DOS-UAP-D001, Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 14, 1963
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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.
Document Highlights
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Short overview
A U.S. State Department cable of November 14, 1963, from the embassy in Rio de Janeiro to the Office of the Secretary of State in Washington.
Why this is interesting
The embassy wanted written confirmation of something it had only heard on a bad telephone line the night before: that Washington judged a local newspaper report to be inauthentic. To make sure both offices meant the same story, the cable repeats the press wording about a large metal manned balloon and a dead crewman in a uniform or spacesuit with strange markings. The embassy adds that an object assessed as a weather balloon had been reported in the area, but that nothing was found to have crashed.
Selected passages
- “large metal manned balloon”
Background
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.”