More than 60 years ago, in the earliest days of space rocket experimentation, the residents of Manitowoc received a big surprise. A huge piece of a Russian satellite crash-landed right in the middle of town – it was an unheard-of event that’s still hard to believe today. You can even visit the site of the incident and see what happened for yourself.

In 1960, when the space race was in full swing, Russia was working hard to take the lead. On May 15, 1960, as the residents of Manitowoc were going about their daily life, the former USSR launched Korabl-Sputnik 1 into orbit.
Google / Warren Jones
The unmanned Russian spacecraft weighed about 10,000 pounds and was part of a testing program to prepare for manned human spaceflight. The spacecraft radioed prerecorded messages and data back to the ground as it orbited the Earth. But as Manitowoc would learn, it would not stay in space forever.
Facebook / Visit Manitowoc
After four days of spaceflight, a maneuver to separate a descent module went awry and the module did not reenter the atmosphere as planned.
Google / John Hansman

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Instead, a 20-pound piece of the spacecraft rocketed toward Earth and on Sept. 6, 1962, it collided with Manitowoc.
Google / Scott Krueger
The spacecraft impacted a city street. There’s now a small park and marker commemorating the incident on Park Street.
Google / Lewis Butler
There’s also a ring in the road marking the exact spot of impact. Fortunately, no cars were traveling on this spot at the moment of the crash!
Google / Don Adkins

There are some conspiracy theories that the spacecraft was manned by “lost cosmonauts” who died in the incident, but the theory has never been proven. You can conduct your own space investigation in Manitowoc and even if you turn up no new answers, you’ll find plenty of other things to do in town, including parks and beaches. You may be surprised by what you find – this is a very overlooked town.

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Crash site of Korabl-Sputnik 1, 798 Park St, Manitowoc, WI 54220, USA