Summary:
A preprint paper from researchers at Ukraine’s Main Astronomical Observatory reports the detection of more than twenty objects near the Moon in high-speed video recordings made in August and September 2025. The authors classify the objects as atmospheric and continental UFOs, assign disc-shaped examples diameters of approximately 25 to 40 kilometres, and describe toroidal objects measuring around 36 kilometres that reach speeds of up to 11 kilometres per second and rotate with a period of roughly 180 seconds. They state that the Moon serves as a base for UFOs that can reach Earth in about twenty minutes and conclude that the objects demonstrate intelligent behaviour consistent with a technologically advanced civilisation.
The paper has not undergone formal peer review, and the only institutional assessment of the authors’ earlier UAP work was critical of both methodology and conclusions. Mainstream astronomy recognises short-lived Transient Lunar Phenomena but does not support the existence of kilometre-scale structured craft of the kind claimed.
Earlier reports of anomalies near the Moon already exist in official and unofficial records. U.S. releases under the PURSUE programme include Apollo-era astronaut accounts of unexplained lights, particles and objects, together with annotated photographs taken while crews were on the lunar surface. Remote viewing — the claimed ability to perceive distant or unseen targets by extrasensory means — was investigated by U.S. intelligence programmes, most notably Project Stargate. Participants in those programmes have long described structured activity on the lunar surface, although the claims remain unverified and outside mainstream scientific acceptance.
Detailed Report
1. Ukrainian Observatory Reports Stationary and Moving UFOs
Researchers at the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have published a preprint describing high-speed video observations of the Moon conducted on 16 August and 7 September 2025. Using an Intes-AlterM603 telescope fitted with an ASI 294 Pro camera and operating at 0.05-second resolution, the team reports more than 20 discrete objects in the frames.
The authors divide the objects into two categories. Atmospheric UFOs remain stationary relative to the lunar disc and exhibit brief brightness flashes lasting 100 to 500 milliseconds with amplitudes of approximately one magnitude. Fourier analysis of the light curves shows intensity variations at fundamental frequencies and harmonics in the range of a few hertz. In one case, two such objects separated by hundreds of kilometres displayed correlated brightness changes at the 95 percent confidence level.
A second group of objects is described as moving across the lunar surface. One such object is reported to have travelled 22 kilometres at 6.6 kilometres per second. Two disc-shaped examples are measured at approximately 25 kilometres and 40 kilometres in diameter, with residual brightness variations of up to 1 percent at frequencies of 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 hertz after processing. Toroidal objects are described as measuring 36 ± 3 kilometres, reaching speeds of up to 11 kilometres per second, rotating with a period of approximately 180 seconds, and generating centrifugal acceleration of 2200 cm/s²—roughly twice Earth’s surface gravity.
The paper states that the objects possess very low contrast, no more than 10 percent, and required specialised image processing, including pseudo-colour enhancement and phase discrimination, to become visible.
2. Research Team’s Interpretation of UFO Observations
The authors write that the objects have “unprecedentedly large sizes and unprecedentedly high velocities.” They quote Ian Clague, CEO of Dirac Drives in Cambridge: “I have studied UFOs and I see that no country on Earth has developed such a propulsion system. The physics of such a propulsion system are beyond the accepted physics here on Earth.”
They conclude: “UFOs are observed on Earth and in near-Earth space. We believe that the Moon serves as a base for UFOs. UFOs can reach Earth in 20 minutes. On Earth, they manifest as UAP phenomena. UFOs demonstrate intelligent behaviour and can be regarded as a technologically advanced civilisation.”
Similar language appears in related 2025 preprints by the same group, which describe the objects as demonstrating “conscious behavior.”
3. Research Team Credibility and Institutional Critique
Lead author Boris E. Zhilyaev is a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences who headed the Laboratory of Transient Phenomena in Stars at the Main Astronomical Observatory from 1990 until early 2024. He has a documented record in conventional high-speed stellar photometry, and an asteroid has been named in his honour. Co-authors Vladimir Petukhov and Sergey Pokhvala are listed as technical staff at the same institution.
In 2022 the Scientific Council of the Main Astronomical Observatory reviewed an earlier UAP preprint by Zhilyaev and colleagues. The Council described the observations as original but stated that processing and interpretation had been performed “at an inappropriate scientific level and with significant errors in determining distances.” It further noted the absence of critical error analysis and that the authors “postulate unreasonable conclusions.” Zhilyaev attended an internal seminar to present the work but declined detailed public debate afterward, stating that broad public interest did not allow discussion of scientific works and that a new publication was planned. No substantive public rebuttal of the Council’s specific methodological criticisms was issued.
The present paper appears as a preprint or ResearchGate-style upload rather than a formally peer-reviewed journal article. No independent professional astronomers have publicly endorsed the kilometre-scale lunar craft claims.
4. Scientific Context and Limitations
Mainstream astronomy recognises Transient Lunar Phenomena—short-lived changes in brightness or colour on the lunar surface—generally attributed to outgassing, impacts or observational effects. That literature does not support the existence of structured, kilometre-scale artificial objects with the kinematics and rotational dynamics claimed in the Ukrainian paper.
The gap between the reported data quality and the conclusions drawn remains substantial. The objects are described as extremely low-contrast features requiring specialised processing, the paper has not undergone formal peer review, and the only institutional assessment of the authors’ earlier UAP work was critical.
5. Historical Accounts of Lunar Anomalies and UFOs
Claims of unusual activity on or near the Moon predate the Ukrainian paper by decades. The U.S. Department of War made public previously restricted Apollo mission files in May 2026 under the PURSUE directive. These include astronaut reports and photographs from Apollo 11, 12 and 17 that remain unresolved.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin described a “sizeable” object near the Moon and a “fairly bright light source,” along with flashes inside the cabin. Apollo 12 Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean reported “particles and flashes of light sailing off in space,” while Commander Pete Conrad observed floating debris illuminated by the module’s tracking light. Apollo 17 material includes a NASA photograph showing three dots in a triangular formation in the lunar sky; the accompanying government caption states there is no consensus on the nature of the anomaly and that preliminary analysis suggests it may be a physical object in the scene. Commander Eugene Cernan reported a flash on the lunar surface north of Grimaldi crater and a flashing, rotating phenomenon. Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans described bright, jagged, tumbling fragments. The files are presented as unresolved cases.
Separately, remote viewing — the claimed ability to perceive distant or unseen targets by extrasensory means — was investigated by U.S. intelligence programmes, most notably Project Stargate, which ran from the 1970s into the 1990s. Ingo Swann, a central figure in the early development of the technique, stated in his 1998 book Penetration that a 1975 session tasked him to examine specific lunar coordinates. He reported towers, machinery, coloured lights, dome-like structures and humanoid figures. Later independent remote-viewing projects have produced overlapping descriptions, though the material remains unverified and outside mainstream scientific acceptance.
Conclusion
A team at Ukraine’s Main Astronomical Observatory has published a preprint asserting the detection of large, structured objects near the Moon and interpreting them as evidence of a technologically advanced presence based there. The claims sit alongside official Apollo-era reports of unexplained lights and longer-standing remote-viewing accounts of lunar activity. The paper’s methodological limitations, lack of peer review, and the prior institutional critique of the authors’ UAP research leave the strength of the evidence open to independent assessment.