Marina Popovich

Marina Popovich (Mari′na Lavre′ntievna Popo′vich, née Vasi′liyeva, born July 20, 1931 in Leonenki, Smolensk Oblast) is a retired Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer, and legendary Soviet test pilot who holds 107 aviation world records set on over 40 types of aircraft. She is one of the most famous pilots in Russian history, and one of the most important female pilots of all time.

Biography
Marina Vasilieva became a Soviet Air Force pilot and in 1964, a military test pilot. She authored nine books and two screenplays. Among many other awards, she has been honored as Hero of Socialist Labor, the Order of Courage (presented personally by Vladimir Putin in June 2007) and a star in the Cancer constellation bears her name.

Popovich and UFOs
Marina Popovich speaks about her experience with UFOs in her book titled UFO Glasnost (published in 2003 in Germany) and in public lectures and interviews. She claims that the Soviet military and civilian pilots have confirmed 3000 UFO sightings and that the Soviet Air Force and KGB have fragments of five crashed UFOs. The crash sites were Tunguska (1908), Novosibirsk, Tallinn/Estonia, Ordzhonikidze/Caucasus, and Dalnegorsk (1986).

Personal life
She was married to Pavel Popovich, a former Soviet cosmonaut, until they divorced, with Pavel Popovich later remarrying. They have two daughters.

Honours and awards

 * Order of the Red Banner
 * Order of the Red Star
 * Order of the Badge of Honour
 * Order of Courage (2007)
 * Honoured Master of Sports
 * Winner of the Great Gold Medal "FAI" for the distribution of aeronautical knowledge

Videos

 * The Silver Bird (documentary)
 * Marina Popovich (Soviet Aviation)
 * Nebo So Mnoy (1974)