On this day, a decorated Soviet test pilot named Apraksin was flying over the Volga River in Russia, 25 miles North of the city of Saratov.
When his aircraft's electrical system was knocked out of operation by a cone of light from a cucumber shaped UFO after he attempted to approach it.
He was blinded by the light, but managed to land the crippled aircraft despite his incapacitation in an abrupt emergency landing.
He then lost consciousness and was confined to hospital to recuperate.