Case file · Retrieval claim

The 'sphere with a body' at Conde, Bahia

On 8 November 1963 a Rádio Tupi broadcast from Rio claimed that a metal sphere carrying a human-like body had crashed in Conde, Bahia, digging a hole four metres deep. Nothing was found.

1963 CE · -11.81, -37.61 · status: hoax

The account

Bahian papers sent reporters on 9 and 11 November and found no object. The US consul in Salvador, Harold Midkiff, checked local sources and reported on 14 November that the story had apparently been made up in Rio. The US Embassy summarised the episode on 20 November and copied it to the Air Force and NASA. The cables were released in August 2026.

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Sources

  1. Diário do Grande ABC: US documents on the 1963 case (Portuguese)
  2. The Black Vault: State Department cable, 20 Nov 1963 (PDF)
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