DOS-UAP-D001, Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 14, 1963

Official Conclusion

Object tentatively identified as weather-type balloon; no such object found on the ground; State Department assessed newspaper report as unqualified negative.

Official Description

This document is a U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to the Office of the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C., on November 14, 1963. This cable documents an effort by the Embassy to verify that the Department had assessed certain content published in a local newspaper as inauthentic, following a discussion on a poor-quality telephone connection the previous night. To ensure both offices were referencing the same reporting, the cable cites descriptive language paraphrased from the press, namely a “large metal manned balloon” and a “dead crewman aboard wearing [a] uniform or spacesuit with strange markings.” The cable concludes with the embassy’s understanding that an object assessed to be a weather balloon had been reported in the vicinity, but that no such object had been found to have crashed. A follow-on correspondence regarding the alleged incident is included in this collection under the title “DOS-UAP-D002.”

Key Findings

• →A local Brazilian newspaper reported that a large metal manned balloon was found near Salvador, Brazil approximately November 8, 1963, with a dead crewman aboard wearing a uniform or spacesuit with strange markings and a four-meter-deep impact crater.
• →The U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro is seeking to confirm its understanding that the State Department had already issued an 'unqualified negative' assessment of this newspaper report.
• →An object was sighted aloft in the vicinity around the same date and tentatively identified as a weather-type balloon, but no such object was found on the ground.
• →The cable was passed to Defense and NASA at 2:20 PM on November 14, 1963, indicating interagency interest in the incident.
• →The radiotelephone connection from the prior night was described as weak, prompting this written follow-up for clarification.

Extracted Entities