Case · C-121
Conde (Bahia) 1963: the “metallic sphere” with a body on board that no one saw
Conde, Bahia · Brazil · Nov 8, 1963
On land
Confirmed hoax
- What happened
- On the evening of November 8, 1963, Radio Tupi of Rio de Janeiro broadcast the news that a large metallic sphere with window-like openings and, inside it, a human body with heavy clothing and indecipherable inscriptions had fallen in the center of Conde, in Bahia. The CIA's monitoring service (FBIS) transcribed the report, and the White House's National Aeronautics and Space Council asked the Department of State to be informed if the embassy had any news. The cables of November 14 and 20 report the denial: no object had been found on the ground, and the journalists who rushed to the scene had found no witnesses. The documents were released in the fifth PURSUE series (August 7, 2026).
- Proposed explanation
- According to the U.S. consulate in Salvador, the story had been “apparently invented in Rio”: no one in the area had seen the object, and the Secretary of Public Security had suggested a weather balloon, without any sighting having been verified. According to a Salvador newspaper sent by the consulate, the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics categorically denied the presence of “strange objects” at Conde.
- Official investigation
- U.S. Department of State (embassy in Rio de Janeiro, consulate in Salvador); National Aeronautics and Space Council (White House)
- Words of the document
Story of strange object descending in region of Conde Bahia apparently fabricated in Rio
Official documents
- NASC Inquiry into Bahia, Brazil Incident, November 13, 1963 (EOP-UAP-D001): dispaccio FBIS del 9/11/1963 con annotazioni del NASC · CIA – FBIS; National Aeronautics and Space Council (PURSUE, The Black Vault copy) · Nov 13, 1963
- Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 14, 1963 (DOS-UAP-D001) · Department of State – embassy in Rio de Janeiro (PURSUE, The Black Vault copy) · Nov 14, 1963
- Airgram A-628, Negative Report on UFO Reportedly Sighted Near Salvador, Bahia (DOS-UAP-D002) · Department of State – embassy in Rio de Janeiro (PURSUE, The Black Vault copy) · Nov 20, 1963
Sources
- Department of War, PURSUE series 5: DOS-UAP-D002 (original PDF; automated download blocked) (primary source)
- uapbrowser, entry for EOP-UAP-D001 with official description (unofficial aggregator) (other)
- OpenStreetMap – Conde (Bahia), coordinates of the town center (other)
On this site
Documents 1
- Conde (Bahia) 1963: the “sphere” with a body on board and the verification by U.S. diplomats Original available
Timeline 1
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