Document · D-047
The State Department “Moon Dust” cables (1973–1978) on the retrieval of fallen space objects
Project Moon Dust – Department of State FOIA release, case no. 200703877 (telegrams 1973-1978)
Department of State (cables with the embassies in Abidjan, Ottawa and Wellington and the consulate in Hamilton, copied to the DIA, the Air Force and NORAD) · Nov 9, 1973 · USA · FOIA release
Original available
The Black Vault's copy of the official FOIA response, with the State Department letter and review stamps on every page; text read with OCR (23 pages).
- What it contains
- Confidential cables titled “Moon Dust,” the name used to report reentered space objects. Two cables of November 1973 recall the joint instructions of 1968 on reentered space objects, updated in July 1973, and ask the embassy in Ivory Coast to offer to analyze an object with Cyrillic characters, of “probable Soviet origin,” avoiding any indication that the United States is very keen to have it. The other cases: pieces of metal found at Windsor (Ontario) in 1976, which a Canadian government expert identified as probably old cast parts of car transmissions, pending metallurgical analysis; a fragment of a Centaur stage from the Intelsat launch of January 6, 1978, reported by the consulate in Hamilton (Bermuda); two “space balls” found near Ashburton (New Zealand) in 1978, later judged a hoax, that is, modified aluminum fishing floats; an object found at Kurow (New Zealand) in 1973, which Defense and NASA did not want to acquire on the basis of the press description.
- What it shows and what it does not
- It documents that Moon Dust was an operational procedure, coordinated by the State Department, the DIA, the Air Force and NORAD, for locating and recovering space objects that fell abroad. The objects identified in the cables turn out to be human-made artifacts or hoaxes, and no cable mentions non-human craft or remains. The release is partial (one document awaiting coordination; much of the material prior to 1975 is at the National Archives) and does not allow conclusions about the whole program.
- How it came to light
- John Greenewald (The Black Vault), FOIA request of June 21, 2007 to the Department of State (case 200703877): 12 documents released, with review stamps of October 16, 2007; according to the response letter, much of the material prior to 1975 was already at the National Archives. Another cable in the same case (STATE 300075 of December 10, 1976) was reviewed on January 7, 2009.
- The document
- Open the document (theblackvault.com)
Sources
- Department of State, FOIA response 200703877 on Project Moon Dust (The Black Vault copy, 23 pages) (primary source)
- Department of State, same case: STATE 300075 of December 10, 1976, reviewed on January 7, 2009 (The Black Vault copy) (primary source)
- The Black Vault, “Project Moon Dust” (archive page with the State Department and NASIC releases) (other)
On this site
People 1
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
Cases 1
- Santa Cruz (Bolivia) 1979: two metal spheres that fell from the sky and the “Moon Dust” reports Explained
Open in the interactive archive The whole section: Archive of primary documents
UAPgrade's entries are compiled with artificial intelligence (three verifiers with opposing roles) and checked against the sources listed above: how we work. Have a document that changes this entry? Bring it to the Investigations Unit.