Is Putin testing secret weapon? Blinding night-time flashes from Russia’s rocket HQ
A SERIES of blinding night-time explosions close to the heart of Russia’s strategic rocket forces HQ have sparked fears Vladimir Putin is testing a secret weapon.
The inexplicable and near silent white-and-blue flashes were filmed lighting up the sky over the southern Russian city of Stavropol.
The city is home to Russia’s 49th Army, which is headquartered in the Institute of Communications of the Strategic Rocket Forces.
Just days ago the Russian defence ministry admitted it had launched military exercises on the southern fringe of Stavropol.
News agency RIA Novosti claimed the exercises involved artillerymen and multiple launch rocket systems.
But the terrifying white flashes which lit up the skies at around 00:39 local time (21.39 GMT on Monday) seem to suggest a new technology.
The soundless flash of light immediately burned out street lights in the city and left many of the 350,000 residents terrified.
Russian daily newspaper Argumenty i Fakty reported one resident saying: “I was very frightened by what I saw, I was already in bed. It looked as if something very bright lit up my ceiling.”
Another added: “It seemed like some sort of huge weapon, a rocket maybe? But what weapon that big makes no noise?”
According to the Hydrometeorological Center of the city, the phenomenon “cannot be attributed to nature.”
The source of the light is thought to have been located somewhere on the ground.
