Memorandum for File: Security Incident - Report of Impact of Space Debris in Rio Negro Brazil

“Through DIA, a message was sent to Air Attache Rio de Janeiro requesting that he report on the incident through MOONDUST.”

MOON DUST in operational use on a named incident in May 1966 - nine years after the 1957 date this map gives the program, and the only place in this corpus where it is shown being used rather than described.

“It was next correlated with a project TIP report related to a COSMOS 117 Rocket body re-entry which occurred on 6 May at 25 deg S, 80 deg E ... It was determined to be possibly identical.”

ON THE ARTIFACT the word before "identical" is struck through and "identical" written above it in a hand. THE STRUCK WORD IS NOT LEGIBLE: re-rendered at 500 dpi it is overtyped to solid black, about ten characters long. A 2026-08-20 reading recorded it as "industrial"; that reading is not confirmed and is not asserted here. The correction itself is plain on the page and is the reason this passage is held.

“1. Local press reports that on May 6 following objects fell from space in Rio Negro district on Parana Santa Catarina border. 2. Dented pience of light weight metal 50 x 30 centimeters. 3. Oval shaped metal object 40 x 20 centimeters inscribed NASA-140 3-6 Phillips. 4. Black bee hive shaped object 10 x 12 centimeters believed part of frame. 5. Four fragile wires. 6. Witnesses said object descended in flames and exploded before reaching ground.”

THE CONSULATE IS RELAYING THE PRESS AND SAYS SO IN ITS FIRST FOUR WORDS. This is a government record of a press report, not a government observation. "pience" is the artifact's own spelling and is left as written. The inscription "NASA-140 3-6 Phillips" is the detail the memorandum at page 1 later puts to SAFSP for check with space contractors.

“THE PREVIOUS MESSAGE WAS IN ERROR IN THE TRAJECTORY PRIOR TO DECAY. THIS IS THE FINAL MESSAGE ON THIS OBJECT.”

The tracking record correcting itself - the second place in this one file where a finding is withdrawn rather than restated, the first being the Corona/J correlation ruled out at page 1.

“Remnants of presumed space vehicle that fell in Rio Negro District sent today to Brazilian Air Force Technical Center at Sao Jose Dos Campos Sao Paulo.”

Margin annotation in a contemporary hand reads "Brazil MOON DUST 27 May"; page 5 carries the same annotation dated 31 May, and page 1 records the MOONDUST tasking. Three MOON DUST references across one file.