Sighting Report — Santiago, Chile, 3 December 1965

This document consists of a series of reports and a memorandum regarding an aerial sighting over Santiago, Chile, on 3 December 1965. The primary report describes a single object observed by a member of the Chilean Rocket Society. The observer, looking East, tracked the object from approximately 75 degrees to 50 degrees at an altitude of 44 degrees. The object was described as initially red, then changing to a flaming reddish-white, with a diameter three times that of Venus. The observer, using 7x50 binoculars, reported that the object exploded into fragments, which continued to descend and light up before disappearing at an altitude of 23 degrees. A subsequent memorandum for the record, dated 13 December 1965, details a phone call from Major Gregory to Sgt Jones. Major Gregory clarified that the sighting was reported by the Chilean Rocket Society and high school students, and that the object was a reddish-white disk. Major Gregory noted that the Venik III was scheduled to impact on the date of the sighting. The official conclusion provided in the report is that the object was a meteor, though the investigator noted that while there were two decays on that date, the timing was not consistent with the sighting.