The first man-made object recovered from orbit came down in the Pacific instead of being caught in mid-air, and by the time the capsule reached Honolulu the Navy had painted "Compliments of the US Navy" on the shipping can

Declassified CIA and National Reconnaissance Office histories record how the August 1960 mid-air catch of the Discoverer 13 capsule went wrong, why the capsule carried no film, and how a plan to swap it before it reached the President stayed on paper.