Return to Answer

Beyond all certainty, the answer is 'yes'.

The Sputnik was specifically designed as a propaganda ploy, the singular intention of which was to broadcast a radio 'beep' that could be picked up on regular AM radios. There was no other practical purpose of the ball. That's how we (By 'we', I mean my family and I, personally) detected it as it flew overhead. Of course, we were able to see it as well, given the time of night and the position of the sun reflecting from it.

Sputnik was less than 23 inches (58 cm) in diameter in an orbit between 215 km. and 939 km. with the state of radar at the time, it would be undetectable by any Earth-based system unless they were specifically looking for it,

Sputnik was the first, period.

America did not even have radar installations that would reach near-Earth orbits until after 1957.

Beyond all certainty, the answer is 'yes'.

Sputnik 1 was specifically designed as a propaganda ploy, the singular intention of which was to broadcast a radio 'beep' that could be picked up on regular AM radios. There was no other practical purpose of the ball. That's how we (by 'we', I mean my family and I, personally) detected it as it flew overhead. Of course, we were able to see it as well, given the time of night and the position of the sun reflecting from it.

Sputnik 1 was less than 23 inches (58 cm) in diameter in an orbit between 215 km. and 939 km. With the state of radar at the time, it would be undetectable by any Earth-based system unless they were specifically looking for it.

Sputnik 1 was the first, period.

America did not even have radar installations that would reach near-Earth orbits, nor that even covered their own air space, until after 1957.

As for the timing deice, it was well within electronics/electricity to make a very simple capacitive timing device using diodes and resistors, to cause a capacitive discharge into a coil to produce a spark discharge every 90 minutes (the length of time it took for one orbit). The spark would have been so broad-band, it would have been picked up by receivers around the world, but would have been impossible to completely localize geographically, let alone be localized to space. The West would know something somewhere in Russia caused a spark, but they would have no idea what, and would probably not be able to differentiate it from say lightning. The Russians would know Sputnik completed an orbit, but no one else would have a clue. The Russians could have developed their ICBM project in secrecy. They should just have kept their mouths shut, instead of going for publicity.

As for the timing deice, it was well within electronics/electricity to make a very simple capacitive timing device using diodes and resistors, to cause a capacitive discharge into a coil to produce a spark discharge every 90 minutes (the length of time it took for one orbit). The spark would have been so broad-band, it would have been picked up by receivers around the world, but would have been impossible to completely localize geographically, let alone be localized to space. The West would know something somewhere in Russia caused a spark, but they would have no idea what, and would probably not be able to differentiate it from say lightning. The Russians would know Sputnik completed an orbit, but no one else would have a clue. Recall that the Russians had absolutely no way to track it by radar either. They too needed it to send a signal.

The Russians could have developed their ICBM project in secrecy. They should just have kept their mouths shut, instead of going for publicity.

EDIT Addendum 3

The irony is, it was the Russian push for a propaganda victory that led to the Americans winning the race. Had the Soviets kept it a secret, world history would have been very different. America would not have changed their educational system towards the '60's version of STEM, physics would not have gotten the boost it did (PSSC Physics textbooks re-wrote the entire physics curriculum), America would probably not have put huge resources into space radar, and Kennedy would never have pushed for 'the Moon within a decade'. There would have been no Apollo program, no moon landing.

As for the timing deice, it was well within electronics/electricity to make a very simple capacitive timing device using diodes and resistors, to cause a capacitive discharge into a coil to produce a spark discharge every 90 minutes (the length of time it took for one orbit). The spark would have been so broad-band, it would have been picked up by receivers around the world, but would have been impossible to completely localize geographically, let alone be localized to space. The West would know something somewhere in Russia caused a spark, but they would have no idea what, and would probably not be able to differentiate it from say lightning. The Russians would know Sputnik completed an orbit, but no one else would have a clue. The Russians could have developed their ICBM project in secrecy. They should just have kept their mouths shut, instead of going for publicity.