This is the AGM-76A, an air-to-ground version of the Falcon missile that usually appeared as an air-to-air weapon. The parachute cord strands attached to it were to see how the air flowed over the missile during aerodynamic tests. The short-lived AGM-76 concept was developed by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1966.

The AIM-47 air-to-air missile was to be converted into a fast, long-range missile called AGM-76 to destroy enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in North Vietnam before the launch aircraft came into the lethal zone of the SAM missile. But after the AGM-76 concept was approved by the Air Force, the U.S. Navy promoted an air-to-ground version of its existing Standard missile developed for this purpose, and Standard won.

This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1970 by Hughes Aircraft.