[Army Air Corps]

But is it really what they say it is?

That is actually a good question, seeing as how the USSR denied knowledge of the launch. "Rocket? what rocket?" When pieces of the rocket descended upon New Zealand (Ashburton balls incident), examination revealed that the pieces were obviously of Soviet origin. The USSR denied that the fragments were theirs or that they had even launched the thing. It is generally accepted that Cosmos 482 is a failed Venera probe.

[MHGinTN]

Was this the part of the ‘mision’ which was to orbit Venus and relay the lander data?