There is some speculation that the reentry of the Kosmos 96/Venera-type spacecraft was responsible for a fireball which was seen over southwestern Ontario, Canada and at least eight states from Michigan to New York at 4:43 p.m. EST on 9 December 1965.
But uncertainties in the orbital information and re-entry coordinates and time make it difficult to determine definitively if the fireball could have been Kosmos 96.
Beginning in 1962, the name Kosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination.
