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Between May 14 and May 18, 1981, cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Viktor Savinykh supposedly established a contact with an object of unknown origin while working at the Salyut 6 orbital station.
The two-man crew of the Soyuz T-4 docked with Salyut 6 on March 12, 1981 and were to spend 75 days in orbit. On May 14, Kovalyonok was conducting scientific experiments when he noticed a round object appearing a kilometer away. He alerted Savinykh and they observed the object. Kovalyonok took a camera and filmed the object for 45 minutes. The object seemed to be half the size of the Salyut 6 (about 8 meters). For the rest of the day, the UFO remained at that position. In the next cosmic day, it was only 100 meters away. Now that it was closer, the cosmonauts observed it more carefully: There was no sight of a propulsor or anything similar which could have given the ship an impulse to get closer. The ship had 24 windows, divided between three levels. They could see also three humanoid creatures. The creatures were wearing helmets, but it was still possible to see their faces: Big eyebrows, straight noses, and big blue eyes, which didn't express any emotions. According to the cosmonauts, none of the muscles on the face was moving, and all their movements seemed normal, although mechanical and artificial.
As the beings appeared to be friendly, the cosmonauts requested permission from Earth to try some visual and physical contact. The first was cleared, but the second was denied. Kovalyonok grabbed and opened a map of the universe to the beings. They answered and opened theirs, which was much more precise and complete. They pointed to the Solar System inside the Milky Way. Kovalyonok then made a positive sign with his hand. The being answered with the same gesture, and then the space ship went away very fast, but soon it was back. They repeated the action six times in all, with no clear reason.
Using a powerful flashlight, Kovalyonok tried to communicate via Morse code, by signalling: "Soviet cosmonauts salute Earth visitors." in Russian. The beings didn't understand, so Kovalyonok tried to signal "Are you receiving us?" in English, but again there was no answer. He tried to use binary language. He signalled 101101 with the flashlight. The message was not a simple answer to Kovalyonok's words, but a Logarithm to the base used by him.
The next day, the beings were flying outside the ship. The cosmonauts requested permission to disembark, but it was denied. On the fourth day, the ship disappeared.
In June 18, 1981, the Gosplan called an extraordinary meeting. Several soviet authorities, ufologists and cosmonauts attended the meeting. Kovalyonok and Savinykh were present and Soyuz 3 cosmonaut Georgi Timofeyevich Beregovoi also participated. Kovalyonok presented the video he filmed with his camera, showing the UFO and its beings.