Document · D-046
The confidential 1962–64 rules for recovering and analyzing space vehicle fragments
Interagency Correspondence Concerning Space Fragments, 1962-1964 (USG-UAP-D002) e Memorandum on Interagency Coordination for the Recovery of Foreign Materiel, May 1963 (EOP-UAP-D002)
National Aeronautics and Space Council (White House), with NASA, the Department of Defense, the CIA, the Department of State and the Atomic Energy Commission (file from the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library) · Oct 2, 1962 · USA · Memorandum
Original available
PDFs from the seventh PURSUE series read in The Black Vault's copy (war.gov refuses automatic download, error 403); the passages cited were checked against the text of the PDF.
- What it contains
- 72-page file (October 1962 – May 1964) with confidential drafts of the “Guidelines for Interagency Handling of Space Vehicle Fragments” and of a public statement. The guidelines assign to NASA the receipt and identification of fragments that fell on U.S. territory, and to the Defense Department those from its own launches; for rapid intelligence analysis, fragments of foreign launches, including whole vehicles, are to be handed to the Defense Department, while all other fragments remain with NASA pending a decision; the Defense Department notifies NASA when collection teams are alerted for a reentry. The draft public statement (November 1962) mentions only NASA's role; the file also contains a draft presidential memorandum (NSAM) with the same procedures. A 1964 NASA guide on responses to the public directs not to speculate about the origin of a fallen object but to obtain and analyze it. According to a NASC memo of May 29, 1963 (EOP-UAP-D002), Arnold Frutkin of NASA, who opposed the project, believed that the Defense Department and the Air Force wanted to use NASA as a cover, leaving it only the return of some pieces.
- What it shows and what it does not
- It documents that from 1962 the U.S. government discussed confidential procedures for recovering fallen space fragments, including from foreign launches, and analyzing them for intelligence purposes, while the draft public statement described only NASA's role. It concerns human-built spacecraft, American and foreign; it does not mention UFOs, UAP or material of non-human origin, and the documents do not show whether the guidelines were adopted in final form. It neither confirms nor refutes the theses on the legacy program.
- How it came to light
- Published in the seventh PURSUE series (October 23, 2026); the file comes from the National Security File of the LBJ Library, declassified between 2009 and 2014 according to the stamps.
- The document
- Open the document (documents3.theblackvault.com)
Sources
- Department of War, PURSUE series 7: USG-UAP-D002 (original PDF; automatic download blocked) (primary source)
- USG-UAP-D002, interagency correspondence on space fragments, 1962–1964 (The Black Vault copy) (primary source)
- EOP-UAP-D002, NASC memo of May 29, 1963 (The Black Vault copy) (primary source)
- uapbrowser, entry for USG-UAP-D002 with official description (unofficial aggregator) (other)
On this site
Claims 2
- David Grusch: Claims that he was informed, in the course of his official duties, of a decades-long program to retrieve… Disputed
- Luis Elizondo: Answers “yes” under oath to the question of whether the government has conducted secret programs to retrieve… Disputed
Timeline 1
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