Mysterious Soviet satellite recovered in Indian Ocean

Australian Air Force patrol planes monitored a Soviet task force that plucked from the Indian Ocean a mysterious Soviet satellite that some analysts say may be connected with a nuclear-arms test.

A government spokesman said patrol aircraft will shadow the seven-ship Soviet force, now 350 miles south of the Australian-administered Cocos Islands, until it leaves the area.

United States scientists detected the launching of a satellite, called Cosmos 1374, from Soviet territory last Thursday, but they were baffled by the unusually low trajectory.