[6] Late in third stage flight, a fuel line ruptured, causing one of the engine's combustion chambers to explode.

The spacecraft was named Kosmos 96, part of a series typically used for military and experimental satellites in order to cover up the failure.

[7] There is some speculation that the re-entry of the Kosmos 96 (Venera-type spacecraft) was responsible for a fireball that was seen over southwestern Ontario, Canada, and at least eight US states from Michigan to New York at 21:43 GMT on 9 December 1965.

U.S. Air Force tracking data on Kosmos 96 also indicate the spacecraft orbit decayed earlier than 21:43 GMT on 9 December 1965.

Uncertainties in the orbital information and re-entry coordinates and time make it difficult to determine definitively if the fireball could have been the Kosmos 96 spacecraft.