Padcaya fallen object
- Date
- 6 May 1978
- Place
- Mountains near Padcaya and Bermejo, Tarija, Bolivia
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Residents near the Argentine border reported a luminous object falling onto a mountain with an explosion heard for kilometres. Bolivian authorities asked NASA for help, a US State Department telegram of 15 May reported a fallen space object, and a CIA-held press summary of 17 May noted conflicting details, including descriptions of an egg-shaped metal object about four metres across. A Bolivian expedition of soldiers and scientists was delayed by weather and, by most accounts, found nothing. Nothing recovered has been made public.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
none established; a bolide or reentering space debris are the conventional candidates
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- Yes: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- Yes: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- CIA reading room: Bolivia reports conflict on details of fallen objectcia.gov
- Patrick Gross: Padcaya 1978ufology.patrickgross.org
On the map
21.88° S, 64.71° W, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map