DOS-UAP-D002, Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 20, 1963
WAR.gov / Department of War PURSUE Release 05
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 20, 1963.
Document Highlights
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Short overview
A follow-up State Department cable of November 20, 1963, relaying what the scientific attaché at the consulate in Salvador, Bahia, had found.
Why this is interesting
The consulate concluded the widely reported crash was unsubstantiated and called the reports a fabrication originating in Rio de Janeiro. Its evidence was the absence of contemporaneous local reporting and contradictory follow-up coverage; it also cited the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics categorically denying any strange object in Conde. This is the rarer half of a UAP file: a documented case of a story being checked and dropped.
Selected passages
- “Story of strange object descending in region of Conde Bahia apparently fabricated in Rio”
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 20, 1963. This cable relays the findings of the scientific attaché at the American Consulate in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, that a widely reported incident allegedly involving a crashed unidentified object was unsubstantiated, characterizing the reports as a fabrication originating in Rio de Janeiro. The Consulate cites a lack of contemporary local reporting regarding the alleged incident, as well as contradictory reporting from local newspapers after the fact, as evidence that the published claims are unsubstantiated. The Consulate also cites a statement from the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics categorically denying that there was “any “strange object” in Conde [Bahia].” This correspondence follows a previous exchange between the Embassy and the Department of State, included in this collection under the title “DOS-UAP-D001.”