruptions from the lake bottom.
From 2002 to 2004, the group made expeditions to Verkhoshizhemye in
Kirov Oblast
Kirov Oblast ( rus, Кировская область, p=ˈkʲirəfskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. As of the 2010 census, the population ...
to look for the habitats of
bigfoot creatures. They found and photographed some probable camp sites.
In 2002, the group launched a multi-profile expedition to find the
Kyshtym dwarf "Aleshenka". They traveled to
Kyshtym which is located in the
Urals Federal District. The dwarf allegedly appeared in the town in the late 1990s but after it died, its corpse was retrieved by
militsiya
''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, 3=mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə, 5=, ) were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Federal Republic ...
officers and then was stolen with present whereabouts unknown. The expeditioners collected data, gathered evidence from witnesses, found a possible
UFO landing site, and explored a deep Sugomak cave, where they suspect the dwarf beings might have lived.
In May and June 2003, the group held an expedition to the
Vitim River in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
to investigate the site of the Vitim event, which was a large explosion suspected to be from a comet landing.
In September 2004, the group held an expedition to the
Mountains of Ararat in search of
Noah's Ark.
See also
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List of UFO organizations
References
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External links and references
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Belarus-Kosmopoisk at ufo-com.net
{{UFOs
Cryptozoology
UFO organizations
Clubs and societies in Russia
Organizations established in 2004
2004 establishments in Russia
UFO sightings in Russia