The amazing variety of “incredible phenomena” in the USSR is a characteristic feature of the era of stagnation. Ideas about the hidden reserves of the body and the secret abilities of the brain, about the search for Bigfoot and contact with extraterrestrial civilizations captured the imagination of many Soviet citizens. However, in this book, researcher of late Soviet culture and literature Alexey Konakov studies not so much “incredible phenomena” in themselves, but rather a special discourse about the “incredible” - the historical trajectory of which surprisingly coincided with the rise and decline of the Soviet technical intelligentsia and Soviet techno-optimism in general.