Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Teletyped Information Report: Unidentified Object Observed in the Sky
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AI-Generated Summary
A 1956 sighting of an unidentified object in India was investigated by the CIA. The agency concluded the object was not the Soviet satellite Sputnik III based on orbital calculations.
This Central Intelligence Agency teletyped information report, dated 11 December 1958, details an observation made on 6 December 1956 in India. Between 1835 and 1840 local time, an unidentified source observed an artificial object through a telescope while observing Mars. The object was described as having a continuous brightness equivalent to the magnitude of the Belt of Orion. It traveled from north to south, and the observer noted no signs of disintegration, smoke, flames, or noise. The observer did not photograph the object but believed it to be identical to Sputnik III. Headquarters conducted a preliminary check and determined that Sputnik III was not within the observer's area of visibility at the time, nor did the observed direction align with the satellite's computed orbits. Furthermore, the report notes that the carrier rocket for Sputnik III had already reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 3 December 1956. The document concludes with a request for further evaluation by Air and OSI.
On 6 December 1956 between 1835 and 1840 local time source observed, by telescope, an artificial object having a continuous brightness of magnitude 3 (same as the Belt of Orion) cross his position
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Official Assessment
A preliminary check showed that Sputnik III was not within source's area of visibility at the time indicated, nor is the direction cited in agreement with computed orbits.
The observed object was not Sputnik III, as the satellite's orbit and visibility did not match the report. The carrier rocket for Sputnik III had reentered the earth's atmosphere on 3 December 1956.