Project Moon Dust

Project Moon Dust was a covert United States Air Force program established during the Cold War at Holloman Air Force Base. Founded in the early 1950s, it operated as a classified government initiative tasked with recovering objects and debris from spacecraft that survived re-entry, particularly those of Soviet origin. The program worked in conjunction with Project Blue Book and involved personnel from multiple Air Force units including the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron. Key activities included tracking fallen space objects, analyzing foreign hardware, and coordinating with NASA on space debris identification. The program remained secret until the 1970s when UFO researchers using Freedom of Information Act requests uncovered declassified documents confirming its existence, which the Air Force initially denied before acknowledging the program's reality.