Fact Check: Did CIA document confirm aliens turned 23 soldiers into stone?
WASHINGTON, DC: In March 2026, a rumor circulated online claiming that a declassified CIA document confirmed that aliens turned 23 Soviet soldiers to stone after a UFO was shot down.
The rumor originated from an Instagram post that claimed that the alleged incident happened between 1989 and 1990. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.
Claim: CIA document confirms aliens turned 23 soldiers into stone
The caption of the Instagram post read, "A declassified CIA document is reigniting UFO speculation with a chilling account of an alleged alien attack on Soviet troops that reportedly ended with 23 soldiers turned to stone."
"According to the document, the incident took place sometime between 1989 and 1990, when a Soviet military unit allegedly shot down a low-flying saucer-shaped UFO during training exercises," the caption further read.
It also mentioned, "What followed reads like science fiction: five humanoid beings reportedly emerged from the wreckage, merged into a single entity, and emitted a blinding flash of light that turned most of the soldiers into 'stone poles'. Only two men survived, allegedly because they were shielded from the burst."
The caption also stated that an unnamed CIA official is quoted as saying in the report, "If the KGB file corresponds to reality, this is an extremely menacing case."
"The story, though highly speculative and sourced from tabloids, has intrigued UFO enthusiasts and added fuel to ongoing conversations about alien encounters and government secrecy," the post concluded.
Fact Check: False, the document was never classified
The claim made in the viral Instagram post is false, as although the document at the center of the claims was genuinely available on the CIA's website, it was not an official agency report.
The document was a translation of a Ukrainian newspaper article based on a fictional story originally published in the tabloid Weekly World News. Moreover, the document was never classified and therefore never declassified.
The document circulating online appeared on the official CIA website with the title, "Paper reports alleged evidence on mishap involving a UFO."
It opened with a line crediting the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service, which the agency established to "monitor, record, transcribe, and analyze foreign broadcasts," as per records in the National Archives.
Meanwhile, the third line of the document contained the label 'UNCLAS', which indicated that the page was never classified. It also meant that it was never declassified, despite what some social media users claimed.
