Releases / 3 / USG-UAP-D001

Congressional, White House, UFO-related Constituent Correspondence, 1998

File

USG-UAP-D001

Type

Document, 86 pages

Agency

U.S. Government

Date

1998

Released

Release 3, June 12, 2026

Open the original on war.gov

The government's description

This collection of documents, primarily from 1998, contains draft and final correspondence from the White House and the offices of members of Congress responding to constituent inquiries about Unidentified Flying Objects, or “UFOs.” These inquiries cover a diverse range of topics, including alleged UFO sightings by NASA astronauts, questions regarding the authenticity of photos collected during U.S. missions to Mars, alleged improper withholding of information by the U.S. Government, questions regarding the appropriateness of “UFO-related” governmental spending, and calls for congressional hearings regarding the nature and existence of “UFOs.” The official responses consistently state that, circa 1998, the U.S. Government is not aware of evidence supporting the existence of extraterrestrial technology, and that NASA does not actively investigate “UFOs.” The collection includes references to materials of both confirmed and unconfirmed authenticity, as provided by constituents, as well as references to historical, scientific literature addressing specific “UFO” sighting claims.

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L11998-00407
.
Title: WARD/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from
U.F.O. and the recent Mars photo
Recipient:
UHeffernan
Author:
Organization:
SNOWE
SENATE
(b) (6)
who's interested in
Date Written :
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
Action Office:
UWard:S
Status:
Closed
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info offices:
UHeffernan, UHeninger, L/Kerwin
05/18/1998
05/26/1998
06/24/1998
06/24/1998
06/18/1998<<
Abstract:
OF STOCKINGTON, MAINE, WHO'S
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (b) (6)
INTE:RESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED.
Comments:
Enclosures:
NO
Related Records:
Keywords: (b) (5)
File Plan: 1320.4
06/24/1998
MAINE U.F.O. MARS
Analyst: BMoore
Page 1 of 1

Headquarters Action T racking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00729
Title: Rothman/UFO_Sightings by Astronauts
Recipient:
UHeffernan
Author:
Organization:
Grassley
Senate
Action Office:
LD/Rothman:P
Status:
Closed
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Date Written:
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>> Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
08/03/1998
08/31/1998
09/04/1998
09/10/1998
08/22/1998<<
08/22/1998
Abstract:
Senator Grassley forwards letter from (ts) (S)
who is requesting information on UFO sightings by
Astronauts.
-Comments:
Enclosures:
letter
Related Records:
Keywords: (6J (o) UFO,astronauts,sightings
File Plan: 1320.4
09/10/1998
Analyst: JMassey
Page 1 of 1

yeA toGU
SEP - 4 1998

L:HR:mtg:L/1998-729f

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate
Washington, DC 2051 0

Dear Senator Grassley:
who
Thank you for your letter of August 3, 1998, on behalf of(b <5)
is requesting informat ion about the possible sightings of Unidentified Flying
Objects (U FOs) by NASA astronauts.
Over the years there have been many objects sighted by the astronauts during
space missions. Most of these items were later identified by photographs or
NORAD records as material from launch vehicles or spacecraft or were such
items as water droplets. No unidentified materials were seen on missions to the
moon. The Air Force, in the interest of national security, received and
investigated all reports for many years but has discontinued this activity. NASA
has no program for investigating UFOs and has not withheld information on
sightings.
In 1976, James Oberg thoroughly researched the UFO/astronaut allegations and
published an article about it in SEARCH magazine. We are enclosing that
article for (b) (6 )
)nformation. In addition, enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet
which summarizes the current status of NASA's involvement in UFO
investigations.
We trust this information wi ll aid you in responding to(b) 6 )
Sincere ly,

Edward Heffernan
Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosures

---

inquiry.

+
bee:
Z/Roger Launius (with incoming) ; provided info
Sent to Sherry Kuntz in the Hill office

S,ncc tho ··auron.iut UFO" genre

is one of rhe m13in pillolrs o f VFO

Story!

ovidcr1ce. thi5 study c lafml n g ! hat
the enti re set of C .)Scs i1 inv.,..l id
W 1if

0U 1110U 5iy

15eeptic. ism

and

CC

fCCl.?1"18<J

cr i tic ism

t..Vlth

from

UFO buffs. Aation~I objections
and arguments wiH bo printed and
answered in a subseQuent is'5ue of
this magazina. Critics are urged to
raise specific points not address°'d
in tho study. or to cite and
docum.ant facts which might
modify or invalidate conclusions
in the study.

SGM{ q ~ f'\~9 ~\?-j ,1{
James E. Oberg
Associate Editor
" Space World" magazine

WiN T~R 1<;46 ( 1H~~ ij,J?_'lJ

P/\LM~ fvBL\CA'11ou s
f\l''\1-\~ f\<;T.) l-Ji ~c... S~Y OG
Su\1\e C.1.1f7 pr:c~ ._f 1,25'

Space flight has opened many mysteries. True, scie11tists prefer to list tlie
puzzles solved and u11knoums discovered, but as men venture beyond the
earth it is inevitable that new mysteries will be encountered.
Somewhere out there, many obsen:ers believe, are intelligent species with
technological civilizations · far more advanced tha,z that of Earth. Perhaps
they are sending us radio signals we have not recognized. Perhaps they have
left artifacts of past visits for us to find. Perhaps they are even_ now keeping
the earth under surveillance.
If they are out there, someday we will meet them. As illustrated in science
fiction, this meeting will probably occur in space.
Have such meetings already occurred? Have astronauts and cosmonauts
already seen alien spacecraft? The UFO lite!ature is full of tales of "space
UFOs". Are any ofthem valid? What can a careful study reveal?

H

ardly a UFO book or movie is
complete without the standard
assertion that "astronauts have seen
UFOs too". While critics may attack
the character or intelligence of many
UFO witnesses, they cannot use these
tactics on American and Russian space
pilots. Where UFO photographs can be
accused of distortion and forgery,
photographs taken by astronauts and
processed by NASA must be of the
highest trustworthiness. Hence, most
UFO scholars consider the family of
astronaut UFO sightings to be one of
the strongest bodi~s of evidence in the
past thirty years.
The best of these cases include
astronaut James McOivitt's sighting of
o( an "unidentified spacecraft" near
his Gemini-4 space capsule in 1965, a
curious photo of a pair of UFOs with
glowing propulsion fields taken by the
Gemini-7 astronauts. reports of nearby
objects from X-15 and Mercury
spacecraft. tales of how ~he 1968-1969
Apollo moon shots were followed by
U.FOs on their way to the moon, and
reports and pbutographs of objects
seen by crewmen on the Skylab space
station. Last year, the National Inves-

tigations
Committee
on A erial
Phenomena (NICAP) selected the
"McDivitt UFO" photo as one of the
four best photographs ever taken.
The "astronaut UFO" sightings
must
appeal to many seriou:i
researchers for a number of reasons.
The witnesses and the photographs are
unimpeachable as to honesty and
authenticity. The conditions of the
space missions can be calculated and
recorded, and every object near the
spacecraft can be determined by con­
sulting the giant space radars of the
North
American
Air
Defense
Command (NORAD), headquartered
inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
Extensive
crew
debriefings and
on-board tape recorder transcripts may
be available to obtain direct eye­
witness testimony.
With all these facts and assumptions
in mind, and mindful of the nume rous
'unsolved' cases which might tell much
about the lJFO phenomenon, I began
a special research program into this
particular body of evidence. As an
aerospace writer. historian, and re­
searcher, I felt that my experience
with astronautics, computers, Air

38

Force operations, and space miss:ons
might give me new insights into this
most puzzling series of cases. I was not
disappointed, and my results were
startling.
The basic truths behind these
sightings seems lately to have gathered
an
accretion
of
exaggeration,
confusion, and outright fiction. The
1968 "Condon Report" on UFOs
(conducted by the University of
Colorado for the U.S. Air Force)
found itself unable to penetrate three
specific cases, which the analyst felt
were •a "challenge" to any serious
investigator. Stories later began
circulating about sightings of lunar
surface lights and structures, and the
discovery of artifacts on the moon,
about near approaches of structured
objects, and about attempts at radio
contact between Apollo capsules and
UFOs. Recent books on UFOs give
lists of astronaut sightings which are
out of numeric sequence, misdated,
mispeUed, and otherwise distorted.
My research has revealed a few
examples of deliberate photo forgeries
by UFO buffs or opportunistic authors.
My investigations in the NASA

arch,n•s has fl'\"l•aled ca..~es whcrl' UFO
rt•~c:i rchrr; withheld Cl•rtain informa­
tion frl'cly gi,·1•n them by N:\SA
officials. infori:tation which would
have clearly explained m;my cases
which the authors wantt•d to appear
mysterious. So the time has come to
take a ne\\' look at this whote
phenomenon. What is the truth about
"astronaut li rOs "?
The first step in any research might
be with the Condon report. t:-iought
by many to have been commissioned
as a "whitewash" of the UFO
phenomenon. UFO enthusiasts are
accustomed to hearing harsh criticism
of almost all aspects of this study. but
my own objections to the "astronaut
UFO" section is from a novel angle.
My own research suggests that the
Condon investigator, far from being
the best man for the job, was clearly
unqualified to evaluate the difficult
cases. He was not familiar with the
terminology of space flight or the
basics of orbital flight trajectories, as I
am. As
result , he ignored possible
explanations
while
incorrecUy
eliminating other possible answers.
In other words, far from being a
coverup, this chapter of the Condon
report is superficial. It is entirely
worthless as an endorsement of the
unexplained and unexplainable nature
of several astronaut sightings which I
will discuss. I can prove this remark­
able assertion to any investigator
serious enough to consider all the
evidence, much of which has never
before been published.
The Condon report does give some
details about the environment of
astronaut sightings, but even here does
not go far enough. More stress needs
to be put on the visual and photo­
graphic limitations of space flight: the
windows are far smaller than popularly
realized (about half the size of this
open magazine at arm's length), and
for many years were subject to
obscuration and smudging by seepage
o( sealant and by contamination by
rocket fuel. At various p_oints in the
fligh t, the spacecraft was surrounded
by cl ouds of d~bris (leaking fuel,
dum ped water, chipping paint, fraying
insulation, ejected equipment. and
more). while the inside of the weight•
less cabin was usually plagued with
fl oating particles of dust and debris
which often passed in front of camt!ras
pointing out windows. Other satellites
sho uld have been visible, since few
people realize that on any clear night

a

~

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-

,e-- ....... ,., ,+- ............ ,., _,., • .., ....

...... -«•

Dc:sµitc the pt!r.~istl'11t rumo rs of '.,;ccrct space p ict'"rcs •. all
pho /nJ!rupl1s tahl'll by .V,\S.-\ i11 space arc i11 tlie public domui11. That is.
any p ict ure tuhc:,: by 1.111 astro11a111 or 011 earth resource, satellite is
ai:ailablr. to anyo11c who wants to pay fur i t.
There are foi: r tiers of plwto,;:-:iph Ji·cilcbility. but two a:-e rescri:ed
for 11ewsme11 only The ~/ructurc is us f olluws:
A . The most p o pular space photographs /alien arc lithographed for
general free di.,;tributiCJ11 to anyone who asr.s for them. Seueral dozen
new pho tographs are added to this list eucry year. Cost to .VAS,\ is a
few ce11ts per print.
8 . The N.-lS.-l Public Information Offices at uarious centers and at
headquarters prints gfossy photographs of t imely news stories for
distribution tu the news media. Hundreds of these photographs are
released euery year. but only crrtified newsmen can receiue them for
~~

.

C. .\!any thousands of other photographs and drawi11gs may be of
interest to the news media and arc therefore fifad at public i11formatio11
offices. but stock copies are not kept. Each request must be filled by
actual photo lab orders. which co:;ts NASA abo ut one dollar per
photograph.
D. A,1y citizen who wants copies of any photograph listed in 'B' or
'C' aboue con get it, but it is entirely reasonable for NASA to expect
him t o pay for it. News bureau photographs. along with all other (light
photography-stills and mouies-can be ordered from Bara Studios, P.O.
Box 486, Bladensburg, MD 20710. The cost of any photograph ordered
by st ock number is seueral dollars apiece. A ny cross-referencing or
researching will also cost money.
.
•
Some ground photographs of astronaut accidents, au topsies, and
medical examinations are not releasable for publication. On seueral
Gemini {lights, special photographic experiments were undertaken for
the DoD, but these inuolued special cameras and exclusiuely ear th
surface targe{s. In neither case would it be possible to withhold any
hypothetical UFO photographs from the public.
Astronaut photographs are indexed by a code which specifies year
taken and frame number. S66- 12387, for example, would be a NASA
photo (not necessarily a space photo) taken in 1966. Beginning w i th
Apollo, space photos were also indexed w ith a mission code, r oll
number and frame num ber (neither of which were repeated on later
{lights). For example, ASJ 6·108-13005 u•as taken on the Apollo-16
{light, with the 108th roll of the Apollo project (liglit film. Mouie film
is indexed per magazine with similar numbers.
Euery photograph euer taken by American astronauts for N ASA is
on file w ith Bara Studios and can be obtained by anyone wifling to pay
for them. Writers who produce 'secret NASA UFO photographs' which
they claim are being hidden from the American public are doing a gross
disseruice to one of the most open and cooperatiue public informat ion
offices of any federal agency.

an o bserver on Earth can see a number
of orbiting objects with only half an
effort. Out or this "backg?ound noise",
can we separate the "signal" which
will indicate the existence of UFOs?
These problems all are of interest to
space officials, and numerous studies
have been made. Fragments might
imply a structural failure (a rescue ship
was almost sent to Skylab-3 because of
the crew's observation of leaking fuel
droplets). Debris inside t!1e cabin can
irritate eyes and damage the electronic
gear behind the instrument panels.
Other satellites might be dangerous
due to the potential of coll ision o r
they might be of intelligence interest if
they are frcm somt! other nation.
Therefore, any mysterious space
sighting might as easily be vital for

39

NASA to know about as it might be a
true UFO: Careful investigations are
called for.
What are some of the most famous
cases, and what are the facts? Interpre­
tations may differ, but productive
thinking can only be done when all the
information is at hand. Some o( It is
hard to find or understand; other
information,
available
to some
researchers, may have been deliberate­
ly withheld. ·some classical cases may
consist of made-up fantasies. You can
soon judge for yourself.
Has there been any attempt to
"cover up" space sightings (a common
plea when no t!Vidence is available,
even in this age of sieve-like
government secrecy)? Are astronauts
"muzzled" about UFOs? Has fifteen

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The "McOivitt UFO", pr ize-winning astronaut photograph taken on Gemini-4. Actually, McOivitt_axplained later after tho flight that
the sun was coming across the window as the_spacecraft rolled, the sun rays struck a metal bolt, causing the'Ci lares in the camera lens''.
NASA photo 65-H-1013.

years of manned spaceflight uncovered
any evidence at all which even
remotely suggests that Earth is being
visited and observed by advanced
spacesliips from another world? Let's
look at the evidence.
On June 3, 1965, rookie astronauts
Jim McDivitt and Ed White blasted
of( from Cape Kennedy (now again
Cape Canaveral), squeezed into their
Gemini-4 capsule. The two youngest•
ever . American spacemen were to
spend four days in orbit, tripling the
previous US record. They would be
the first American space crewmen to
have time to sightsee in space, once
major experiments like a booster
rendezvous and a walk in space were
completed.
Approximately thirty hours into
the flight ( while White was asleep) ,
McDivitt reported that he had seen an
object in space near his space capsule.
It appeared to be cylindrical with ·'an
arm sticking out", possibly on a
collision course. Interested NAS.-\
officials in Ho uston asked NORAD
which other space satellites were near
Cemini--1 at the time of the sigh ting,
and NORAD came up with a list of
about a dozen objects. All of them
were pieces of tiny debris or small
scicntit"ic satellites except one: the
giant, " winged" meteor satC'llitc,
Pegasus-2. It seemed to iit the descrip­
tion radioed down by McDivitt, so

NASA announced that the object had
been identified.
But Pegasus had been more than a
thousand miles away, and McDivitt
clearly saw an object much closer,
much more detailed, and in an orbit
very close to his own ("Collision
course" to a pilot means that the
relative angle of sight is unchanging,
which would not be the case for any
satellite crossing McDivitt's orbit). The
object became a UFO when nobody
could identify it. It has remained a
UFO up until today, but not any
longer.
McDivitt's hasty attempt to take a
photograph of the object thrqugh his
smeared window was apparently fruit•
less, since the object's motion
combined with the slow stabilization
spin of the spaceship carried it into the
glare of the sun after about 30 seconds.
The astronaut later recounted how he
went through all the films of the flight
(every roll of film is accounted for on
a flight manifest, so they do not
disappear) and found many over­
exposed or blank. This mission had
been the first night in which space
photography was a major experiment,
and the glaring sunlight of space had
invalidated many pre-flight exposure
settings. :\lcDivitt did not find any• thing which looked like ""his UFO".
What was it he ,aw? Why has it
become such a prominl•nt UFO case?

40

And if the pictures did not turn out,
where did NICAP get its "top four"
photograph (which shows, not a
winged cylinder, but a smeared blob)?
We can answer these questions at last.
The first hint as to the true identity
of this space UFO can be found in
McDivitt's own words, given at a press
conference a week after the flight
when his memory was fresh: "It
looked a lot like an upper staie of a
booster". Gemini does have a booster
just like it, and McDivitt had been
carrying out maneuvers near it early in
the flight. Why didn't the -list from
NORAD include the Gemini-4 boost er
rocket?
NORAD had been tracking the
objects, but NASA had not asked
about Gemini-4 and its own associated
debris- it had asked about Gemini--!
and any other earlier satellites.
Anyone familiar with computerized
information systems (one of my
professional specialities) can guess
what happened : the computer was
given a "query" which told it to
compare Gemini--t with the other
satellites. The computer never knew
where the Gemini booster was relati\•e
to the spacecraft, since it had not been
asked. :\lcDivitt had been visually
tracking the thirty foot long cylind1r
at a range of only 75 miles a few hours
earlier, but this large satellite never
made the "NORAD list" because

Arti1t', ronrliti on o t thu ,ntron,,u1s·
vlow o f 1ho ro n do.r
0
0 u <J ovatv a: ion
pod after it hai boon jotti1oncd from
the Gemi ni adaptor ioc t iun. Gorn,ni
r;,dar locked o n to evaluation pod.
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Scott Carpenter took th is photo of a
s ubsatellit e balloon jettisoned by h is
£' . .
. ', '
., . -
ance and even make i t l ook like two
objects. The potato-shaped grey b lob
is the pod's in sulation blanket.
T h i • sequence of p ictures illustrate• the problem o f
Identi fying photographs of objects in tho glare o f space.
41

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nobody thought to ask about it! The
list was incomplete!
What we do know from the
complete
Gemini-4
transcripts
(including the on-board tape recorder
as well as space-to-ground links), is
that the UFO appeared at the same
point in the Gemini orbit where the
booster had been rept-3tedly spotted
earlier in the flight. '.\fcDi\•itt had once
described seeing his booster with
straps h~nglng from it. Furthermore,
on at least one occasion on the first
day, McDivitt had at first been unable
to recognize the booster when he ·saw
il because it was close to the glare of·
the sun! Thi5 had been :it a range of
less than ten miles.
Yet another iniport:int factor
unknown to t!1e Cr1nciL•11 report w:i,
that '.\leDivin •.•::t.; C\J1:1p!:iini:1i;: ro thl-'·
ni ~ht surgt:on abou 1. his t'Yl'$ight
duri1\g this pho~c of th:) tli~ht. Hi:; eyes

were red and teary due to a reaction
with the cabin atmosphere and an
accidental massive urine spill. "I didn't
think I was going to be able t~ hack
it", McDivitt later had radioed to
Earth.
This famous UFO case now
becomes that of a pilot with watering
eves catching sight of an object in
p~rallel orbft, an object which he had
already misidentified a few hours
earlier. As to the photograph, an inves•
tigator must go through all the film of
the night to realize how common such
. blobsof
light
(o\·ere.'<posures,
r~tlcct i0m. glare. etc. ) ll'erc. Both
NAS.-l. and ;\lc:Di\·itt han• agrel.'d that
tl-ie sc,qucnCI.' ot' mo\·ie irames are a
,iew out t!u: winc.uw. showit\~ sunlii::ht
r~tl ~·cti11~ off a br\t. a~ain:;~ the dirty
window
~la~s.
'.~ !C..\F'
thinks
dii'forently b,:c:tu~e <)t t!ll' b:!tk of its
cop,· of th<! ph,Ho is a handwritten

42

note (nobody known by whom)
stating that McDivitt {nobody• knows
when) had communicated .{nobody
knows how) the fact that the picture
showed "his UFO". (This was made
clear by a telephone conversation
between the author and Jack Acuff of
NICAP on March 5, 1976).
Why has this case achie\'ed such
notoriety'? It probably resulted from
the enthusiasm of UFO believers. the
naive openness of NASA public
relations officials, and the publicity­
seeking opportunism of some of the
principals.
\lcDivitt himself did little to clear
the case up. instead using it as a ticket
onto natil•nal TV talk shows and news
interviews
(especially
after
his
rr.tirement in 19~. To add to the
mystPry. th~ former spaceman assl'rts.
"I have never bcrn ablt- to it.:entify it,
and I don't think anyone ever will."

•• • • ••• •• g ,Cla:: t ,an

·--:a:.::-.;

On a recen t "U FO rncorcli:ig''
rrll-asrd by Columbia, calt.:d "UFOs:
The Credibility Facto r", :VlcDi\·itt
clrarly shows h ow h is mcmorirs have
ch:u1ged o r bc,m cl1a11g(•d to enhance
the mystery ot' hi3 C'Xpcricnce: "They
(NAS.-\) chcck,'d :'iOR..\D... to sec
what they had up on radar ancf there
w:isn 't anything within very close
range of us." Readers can measure the
credibility of this statcm~nt against .
the facts.
If McOivitt was fooled by his own
booster ten years ago, is it too much
to expect him to admit it now? What
would that do to all of his public
assertions of mystery? There is an
easier way out, and i'vlcOivitt took it
when I sent him an advance copy of
my manuscript. After keeping it two
months, he wrote back, "[ was not
able to read it very thoroughly and I
cannot offer any ext~nsive comments.
I do not foresee the opportunity for
me to provide any further re~w."
There weren't any errors in my
analysis, he implied, but it woulc! be
better kept quiet.
NASA never had any real doubts.
"We believe it to be a rocket tank or
spent second stage of a rocket," wrote
a high space official on July 1, 1965.
NORAD officials, confronted with my
scenario,
endorsed
it:
"Your
comments on the NORAD role related
to the case appear to pe logical,"
wrote NORAD Public Information
Officer D.W. Kindschi on Feo. 23,
1976.
So the "~lcDivitt case" is closed.
The best space UFO case has now been
identified. Do not expect to see any
change in the UFO press, however.
Such results are simply ignored.
Photographs made in space show
negative effects, such as the "McDivitt
UFO" aura, often. Spacecraft ·and
astronauts may be engulfed in a
strange aura caused by overexposure
to sunlight brighter than ever seen on
Earth. Blowups of photographs of
known space objects show them
appearing as "blobs" due to the
enlargement process and to the·
courseness of the grain. Ordinary space
pictures are full o f clouds o f debris,
constellations of man-made starlike
points fluttering through space.
The Condon report was fascinated
with the ~lcOi\·itt cas<', and fe\\· UFO
enthusiasts have not heard of it. But
n,:itlwr the Condon r£>st)archers nor the
average reader had ever had all the
facts. Now people can m:ike up thei r

I havl' ''" d ,iub~ th;,t
~lcl)i\"itl w:i~ ~<!l'i:1g his ow11 Til.::n
tJCJostrr stage.
Or. Roach wa~ also fasd n:•l •~cl wi t!t
another :,.1coi, itt si~foiti'.11}, that uf a
point of light ::rc:,i:::·::; the ; k·: . The
object
soundr.,j
j•.1.,l
Iii-:<>
th•!
appearance of an artifici.!l earth
satellite, and that is e~:actly wh:it
\kDivitt thought it \•:.:s. There is no
information to suggest it w.:_s anything
else.
Another Condon favorite is a
Gemini -7 case. The report of sightings
of a cloud of debris right at the
moment of boostt•r separation (these
particles included frozen fuel droplets,
the booster itself. assorted insulation
and structural fragments from where
the explosive bolts were fired, and
other smaller objects never identified
and never cared about) is not very
impressive. The crew, on their first
space mission, saw a few pieces they
had nol expected (the pilot guessed­
wrongly-that they "were in polar
orbit"). Only a partisan digging for
evidence, and desperate to find such
evidence, would make much of this
common event.
But a sign of desperation is indeed
own minds.

. ....·.
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-

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43

,.. ,,,

h /V◄ i

,

round in 1'1)1111: •ction l'.'isli Lill! t, ;~mi!! i·

I GFO ca~t'. It is not th~ clc::1w ra•.i1a ~
0f gtn·criun•_
•nl oflici, I:; t~y i11!{ to c:ur••r
up t.he truth ahoul GfU:;. R;,hrr, it :s
thr dl'spernlion of some outsider

tryi:1~

t rJ

m:t~:;f:-,.-:- tu:c1

co u ni .~rf,.i,

"astrnnaut L:FO" <?videnc~. Jn acli·. ;r. \·
which should not be nc>ce:s;a,y if th~
" rt'al"
L: FO evidence w~rC' as
persuasive as many thint.
It involves :i photograph showing
two very strange glowing ocjects. Each
is he:,agonal in shape, ~·:ew!c'd at an
angle, ~nd supported by ;;. dazzling
"force field" below it. A cloud­
covered earth is se.?n in the
background. s~~ p\cd~ ~1 ~ :l.8
This photograph h as appeared in
books, magazines, newspapers, and
pamphlets. It is part of the travellina
slide show of UFO lectur~rs from th;
Mutual UFO Network (i\!VFON) and
elsewhere. I have heard it described
as •\showing a typical UFO force field
propulsion system", and "similar to
other UFO photograph taken on
Earth the same year".
The photograph is a forgery. It is a
hoax. What the anonymous counter­
feiter did (I have reason to suspect a

·--·:®

l
J

The outhor .>nd NASA photo an.:ilvn R ichard
Undorwood show "•p~ce UFO" photos to Or.
J. Allun Hynok, dirolctor o f the center for UFO

n udios. July . 1976. t l vn4k -subsuquPn';'fy ,.,.,_

dorscd Ob0rLJ'S conclusions.

Saturn booner S-IV-b and f our open "SL.A"
panels. On moon flights tho four "petals.'.'
fly free and, together with the empty boo:<t­
•r. tum.ble through spaca a faw miles from
the Apollo capsule. They were often seon as
·bright flashing lighn as they reflected th o
powerful sunligh t . On Apollo-1 2 , astronau t
desc r iptions of theH fra;imonts wore m i s­
Interpreted by UFO buffs and metamorphized Into alien spacecraft.

"Mysterious" bulls aye object
wen and photographed by Gam­
lnl-6 astronauts I n December, 1965.
Unfortunately for flyi ng 1aucer
buff~, It Is not• UFO; it Is an out of
focus photo of the approaching
Gemlnl-7 spacesh ip, noH on.
NASA photo S 65-65296.
0

. . ·,·-··· ....
~

....- :~­
,,,_.
''--:·

..

44

®

~
: ~......1 n ~ , ~r..c.• ~1:-~-~t~ t-.\~ :-·.-..:-~~l::;...~~"-·•·...
.'· •~ .•..;.Jl'ti.,
....,.. ~., ';.••t••.;. •,'\:·~
··•.-·........•-.,'.:.+'
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.; . .
.·.
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r

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Photo of Gemlnl-7 from G..,mini-6, December 1965. The brlghtnus aura is a common space photo effect and often makes
point 1ourcH appear to be surrounded by a "force field" or an " e xhaust i:rail". NASA photo S-65-65304.

Japanese UFO organization) was take
an ordinary photograph oC Earth made
Crom the Gemini-7 spaceship on
December 4, 1965. The nose of the
spacecraft fills the lower part of the
frame, and on the nose, catching the
glare of the sun, is a pair of roll
·c ontrol rocket thrusters used to acijus t
the attitude and spin rate of the
Gemini. The original photo (NASA
S65-63722, which I have personally

examined) was then retouched by the
unscrupulous hoaxter to eliminate the
edge of the nose from view. so the
dark surface of the sp!lct-ship merged
into the dark Earth beneath. This left
the two now mysterious lights
seemingly suspendt:d in space, as it
were. A no rmal space touri., t photo
was turned into conrincing UFO
evidence, and thousands of people
were fool ed.

45

American spacemen are not the
only ones reporting UFOs, according
to the popular press. Stories tha t
allegedly come from Moscow tell
about UFOs followin g Soviet man ned
spacecraft in the Vostok and Voskhod
series ten years ago. But such secrecy
surrounds the entire Soviet space
effort that these stories cannot be
checked out.
That very secrecy. ho wever, is itself

!l

pn\·:•· , ( .. I

t11·;.:~1n1. 1i l

;i_! :~iu ,i

,;,.;

vahdit:1 of th·! ru,:i u. •. Sn r,1.,n'.)
o r<!ir:JI'_' th:,:,:-; J l,v11L l hc So·.ic~ s p:.;;,J
pro1rJ1n a:.: Sl' Cr cl (and 1011g pri~o n
terms a,·. ;.it :i11yo11c who even
:icc:idc 11l:ll!y cin,l;:es .-.uclr ,fatal thal it
i,; inc:·l•cii t:1,· lh :tt ; o .,cn, tdr:: :i,1d .;i~­
nit:ca•ll:, fa.:L as a (.;fl) , i,:htin;: rould
erer lea k ou~. evcn if su.:h a thing had
really har,p~ned.
The rule,; of ~\·id,rncc hari? been
Hretched and brokt?n by I.JFO
partisans. It i.; not up to me to " prn,;e"
that these sightings ne\·er took place.
Nobody has a.; y~ t s£:en any P.\'idcnce
apart from a simp:c slat .?ment of fact
that th.: .sightings did ta!,e place. I will
be happy lo consider evidence when it
becomes a\'ailahl<!.
Let's examine more of cnese
"cosmonaut UFO;;". Ir, UFOs From
Behina The Iron Curtain, the UFO
magazine 'Clypeus' is ouoted about an
object seen by b o th Vostok-5 and
Vostok-6 , a fleet of disks seen by
Voskhod-1, and "strailge cylinders in
space which were perfectly formed
and had no apertures " seen by
Voskhod-1, Voskhod-2, and Gemini-4
(sic!). UFOs have even been blamed
for the malfunction of the Voskhod-2
autopilot. As I have said, these
"reports" are hardly evidence, and can
be far more easily manufactured than
refuted.
SurE:ly one of the most specious
and gh ouli~h "sp ace UFO" 3tories
deals with the Soyuz-11 flight, on
which th~ crewmen perished during
their retur., to Eal'th. UFO literature
has recently been circulating a
"transcript" between the cosmonauts
and grc,und control. The crewmen
describe several glowing re·d objects
and
discuss
them
with
flight
controlle:-s.
To anyone familiar with typical
space-to-ground communicatio ns, this
"transcript" is patently co unterfeit.
Someone's
vivict
imagination,
embold,med by th·e knowledge that
the men were dead and could not
argue, must have creat£:d the entire
incide11c.
Without further evidenct), the entire
cla.53 of "cosmo naut UFOs" must be
rejected .
D~libera te attc•mpts to
" mudd y
tht?
waters''
Jnd
to
manuf..ct'..lr!:.' iancasies are common in
this LiFO gen re, :,.; in o then;.
In
in\'e~tigatiu~
pll1Ho~rat-1hic
evid,Jn,:<'
o f t; FQ ~i;;h tirt,;~ br
Am~rican :i.;trnn.iu ts, I 11'.>ri,~d clu:icly
with Hich:ird Cndrrw,h)d at thL• NAS A
Jo hnson Sp:ice c~•11t~r (forrn,•rly rnc

:.-..:nt.v i ~ p;, ..,•,·r.lfl Ccnl,·r) 1i.-ar
li,,,i, t,,r,. U 11cl,•f\\' 111h 1 1s an cXfl'Jl'i•
er.-: ,•u pilotu in trrp, c ter v: hu h;,s
c:,:iminl•d ,J\'cry si11;:lc pho lo1;r.1 ph
bYuu;;ht b.:cl; from o rbit :ind beyond,
a111.l h1;; in credible memory can
iJL·1, ,: 1y a d:?rad,J old p:1otc.i:n1µh,
dl·~cribe tr.l! si .:.uatio n. and fi nd th~
citJLi o;1 in :i,<' o ld record books within
minutes. 'rile o flicc o i this pho togra­
mc-lric engir;c,el' is full o f slacked iilm
i.:ans, light t.ibles, world and le.cal maps,
and piles of lette rs from ex-astronauts
and ordinary citizens alite.
Has he ser: n any UFO,;? Underwood
answered lhat with a smile : "I've nt?n!r
fou n d anything in these pictures that
puzzled me for lo ng, and I'm kind of
disappointed. It would be terribly
exciting to find evidence for someone
else's spaceship!'' When UFO writers
hint broadly about a "NASA coverup"
or "space censorship», they are
essentially calling Dick Underwood
and his colleagues a pack of liars.
Distortion and withholding of the
truth is no t a strange r to Underwood's

o flicc , ho wever. Wht!n a
li FO
researcher named Al;i 11 Sa ndler was
w•irkin!l on a book and a m o\'ic
("lffOs: Past. l~csenl and F'ularc". lo
he ad·,ert1sed as ;i "documentarv •') he
\"isited Underwood 's of[ir.c and looked
through do7.ens of rolls of lilm. wriling
down ordt!rs for prints of :inything
that looked interesting. This is a
standard service provided by NASA to
journalists.
SanrllP.r rhose a set of photographs
for his movie, pnotographs which
Underwood advised him probably o nly
showt?d dust particles in fron t of the
camera, de bris outside the spacecrail,
or glare on the windows (this was easy
enough to prove by looking at pictures
ahead of and behind the shots in
question). Two photographs were
particularly upsetting.
They both showed a black back•
ground with a string of lights in the
middle o( the photograph. In the book
(with the same name as the mo\·ie. •
although written by another author,
Robert Emeneggar) the two shots are

.,

.®

;>r,o ~~ ,:,r Ag,, t>.:• 12 f ro m Go-nlr,;. 12 . T h ;, ,, pan of a seQuenc:e o f photos w h ,ch ta~ ~• trio
A-;en t1 fr~m l 1tJ nt 11 .tu d .lrk . After o ..1rk , o n ly t h e runn i ng lighu are v•i•b le. One r e,oarchet

h:,s w,aorv pubh • hcd t h •S IJ 1tcr p ho to gr a p h as a " UF O" . .,, a ,d by N AS A te> be Agena trac:k •
ing 1;9hts" .

NASA p t,o to S 6 6 -63 101.

. · - - ·-- -- ---- · ·- -- .~ -·

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·:. .~

;f
"Said to be ranging lights" on Gemini-12, according to Sandler. Compare with

earlier ph.:ito showing Agena in the sunlight. Deliberate slanting of e•1idence.

reproduced with the caption: "Shot
during Gemini XII o n Novamber 13,
1966, and said to be Agena Ranging
Lights prior to docking". The
erroneous implication of these twisted
words is that this is another NASA
excuse for some remarkable UFO
photographs. Said to be ranging lights,
indeed, sneers the book!
"'that's exactly what tney were!"
Underwood told me plaintively. "They
are p art of the complete sequence of
twenty photographs showi11g the
• Agena as it moves from the sunlit
side of Earth inLo the shadow".
As Underwood anJ l stood in the
photo laboratory inside buildini,: No. 8
at the historic Hou$ton sµac.:e center.
the 1;equence was rii:ht thcrt) in fro11t
of our eyes 011 the gluwin~ viewing
board. How did the '·UFO rcscarc.:hcr"
react to this expl:rnalion, [ asked°!

He continued to explain: " I took
the whole sequence with me to
Hollywood along with other films
which NASA was providing. I showed
the sequence to Sandler. He wasn't
interested. Unfortunately he went
ahead and used the phot_ographs
anyway". Thousands more people
v.-ere deceived.
The flight of Gemini-11 h:5an a
long battle between astronattt Ch:irles
"Pete" Conrad and UFO belieVPI". The
astronauts had taken three even more
remarkable
photogr::iphs.
"Pete"
Conrad had spotted a mor ir.g ubj..-ct
outside his ·sindow and had s.1apped
off a few frames of film, varying the
.:xpo:;ure on t•ach sh,H in an :.ittempt
to get at least 011t) ~oud ,ic·v which
w<rnld show ;omclhin~.
Pt-r a rcque,;t from NASA, NORAD
soon reported th:it the object ha d b~en

47

I' .'<.>tull . :;_

LO .\ i I° r\,, l"'::
it ·soul :I ha,,~ .::; ,~-;,;.:(J
Gemini's orhil s~v,.-ral l111 i1d;-_,J r,1;ks
t,,-ilind Lh,• $p,,,:<;crart. Yet t it is c,bj..-.:!
wa~ in .i diftc'<cnt di:c·<.:tinn ;i ,1 d 1•. a.,
nt\l (' h l ;)O do•;C. It ','/a_; :I lir O'.
Dt)spilc these, objc.::tio.1.,. NOR ..\D
wJ,; right i;:ir the wro11g re:1.,cns. T ;:l'
object w,:s indeed P1:otor.-3, Hen
tJ1ot, 6h
tlt •J
Aeri:tl
Phe,:om,mo:':
Research Organizatiur, (A PRO) and it~
research directo,·, Dr. James Harder, has
made much of the cfocrepa,:cy and
consid1m this the h\?st Gemini l =FO
ever seen. c~(:_ plttf-5 11~1g~1q >1. '3,~\f')
Few researchers hJ\ "P. noticed. a;1d
none had recogniz,,d the significacce
of the fact, that the Proton-3 sateIii te
was only hours away from burning up
in the atmosphere. As its orbit
decayed toward a fiery doom, it
circled Earth fastPr and faster, run-r.ing
ahead of the schedule pre dicted by
NORAD.
The simple truth, oft2n ig11ored or
distorte d by many writers, is that
NORAD does not "track e\'erything in
space" like the rada:.- screens of sor.1e
air traffic control center. Inste:!d,
objects which pass through tha beatt15
of a handful of worldwide radar sit<'s
(at a range of a thousand miles or Jess)
are observed and catalogued, a:id their
orbits are calculated . These calcyl a­
tions are then projec ted for'.'.'ard in
time (the mathematical term is ··extra­
polated") to plot where the spacecr:11t
should be if its orbit hasn't been
changed.
Gemini's orbit had been changed by
a rendezvous rocket firing. Proton's
orbit was changed by its decay. I
ordered microfilm copies of the la.;t
few NORAD predictions from the
Tracking Reports Section at the NASA
Goc!dard Space Center in Greenbelt,
M;u-yland, and as soon as I read them l
knew the answer.
The predictions were off by Se\·eral
hundred miles per da~: ! Each new
projection made a correction to the
previous one. Using a combination of
these figures, a new dtitude difference
between Gemini and Proton could
easily be compul.:?d. It 11·:is entirdy
close e nough to coincide with th.­
astron:.iuts' sighting.
Furthermore, th.i astronaut~ r.ad
made a visual :.is ·,1·1.'ll ;i~ a i:;hoto5rJ,1hic
record. T heir t• y c11 i1,·,.:-.;s lestin:,>ny
dcscrib.:s a sat,)lliw that looks [;;.e
Proton-3 look.-d. a.-; shown by exhibit.;
in Rus.,iail muse11111:;: a stubbv cyli.itkr
c:0111 pulet,.

:\ci;()r:] ti,;_;

----- with four lar::e triantlular canted solar
p.,nrb. (Conract compared lhc sight to
the strap-on lwosters of a Titau•3
rocket.) F:vcu the photographs show
this when ~ludicd with real Proton-3
photographs close at hand.
A~trn:::?:.:~ Co::~::d ~:-:d th:! l.iFO
people clashed again ov~r his. next
space mission. Apollo•12. According
lO the Research Director of A.PRO, Dr.
Harder, Conrad reported that he was •
bei11g followed by a UFO on the way .
to the moon. Conrad claims that it was
just a joke about the large panels which
enclose the lunar module during
launch but are jettisoned later in the
flight and which tumble through space
a few miles from the Apollo all the
way to the -moon. Harder says that
Conrad, under pressure from a secret
government agency, is lying.
These
are
Conrad's
words:
"They've been after me for years
because we were followed by a UFO
on · the way to the moon. That, of
course, was untrue. The guy who came
up with it was going by our transcript
where we saw debris from our own
rocket and we were joking with the
ground crew about it. He took this out
of context. . .I called the ground and
said, 'hey, gang, we're being followed,
there's· some flashing object out there'.
Some scandal sheet took that a.,d

t...
Oul>ris from open
hatch on G omini• t 2.

............

;. .

t
ltn

~-··.

f

Fragment i n focus at range
of 3 to 5 feet-Sandler calls
it

0

unidentiflabJe'', and

Malian and Barry also use It.

e11lo.~zx..,1..t-0, 16)

ra?'\

~
Blowups of Gemini-11 photos of
Proton-3. Sun glare and el<treme
magnification contribute to
bizarre appearance,

t.::
' .' "'.. ·:--- ... .....
..,,,..y;..,·,._.,_,."',,..•..__._"..,.e..••...,
•....:..J
.•.r"-·- ·..,.....,..___:;,,•·. ..__ _~_ _.___ _ _ _ ___...

...
. ..
. . . . .•,...,,.,,.,,
••
• •
wcc:r::a-.
•

48
···-- ...

- ..

made a helluva story out of it. But it
was nothing like anything I was
connected with". Conrad has left
NASA and lives in Denver, presumably
beyond the reach of any NASA
censors. He describes a phenomenon
common to all Apollo moon flights;
the claim that he saw a UFO is also
common, but hardly as valid.
Conrad confirmed these quotations
in a letter to me dated April 12, 1976.
"I hope your paper is widely printed.·•
he added. Ref,ming to Harder's claim
of coverup, Conrad could only say: "I
think you have more than your share
of Kooks."

,
<

l
;
f

1

I
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Geminl-11 photo of Proton-3 (arrow) i nd extreme enlargement of image. UFO magaz ines often pront funv blobs without indicating
that object w a s h ighly magnified. f; llrn ertlf,icts cause "blobblneu".

Let's take a moment to look at the
Apollo--12 flight more ca·re(ully. It
probably rates as one of the most
"UFO-ridden" space flights ever made,
and ·p robably did more than any
Apollo mission to encourage the
stories o( astronaut sightings of UFOs.
. What lies behind all these stories? Who
started them? What is the "official"
NASA position?
Apollo-12
was
launched on
November 1-l, 1969, on the second
m oon landing m1ss1on. The crew
co;'ISisted o( Gcmini-11 veterans
"Pete" Conrad and Richard Gordon,
and space rookie Alan Dean (Conrad

NASA photo S-66-54661 .

had also nown into space on
Gemini-5.) Taking off during a
thunderstorm, t he craft was twice hit
by lightning which threatened to
abort the mission.·
Instead, the night proceeded
successfully to t he first pinpoint moon
landing fou r days later. Astronauts
Conrad and Bean flew their Luna.r
Module in to a precision to uchdown
near the Surveyor-3 automatic moon
probe. During a scheduled moon walk,
the men retrieved samples from the
robot crnft. The return on Eanh was
"routine", if f?ights to the moon can
ever be considered routine.

49

On the outbound leg, Conrad had
radioed to Earth that the Apollo was
"being followed". This message, trans­
mitted over the open radio link, was
heard by hundreds of newsmen and by
millions of Americans. It im:nediately
gave rise to new UFO stories.
According to the account best
known to UFO believers (publishe d in
Saga magazine, May 1970, entit led
" Apollo l 2's ~Jysterious Encounter
with Flying Sauct'rs", written by T.G.
Beckley and H. Salkinl. the astro nau~,;
watched Lwo nashing lights near ch~ir
Command Module about 150,000
miles out from Earth. At first, the

A pollo -I 1 U F O, 19G9. Obro ct
hun bh.'\J p .1s t wind o w im,n r.d i\Jt•j ly

altar A1Joll o p ull~<1 aw ay f rom

Sa turn bo osto r. Metamo rpho-si s
of obvi ous sp ac:ec:r aft i n sul atlon
l r ~qrno n t i nto "odcl •sha o od UF O "
is c ourtesy of Bob Barry o f tho
fri n g e " 20th Century UFO Bureau " .
Hon> Hotze,·, " Ulonoua" ( 1976)
assig r,s o bj ect to Joh n Gle n n 's
flight. i nvents f ictitious c:o m ment ory
a nd con tin ues weavi ng my th• un­
lotterod by I ecu.

ground thought it was their S-IV-8
booster rocket but quickly calculated
that it would have been in a different
direction. Next, they suggested that
the lights could have been pieces of
the Lunar Module "garage'', called
"SLA Panels", which are quite lar ge
and highly reflect ive. Conrad, so the
UFO story goes, remarke d that this
was unlikely since one of them had
suddenly taken off at a high velocity,
something that a piece of space debris
simply could not do. Finally, the .

.

' A •' '

astronauts decided to ignore the
apparently harmless escort and carry
on with their mission
ln lunar orbit. new (or perhaps the
same) UFOs dogged the spacemen.
During the descent to the lunar
surface, millions of television watchers
on Earth saw bright objects crossing
the field o f view of the Apollo TV
cameras. Simila.r objects were seen
during the launch from the moon and
during the final approach to Earth.
Here, then, is a major case for

n

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··astrcnuut UFO sightings". Besides
the three astronauts, millions of
Americans saw the TV images and
heard the voices of the crewmen
wondering what the objects could be.
They were obviously unidentified,
they were flying in space, and they
were objects of some sort. Hence, they
were UFOs.
The "Fawcett List" of space UFOs
says that the astronauts "said a UFO
accompanied ~hem all the way to
within 132,000_ miles of the moon.
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T wo obiecu drifting out of open hatch (lowe, r ight) of Geminl-12. Both spe_cks are out of focus and hence are within sevoral feet of camera.
-which h ad• very large depth of field. Object on right, in f ocus, i • a scrap of paper. NASA photo S-66-62871.

preceding them all the way." The
origin of that mileage figure is obscure,
but it lends unwarranted authenticity
to the report.
Observatories in
Europe also
watc:ied the two UFOs. ether sources
re\'eal. Embellishing the story. another
UFO source claims that "Next day,
the 15th, at 21.15 hours, one bright

revohing light approached the Apollo
12 spacecraft." Fawcett, not to be
outdone, also claims that the
astronauts photographed the UFO (or
UFOs).
One of the loudest proponents of
the Apollo-12 UFO is APRO research
director Or. James Harder. At a UFO
symposium at the University of

51

California at Santa Cruz on November
8, 1975, Harder claimed that one CFO
"followed Apollo l'.! on three orbits
around the moon". Further, "N,\SA
suppressed the UFO incident~ for fonr
of p,1 nic", but Harder was ahle to
discover the si~hting~ b"cau$e it " was
disclosed by a member of the space
team" who he refused to id1:ntif:: .

!.iinc:l' all thf" m:ill.'riill ll;m.lcr used to
..prove" the r xistcncc Qf the inddcnts
werl.' public information ( Harder could
have read it in Saga, which is hardlr a
top scc;rrt )!O\'crnmcnt r:!port), his
rdcrcnce to a co\·eruµ and to sr.cret
inside informatiu,1 were clearly only
gimmicks t\1 impre~r; the news, media
with the value of his •'information".
NASA, meanwhile, says that no
such UFO event took place. The lights,
according to Dale Myers (Associate
Administrator for Manned Space
flight: quoted in a letter dated Feb. 5,
1973 to Mr. Donald Ratsch of APROj,
were spacecraft fragments: "During all
of our Apollo lunar missions. objects
have been sighted by the various
crews. Subsequent to the crew
sightings,
the
flight
controllers
determined the observations were
probably either the S-IVB booster, the
spacecraft lunar adapter (SLA) panels,
or smaller objects such as mylar foil
particles. Because of their large size
and highly reflective surfaces, the
S-IVB and SLA panels should be
visible at great distances in the space
emironment..."
Astronaut Conrad, as quoted
earlier, claimed that the flash ing lights
were obviously SLA panels but that he
was 'joking with the ground. He
denounced the Saga story explicitly
and gave his opinion that Harder was a
"kook". Astronaut Gordon has
publicly stated that he has never seen a
UFO on any .;pace flight. Alan Bean,
the only one of the three still on active
NASA duty, issued a statement soon
after Harder's latest charges went out
over the news media late in 1975. In a
UPI dispatch:
"Astronaut Alan Bean...said that
at no time during his mission did he
ever see an unidentified objecL Bean
said that there were some metallic
parts which floated behind their sp:>r.e­
craft after the Apollo-12 !Uf'l.?r module
lifled off from t~•• r:~oon. He said
these small p:.-<'::.; were visible until
they (tht> ...•!:onauts) made an engine
burn 'f':c: metallic objects wer~ par ts
er <!",e insulation which came off the
lunar module during the launch phase
and lunar orbital phase. ' At no time
•did we see anything which was not of
our spacecraft, either during lunar
orbit or during the voyage to and from
the moon,' Bean stated."
To
Harder and his "N,\SA
cuv~rup", these statements are just
mo re lies designed to confuse the
American public. So let's go back lo

the key r\pnll 11-l 2 LlFU c111:ountcr and
try lo determine just wh:1 is confused.
Lale on No,.·embcr 15th. 1969,
about 150,000 statute mi!es from
Earlh. the Apollo crew was talking to
cilDSllle
communicator
astronaut
Ger~rJ C:m about SQmc lights they
were watching out their wir.do w.
Apollo: The object is very bright
and it is obviously something that is
tumbling. It is tumbling (at) one and
one half rev(olution)s per second, or at.
least it is flashing at us (at) about that
(rate)...
CAPCOM: Roger. We are standing
by.
CAPCOM: (Apollo) 12, (this is)
Houston.
Apollo: Go ahead.
CAPCOM: As best we can tell,
looking at things down here, on those
SLA panels, we assume they weren't
imparted with any great amount of
delta-V
(velocity
change)-like
anything more than one or so feet per
second
when
they
separated
(thirty-three hours ago). Your SLA
panels would probably be only about
300 (nautical) miles (345 statute
miles) away fro m you right now.
**** The following reply by
Conrad has been claimed by UFO
believers to indicate that the lights
(the so-called "SLA panels") have
suddenly pulled away from the
Apollo, something that a tumbling
piece of debris could not do. To
clarify the meaning, punctuation and a
few extra parenthetical words have
been added by the UFOiogists:
Apollo: That could be true, but gee
whiz, when I (just) turned around I
saw one of those "SLA panels" leaving
the area at a high rate of speed, and it
loo ked to me like it was leaving us
pretty (fast)-at a pretty rapid clip,
like it got a lot more than a foot per
second or so.
CAPCOM: Well, since we don't
really have any idea how they left, or
what their t rajectory could be, it's
kind of tough really to say just what
the heck that could be.
Apollo: Okay. We'll assume it's
friendl y anyway, OK?
The UFO reasoning, as worded by
APRO member Srad Sparks. goes as
follows: ''After the SLA panels
separated and the S-IVB's tanks were
emptied (on No \·. U) they could not
change their ·,t>locity simply because
they had no form of propulsion to do
so. But Conrad saw one of the "SLA
panels" (on Nov. 15th ) suddenly leave

52

its position at a " high rate of sµccd ...
an i:11;,ossib1lity, unless it really was a
m.lal!uvcrable spacec raft of some ::-ort.
nut
where docs one
find
a
spacecrait
nearly
maneuverable
150,000 miles from the earth? The
:inswer: (excepting ,\ pollo 12 itself) in
November of 19C9 th~re weren't any.
The conclusion is inescapable: One
(possibly
two)
maneuverable
spacecraft not of man-made origin
were following our Apollo 12 on
November 14 and 15, 1969."
To anyone familiar with the flight
plan of an Apollo moon flight,
Conrad's words imply nothing of the
sort. Two facts must be brought to
mind. First, Apollo and the Capcom
were discussing the present position of
the SLA panels based upon their initial
separation velocities from the spent
S-IVB rocket stage. Second,. the SLA
panels break free after the Apollo pulls
off from the booster; the astronauts
then perform a maneuver called the
"turnaround" the Command Module
returns to the booster to dock with
the now-exposed Lunar Module,
before pulling the LM free from its
"garage".
Striking the UFOlogist's punctua­
tion and clarifying words from the
communication, and putting it in
proper perspective, what Conrad was
saying was:
Apollo: That could be true (that
the SLA panels were flying off at one
or so feet per second), but gee whiz,
when I turned around (right after they
flew free, thirty-three hours ago) I saw
one of those SLA panels leaving the
area (of the LM "garage") at a high
rate of speed, and it looked to me that
it was leaving us pretty...at a pretty
rapid clip, like it got a lot more than a
foot per second or so.
The UFO believers' reasoning-and
the entire basis for Harder 's and for
the Saga article's Apollo-12 UFO
sighting-is phony. The most generous
description of it would be a mistake, a
misreading of the transcript's meaning
in an attempt to "prove" a UFO
incident that never really happened
outside of the fertile imaginations of
certain
UFO believers. Conrad's
statement, Gordon's statement. Bean ·s
statement. and the NASA letter must
stand validated on this case: Apollo-12
was not followed by a t;FO on its
to the moon.
But how about on the way back?
"A light of indistinct shape" was
spotted just prior to re-en try,

Proton satellite shown for the
first time at Paris air show, May
1967. Four canted solar panels

contributed to bizarre shapes
‘on the Gemini-11 photo. Proton
weighed 27,00%bs, Its outer
shroud was 14.8 feet in
diameter.

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Publisn ed n~wsp!per story on UFSs captions this p11oto:"Theso two UFOs wo , u

photographed on July 19, 1969-the day before Apo:lo's historic: moon landing­
during Buzz A ldri n'• scheduled lunar photo session. Noto the s imilarity to the
•hot snapped throo years oarlier during Gcminl-12."

according to UFO sources. Saga
reports that " ...at 11:47 a.m. on
November 24th, the spokesman for
Apollo 12 reported in a startled voice
that they were all' watching a bright
red object flashing brilliantly against
the earth." This incident was carefully
analyzed by Brad Sparks of APRO (I
am indebt£:ci to his letler to Saga of
August 28, 19i0, a letter Saga editor
ne\'er bothered to answer), who
objects that "the astronauts did not
report that the object. they were seeing
was red, and they stated specifically
that 'it's a steady light', not flashing."
It was seen between th"'m and the dark
earth , somewhere off the coast of
India by a guess of the cr"'wmen.
Perhaps it was a ship's searchlight,
perhaps a fire, perhaps a violent
lightning storm...there is no reason to
suspect that it was a craft in space.
The astronauts lost sight of the light as
they turned the Apollo to take a series
of photographs of the sunrise.
The wild fantasies printed in Saga
dn no t end here. Beckley and Salkin
claim that the astronauts had been
"startled by unaccountable seismic
disturbances o n th.:- lunar surface."
This event never occurred; there were
no such earthquakes during their visit.
Beckley and Salkin refer to "a
mysterious blue halo encircling one of
our spacemen." Sparks of APRO
consicfors thi:; lo ha,·c bE't?ll lun3r dust
•kicked up •.,·h1le thu crcwmt',l were
walkii;g around. Photo analyst Dick
lind,,r·.rood sutgestect that it is a
defect in the denilopmeut of the
photo cuusE>d h,· thl' , l\'id solar i:larc
oil' oi' a lii~hly ,Hl~cti,·e s11 fi·ace:
Undt•rwood quil'kly located half a
do1.e11 ~imilar "ltalou5" on other space

photos taken during the? 1960s.
Whatever it was, this "halo" appE'ared
only in the photo, and was n«?ither
seen nor remarked on by the
astronauts.
Houston radio commentator and
UFO enthusiast Frank Haley has his
own theory about why the Apollo-12
TV camera did not work on the moon
(NASA says Bean accidentally pointed
it toward the sun). Says Haley, "The
i::amera was intentionally shut off to
avoid showing something on the moon
that
disturbed
the
astronauts"
("Haley's Comment" newsletter, Mar.
22, 1976). It is only a matter of time
before this nonsense is absorbed into
the lore of the "Apollo-12 UFOs''.
But Apollo 12 did see some
unidentified flying objects, and NASA
engineers were justifiably concerned
that they could have been debris from
important spacecraft systems which
m ight indicate unexpected failures, or
which might interfere with other
spacecraft equipment. Hence, the
Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston
(now the Johnson Space Center) gave
a contract to Lockhe£:d to study the
objects seen on the TV pictures and on
some movie film.
The Lockhc-ed report was quietly
issued on March 18, 19i0, about the
same time that the sensationalized and
fictionalized Saga story was being
printed. Titled "linidcntifhid Visual
Phenomena Associated with Space
Flight" (:-.iA$A Contract '.'i . \S 9-5191.
LEC; HASO No. 071-80-013), the
report documents tlw "moon pigc:Qns"
(a term "coi11E:d by :'\.\S.-\ enl:{inc:t.'r.; lo
dcscribu UIH!Xpcctcci 1Jbjccls seen in
operational photo1:r:iphy that ddy
positive identification") of .-\polio• 12.

5.i

l'o11f.r:1rl t.'lll!i111•1•r:; wen• F. D. Ul•att~
and ,I.G. !l:nrm.
"Unidenli rkd \'bua! plwnon:C':1.1
as~oci:ilcd with space flight were
rather common opc,,:tionally." rcn,aJ
lhe authors." but. ''. .little or no
clo~u111clllJli1111 ll1 p,1,~ cvc11t.; has i,e..-11
macie." Rcfore UF'O bclle,·crs jump uµ
and d1Jw11 with confim~a,ion of a
whole new family of ''astronaut
sightings of UFO3'', the authors
announce?
their
intention
of
demonstrating that 1'such evenl~ were
spacecraft debris associated with an
earlier pyrotechnical operation, or ice,
or window reflections. Cases for each
of these theories have been presented
and exhibits of similar occurenccs are
included. Positive identifi~ation was
not possible. . . The quality of tile
imagery precludes a precise definition
of the object under question. . . In
general,
it
takes
much
more
information to identify an object that
if does to detect it."
Sixteen millim~ter color magazine
11651\1, exposed on Apollo-12. shows
three objects, called "A", "B", and
"C". The objects appeared during the
Ll\·l jettison man«?uver in lunar orbit.
"A" is believed to be a small segment
o f the docking channel; "B" was
identified by engineers as a portion oi
the docking ring, possibly
the
fiberglass seal; "C" was probably part
of the electrical harness. All were near
the spacecraft and were tumbling.
From this and other examinations,
Beatty and Baron concluded that
"most 'moon pigeons' have as their
source a programmed pyrotechnic
event and are the normal debris
associated with such an incident. They
are often spectacular. . . The main
thing to be learn«?d from this study is
that the event (in question) was, in all
probability, a normal result of routine
spacecraft operations. . . These data
will undoubtably be of use to the
engineering, scientific, and public
relations communities." The closing
reference clearly indicates that Beatty
and Baron were aware of the "Apollo•
12 UFOs" controversy and felt that
their study would be useful in
demolishini: any UFO buffs' wild
n1mor;.
unfortunately. tht? ·'moon pigeons"
rrport seems to ha\·e been tiled a\\ ay
in the :--i..\S.-\ archi,·C's. Baron. who still
wurks at the Joh11,;011 Space Cerlll' r,
told me early in H)i6 that ht! ne\ l!r
got any feedback on his report, e,·t'n
thoui:h it was fun doini,: it and it had

...

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This photo was snapped only moments af ter Aldrin's other Apollo 11 sho t . Here the two UFOs
~

have begun their separation and a halo -li ke force field between the two is c/ea,/y shown .

p retty o bvious implications for UFO
repor ts. NASA apparently decided to
le t the UFO writers spread their
;-umors, hoping tha t the stories would
fade away if ignored.
Wh at had ha ppened. though. was a
riew shot in the arm for ·'astronaut
UFO cases". The explanations could
never catch up with the mi~inlerpreta•
tions
and
w1ong
impressions
engendered
by
the
onirlteard
conversations and l'iewt'd i111a).(r~ (mm
Apollo-12. :\lillions of ,\meric..ins were
practically eyewitnesses to a "space
UFO", and were suitably impressed.

"E x clusive NASA Photos" and NASA
cJ nsorship is another part of myth . Theso
Apollo-11 spots are highly magnified

window reflection, in Lunar Module dee ~
in ,pace (Aldrin turned the .:amer.> on by
ac c ident w hile c hec k ing equ ipment) .

55

When presented with the Saga story
and with APRO's (and MUFON's)
account of the "maneuverin g alien
spacecraft at 150,00u m iles from
Earth", the a\·erage· citizen could only
assume that iL might indt"'d be true. If
N.-\SA was denying it, '.l'e!l then, the
government has bcl'n kno\'/,1 to lie to
us in the pa~t.
It is a vai:i hop<! to im :.gine that the
truth will ever .:.1tc:h up co the Apollo12 a11<l oth,•r C [· Os..-\ s clL-c:iilc<l h ere,
th.:: Apollo•I:! C FD 1H•rcr e:-..istt!d.
Somc,how, milliuns or pl•oplc beli£:Vc
that il did . There is s,1ffi<:icnt blame

for this delusi on lo be :.ien( rousl y
dislributed to
public affairs
UFO buffs, ~AS.-\
officers, sc1ii:ation­
sceking news media, and lal.y readers.
And the "astronaut UFO" ge11r•: is not
yet complrtc. Let's return to some
more examples.
Another example of selective
omission of facts occurs in the
(
Gemtnl-7 photo of sunl ight glinting oft
roll thruster rockots on nose. Photo
forgers airbrushed the nose/Earth bound•
ary out, making tt,e two lights appear t o
be float ing in sp:ice. NASAphoto SGS-63722 .
.
QR)
f H-1 iO ALSO ~!:V2~ ~ E'b
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Forgl!ry c.>n oo "'ttn r ,nt1t•J ,n 1r.•tt..t or c:oov­
roghl ,09ula11ons oecauso ,,.,,. ,s a N~SA
photo, Evon ro\ouch ed, i t cannot bv
COPV"9hl8d.
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and below) as published with erroneous captions.

"Fawc:dt list" of astronaut sightings.
Geori;e t·awcett is a respected and
level-headed
UFO researcher in
Maiden, North Carolina. But an
example of his work gives a different
impression:
"Gemini-XII: Jim Lovell and Edwin
Aldrin saw four UFOs linked in a row.
Both spacemen said the objects were
not stars" (quoted from The Edge of
Reality, Hynek & Vallee, 1975, page
64).
From
the
GT-12
Astronaut
Debriefing, page K/3.4, Lovell relates:
"During the last EVA we discarded, in
addition to the ELSE (life support
system), three bags. About 2, maybe
3 or possibly 4, orbits later at sunrise
condition, we looked out again and
saw 4 objects lined up in a ro,v and
they weren't stars I know. They must
have been these same things we tossed
overboard."
The original distortion of this
entirely ordinary event, according to
the
Condon
Report,
is
the
responsibility of UFO wnter, John
Keel, Fawcett took it and embellished
it.
Another of Fawcett's favorites is
M~rcury-7: "Scott Carpenter reported
th<1t he had what looked like a good
shot of a saucer." E!sPwhere he
claimed that Carp,rnter "look a
photograph of a classical saucer-shaped
UFO with dome tha t foll owed his
capsule." ~(._ pla.t,;:, J,l
In fact, the photographs s!iow an
entirr.ly ordinary object: a space
balloon ejected from the capsule for

tracking practice. The balloon did not
inflate but spun in a limp oblong sack.
The flight schedule and the voice
transmissions confirm this unexciting
explanation-and confirm Fawcett's
fantasizing.
An example of the difficulty of
" disproving" an "astronaut UFO
sighting" is the Mercury-9 case in
1963. Well established in the UFO
lore, the story claims that on the 15th
orbit, over Muchea, Australia, the
astronaut (Gordon Cooper) saw a
green object. More than one hundred
people at the trac king station saw the
bogie on a radar screen (this wasn't
Shot during Sky Lab Ill second manned Sky Lab
Flighl 263 day of 1973-1645 Zulu Time.
NASA Photo =sLJ- 118-2 140 (4 shots taken)
Listed as unrden1,r.ed ob1ec t or satellite by NASA
Pho to E,·aluat,on Lab

rt

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57

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' for rir:tional •'far.t"
scn~:itinnal rn•.•'ll(h
·,l"ril n Fr•111 ;.; Ed ·: ar-1;: hi) had two
hundrf'rl peopll• ar.luatl)i me Lhc
ohjt·ct.).
The source of the story secll!S to
have bren an NBC newsm:t!l in
Australia. But the prob:crn ~ecms tll b.:
th:it Cooper has nc,.·er heard of it. He
has b-:cn out of tile spat'e program for
SP.Ven years. and talks freely about
urus lo reporters, to the Columbia
"UFO recording·•.. to Mike Douglas,
to friends and associates. Somehow he
k:iows nothing abou t. "his" space
UFO-and he has no reason to be
silent. His space UFO never existed.
Confronted by this evidence,
Fawcett (letter of May 10, 1976)
insists that "I sincer<?ly believe some of
the ashonaut sigh tings are bonafide,
based on some of my sources of
information." John Keel, too, recalls
0etter of .March 26, 19i6) that "ex•
NASA engineers have told me all kinds
of fascinating UFO tales.. ." Always
these write~s fall back on "secret
reports" and "private information''
when their published reports and open
articles disintegrate in the face of the
truth.
On October 18, 1973, the famous
Mansfield,
Ohio
UFO
sighting
occurred, for which Captain Lawrence
Coyne and his helicopter crew later
were to receive the 'Best UFO Case of
the Year" award (and check) from a
weekly tabloid's 'blue-ribbon panel' of
UFO experts. A few months later,
Coyne said he was told by the panel
chairman, J. Allen Hynek, (the
respected head of the Center for UFO
Studies) that Skylab astronauts had
photographed the same UFO from
space. (Hynek ultimately denied this.)
A
reputable
ma~azine,
"Army
ReserYe" published the story with an
intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;iting
that this was the astronau t photograph
which had buzzed Coyne.
It would ha\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo·
graphed anything on October 18th.
since they weren·t even on board the
space s tation. The prc\'ious crew had
returned to E:irth a 111011th before and
thei r relie f ere ·.\· was not sr.lwduled to
blast off for anothl·r thrPe weeks. The
pho tograph prin!rd in the rn:il(a7.ine
was clearly labt•lt·rl rm its backsidl' as

r.j,•('fNI

frnm

hi, spaf'(•cr;1rt in an

Lall' in 197:J, ;i strange ob!c••:t did
appNtr in Skylab sp,,Cl' photograph,.
Takrn on Conrad's S kylab fl igh t i11
June, Lhe objcct was not 11oticE'rl bl·
UFO researchers but bv govE>rnmcn·t
photo analysts. pl..t~ '33 •
Rather than ·•swP.ep thc t;FO under
the rug", the officials look the other
tack : it might be a mysterious So,·itit
SatP.llite and could be of great value to

:lll!.' lllpl Lo gl't. \"isual lrackilll'. pr:tctic,:
(11:is photo is often referred to :is the

"cl:issical domed UFO" shnt). UfO
re$c:Jrchers anrl mai;azine edi tors had
dearly not made Hen a minia1u111 of
effort to verify thes•? t ransparent
errors and mistakes. but instr:ad p.!ssed
011 the false data to the public.
ThOU$ands more were dcceivr.d.

,.
. .';'-,·
-·

.:. :. •.

. ,, .

..

. . : ..

...... .

,,

.._'( ' ,.
.-·~··

,._

..
. . ..

j • • .;

:··

• '• • / - " ' : " : :.

...

.

..

.

-.,"1-·/ ,-:;;..".. -':,.... ,(;-':.,.::,~,!~--~~i'-:i...-.., ... ~

.

.

~Joi~~~---..:.6'~,(;A»~~~-®
.:..~ .-

..--:,

6.::>

"UFO.. -seen fro,n Skyl oh-2. Tho e1O,1901tcd ou ,~c t i, actually an air1:lrip

ta krn hy S.:,>tl C:irp,.•u(,•r Oil .\ll'rcuryin the Bra :d,an 1un 9 ,.,~. Enlargomont of NASA pho t o SL2- 16-1 09,
7 morn than t1•n years before. II c-fl,t~ .
show,•d a limp ball non C:i rp<'nter had ")..\ c..a-..."" !

58

' for fii:t illnal "far.t"
sen~Jlinnal l'll••'l~h
writ,•r Fi ·1n;_ !~d·: ;wl;: hr. had two
hundrrri p<?oplt• ar.tually ree the
ohjt-ct.).
The sou rec c,f the ~tory seems to
have bren an NBC newsman in
J\t15tralia. But th,:, problem ,;eems to b.:
that Cooper h:is nc•:er hc-ard of it. Hr.
has b<:>cn out of ti1e spat•e program for
SP.Ven yrars. and t;ilks freely about
Ur us lo reporters, to the Columbia
"UFO recording''., to ~.·Jike Douglas,
to friends and associates. Somehow he
knows nothing abou t, "his" space
UFO-and he has no reason to be
silent. His space UFO never existed.
Confronted by
this evidence,
Fawcett (letter of May 10, 1976)
insists that " I sincerP.ly believe some of
the ashonaut sightings are bonafide,
based on some of my sources of
information." John Keel, too, recalls
(letter of .M arch 26, 1976) that "ex­
NASA engineers have told me all kinds
of fascinating UFO tales.. . " Always
these writers fall back on "secret
reports" and "private information"
when their published reports and open
articles disintegrate in the face of the
truth.
On October 18, 1973, the famous
Mansfie!d,
Ohio
UFO
sighting
occurred, for which Captain Lawrence
Coyne and his h elicopter crew later
were to receive the 'Best UFO Case of
the Year" award (and check) from a
weekly tabloid's 'blue-ribbon panel' of
UFO experts. A few months later,
Coyne said he was told by the pa11el
chairman, J . Allen Hynek, (the
respected head of the Center for UFO
Studies) that Skylab astronauts had
photographed the same UFO from
space. (Hynek ultimately denied this.)
A
reputable
ma~azine,
" Army
ReserYe" published the story with an
intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;1ting
that this was the as tronaut photograph
which had b1Jzzed Coy ne.
It would h a\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo•
graphed anything on OC'tobcr 18th,
since they weren't even on board the
space station. The prerious crew h ad
re turned to E:irth a 111011th bl'fore and
their relie f crP.w was not schl'ouled to

r.ji•rlt•d fC'.lrn hi, spac·1·cr:ifl in a11
.1ttc111pt to g1·1 \·isual tr.ic:kin~! pr:1c:tic1?
(!Lis photo is o ften referred to ;is the
"cl.issical domed UFO" sht>lJ. UFO
researchers anri ma::azine edilors had
dearly not made e\·en a minimum of
effort to verify thew transparrn t
errors and mistakes. but instead 1nssed
011
the false data to the public.
Thou~ands more were decei\·rd.

...
'

•:

... :

La te i11 197'.l, a str;in~e objr,;t did
aµpt'a r in Skrlab sµ,11:t' photograph~.
Takl'n on Conrad's Skylab flight i11
June, lhe object was not 11oliced b\·
UFO researchr1s but by go\'ernm.:n·t
photo :111alysts. pl,t._ '33
Rather than ·•swi?ep the lJFO unde r
the rug", the officials look the other
t.ick: it m ight be a mysterious So,·iet
Satellite and could lie of great value to

. .... : . .,•. •

'

... •·.

-.- ..•·

.,.

l

r

t

i.

·.,.

,.,

blast o ff for ano!hl•r thrre weeks. The
.. ! .. ··., ·:--. · .•..;'-..:. ~:.....-_,;_,,: _,;.._'•.,•.,,.,, :::.,~.., ; ~;.,_,,_/ ~ ~...;i~._~;,,..;.r,..+.,_;.~~@..:·-~photogr:iph prin!t·d in the magazine
33
w<1s clt>arly labl'll·rl 1m its backsidl• as
..UFO .. 1ee,n fro,n Skvlot,.:?. The '!tongatcd ou,"c t i1 actually an a ,rstrio
t<1hn hy S-:<itt <:.::iq.>ent<•r on ~lt>rcury.
'" the 8r~:il,a" 1ur,91.i,. ElllMgomo"t of NASA photo SL2-16-109.
7 morl' than tPn years before. It t-pl,{q_
show,•d a limp balloon Ca rp<'nter had ')..\ "'a'';" !

58

.... ........:.. . ...... .

,

..

:,

f

rn;lit:1ry i11t1·lli~cncc. /\ prompt and
<?ncrg1•Lic investigation was launched.
The object looked like a long
cylinder with l\\'O square p:tddlcs
rr.srmbliug sol:i r panels at each end.
ily 11ac,,:-.u1i11~ its ,-tiigu:at 5i;:c on ~~o
negative, analysts were able. to
deter'.nine that it wa!> about 20 feet
long a mile away or 2000 feet long a
hundred milrs away.
A careful investigation revealed the
surprising answer. the UFO was
actually thousands of feet in length,
but its altitude was zero! lt was an
airstrip in the Brazilian jungles!
Further checking showed that the
objected appeared at the same spot in
Skylab photos taken months later; the
airfield was also found on an inter­
national aviation chart.
Recent UFO books and articles
h:ive resurrected the X-15 rocket plane
sightings of fifteen years ago. This has
prompted the NASA Headquarters
Public Affairs Office to reissue a
photograph taken by a belly camera of
the spacecraft at an altitude of about
60 miles (photo 76-H-139). v\o:\-'!. 34
Published reports speak of "fleets
of UFOs" at a range of 30 feet from
the X:15. But even a casual reader
with any familiarity with spacecraft
systems will recognize the effect for
what it was: "fireflies". This is a
phenomenon seen by many Mercury,
Vostok, and later spacemen, as flecks
of paint chipped off the spacecraft. On
the X-15, it was flecks of ice clinging
to the liquid oxygen tanks. The pilot
clearly describes the pieces as being
close-in, small, tumbling, and drifting
along with his vehicle through the
vacuum.
Considering these cases as I have
described them (and there arc other
lesser ones which [ have also investi­
gated to a successful conclusion),
what can we now say about authors
who present such evidence of
"astronaut UFOs"? While speaking
ominously about a NASA coverup and
of secret agencies which muzzle space•
men, these same researchers list such
quotations as:
J ohn Young: '.' Odds are UFOs
exist" .
Edgar '.\-litchell: "\Ve all k'now UFOs
are real".
Eugene Ceman: "I believe UFOs
belong to someone else and that they
arc fro m some other civilization".
Cordo n Cooper: " [ brlieve that
UFOs, under i11telligcnt con trol , have

... _.. - .· .

,;-..

j

r.

.. .

:·. - . ·. .."

'

.. .. .
,

....

-,/

: .
'

.

. ... ·•.

F lake of ice floating off of the X-15 rocket plane. Somo i nvcsti g:,1or~

call thi• a " large UFO". NASA photo 76 -H-139.

59

..-V--~~..,,......,,, . , , , , , , ~ ~ ~.....
.,,,--:-__,_...___ ~ _

••· .. - -, . ~ ~to,~J,._<.,.Q.""'
.
•""'"W.~

..,....._~ ,...,,, . ..

f ► OJ, 11:'C ♦ l♦IJ ."!" "-~--:"1\i

,,
f

l
•

I
J

,;

,.

Clouds of debris su rrou nd the Saturn booster rocket following Apollo ,opera t ion. Blow-up photos ot individual

pieces ot debris inside and outside the cabin have been called "UFOs". NASA photo AS17- 148-22687.

visited our planet for tho usands of
years".
None of these me n claim to ha\·e
seen UFOs in space. By now it should
be obvious to open-minded im·estiga­
tors that no other aHronaut claims to
ha\·e seen any either. Suggestions that
they have rt>ally done so are either
misconceptions. mi; repn•s1•ntalions. o r
frauds on the part of L: FO writers.
Yt>t another cast: in poi!lt has just
bt>en given, and it deals with the J ohn

Young quotation. Young, in Seattle in
1973, said that the chances were good
that there were in tell igen t civilizatio ns
on other planets (AP, Nov. 27, 1973).
The newsman started the article with
the lead, "John Young says that the
odds are that unidentiiied Flying
Objects do exi$t'', even though none
of Young's quoted words indicated
that at all. Beforr. you could say
"UFO tlap·•. th~ l.iFO writers had a
new authority :

John Yo ung says, " Odds are UFOs
exist".
It seems clear that astronauts as a
class or the population do n ot possess
any special knowledge about CFO:;
which they may have gained from
their own experiences. They are about
as well informed (or more truthfully.
as badl y misinformed) as the anirage
citizen. To quote them as above with
the sugiiestion that they are special
authoritit>s on UFOs is a misleading

60
.

• • w . - - •--· - · ...

-

--

-

- ~

..,

and inll•llectually dishonest tactic.
Three ti llll' space veteran Wally ::ichirra,
who according to lffOlogisls saw
"glowing masses"( actually lightning-lit
clouds, over the Ind ian Ocean) hos
written. "I do not know enough about
this subject to render an opinion of
any kind. The o!lly information l ~ave
is that which has been released to the
public through the years by the
various news media". UFO writers
would ha,·e us belieH~ that this is part
or a ,·ast conspiracy of lies which only
they can penetrate.
,Accil~ t:l.,.
The actual answi!r to the "shapeless
light" mystery illustrates the wa~·
NASA races real space mysteries. The
crew was puzzled by the sighting but
reported it to space officials who made
• no e ffort to conceal the incident. If
NASA were trying to co,·er up actual
UFO sightings by astronauts, this was
a good candidate for one-and it
would never have been publicized.
Astronaut Dick Gordon revealed to
me the unpublicized solution to the
publicized mystery. In a letter dated

Septemhcr 15. 1976, Cordon wrote:
Conrad on Gcmini-11 and Apollo-1 2.
" I ,•i\'idly re..:a!I the inciden t which
writes that " I never s:iw a l.Jf'O".
oc.:11rrcd when a light of indistinct
Astronaut "Dcke" Sla}·tor, claims t!1at
shape and size was spolled on o ur
"[ don't recollect anyone u,porting
return to earth... (it) did appear lo be
any UFOs on any of our nights''.
in the Indian Ocean. ln our discussions
"'Buzz" Ald rin went to the moon
and debriefings that occurred l:iter.
on Ai,ollo-11, on which the l.iFO
Schwcikart provided
the
Rusty
press lists at least three separate UFO
answer. He simply said, 'how about
incldenls. There were no UFOs:
the moon's reflection?' and, of course,
"There are people who say there's a
that is what it was... How often those
go\"ernment conspiracy to covu up the
of us in aviation have seen the moon's • existence of flying saucers." Aldrin
reflection on the water in the course
told a Reuters reporter in 1973,
of a nom1al flight. We simply did not
"That's a lot of hogwlsh."
put it together in returning from lunar
The L.M pilot on the next fligh~.
distance, where we had the black back­
Apollo-'12, was Alan Bean. Following a
ground of space, the dark night of the
new press conference in 1975 when
earth. and the moon behind us."
James Harder repeated his stories of
Other spacemen have been asked to
Apollo-11 and Apollo-12 UFOs, Bean
answer these questions). They have
told UPI that at no time during his
been forthright in their denials: "I
mission did he ever see an unidentified
never ha\'e personally seen anything I
object. "At no time did we see
could identify as a UFO", says John
anything
which was not of our
Glenn, now a Senator Crom Ohio.
spacecraft,
either during lunar orbit or
Astronauts Grissom and Young said,
during
the
voyage to and from the
"We have never seen any UFOs".
moon,"
Bean
stated.
Richard Gordon, who was with

A common sourco of space and othor UFOs
is shown hore. The aura and the lens-shaped
disc Is actually a sunrise photographed from
Skylab. NASA photo SL3-118,2177.

61

II

Th:.: AH:CJ ll1d l ·t111 \ Fdi. l!J io J
c:011li1n1c<l to g1•111•r,1t..: llt.:W ;JSlClJll;JUt
(;Fl) f-1iry IJlcs with tile rinony111011s
rcH•l;,tinn from "Mr. X", who hL·,.irtl
the Apt>II,>-I l ,htrn11:iuts d escribe
Hthre•: di::,· ::h:.!:J•.•\! s h:-u:l,:-i•.•:5 tl1;,t \.V' •n-•
paci11~ them ::ic r-i,:; th.: :;urfc1cc of the
moon. '' The best answer l.'o thi.;
f:tbrir.ltivn is in a I! tler from ;--:ASA
Assistcnt Administrator for Legislative
Afiairs
Rob(;rt
F'.
Allnutt,
to
Congr<)s;:nan
Bob
Casey,
dated
January 29, 1970: ''Conversation
between the Apollo 11 c,·ew :ind
~·Jission • Cont,ol were released live
during the entire Apollo 11 mission.
There were betwel)n 1000 and 1500
rep resentati\·es of the news media
present at the Houston News Cl)nter
listening and observing, but not one
has suggested that NASA withheld any
news or conversations of this nature."
The evidence is clear. There is, out
of all the dozens of "reports of
astronaut UFO sightings", no residue
of authentic cases, no 20:o or 5% or
even 0.01% of " true UFOs" behind all
the "noise". My research is compelling
in its conclusion: afler fifteen year3 of
manned space voyages including space
stations and landing on the moon,
spacemen have brought back not a:
shred of evidence-verbal, phpto•
graphic,
or
otherwise-for
the
existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft,
or "UFOs".
That" evidence, if it exists at all,
must be sought elsewh ere. The
performance and standards of conduct
of the UFO groups and of UFO writers
cannot be cause for optim;sm that
such evidence, if it exi;;ts. will bP.
recognized and correctly ~valuated.
The lesson of the "astronaut UFOs",
then, teaches us nothing about UFOs,
but a lot about UFO investigators.

Scientific Study nf Unidentified
Fly ing Objects (Condon Report},
Bant_am Edition, 1969, Chapter 6:
Visual
Observations
:\lade
bv
Astronauts/ Franklin E. Roach. Pag;s
176-209, with bibliography through
1967. Good bal"k;;round m:itNial
including unpublish<'d 1·alitl solutinns
to a numbL'r of c;isrs. Incorrect
solution
to
Gemini-:--~ I
case.
lnad..-4uat<- anal_.-~b and u1,j11stificd
encinr,;l)nH•nt ot f:,,r,;i ni-1 ',- ca.,,·.
Th i: £,!;;,: o/ Uc:ul,l_\', b} fl:,-n,·k and
Vallee. Hl'nry H,•:,:1ll'ry & Co., 1975.
Pa;:l· G:!,6-1 111 ::i S1.·ctit>11 cnllt·ci ..The

Sl.'!,·nlbl~ :it \\',,.-1;". \,L• fi,id tl1 c phony
Fa1u·..tt li., t. Li.; L l;a~ incorn:cl dales
and 111a11y lli;.:hi.:; nul ,if ~•H1ur11cc. On
J uly I, 1~7Li. lk J . .-\lk-11 Hyne k
rc,:i,".\"£•d 111 y ,,,·it.lean, and cndors,·d it,
anrl n•p11 :l'.11,·ci I hr. F'awcctt li, t. which
he ;·L'port,·d tl1,1t lw inr:luded in his
book as a ru,i1.>sity Olily. That is, just
becau~e ht' pre,t'nted it a~ fact to
thousands ot' ro:adt'rs '.\·as no reason for
anyone to concl11 dl.! he thought it was
true. This appallingly irresponsible
attitude towards rules of e\·idcnce
seems to in fer.t the whole UFO field.
Sightings
by
26
A stronauts
Co11iirm: UFOs Spied 011 Sl:ylabs (sic)
Jla11y Other Space Shots-U FOs Watch
Every tlo\'e NASA ;\Jakes, Say
Astronauts Who Were Tailed on Space
Shot, " National Tattler", March 17,
1974. This is an embellished version of
the same Fawcett fantasies. Weekly
tabloid newspaper "conformed to the
highest standards of modern reporting.
Tattler and its staff are dedicated to
total, truthful coverage... " In fact,
staffer Robert Abborino made no
effort to check any of Fawcett's
outrageous claims.
UFOs Past, Prese11t and Future, by
Robert Emenegger, research by Alan
. Sandler. Ballantine, 1974. Chapter 15,
"Na:;a", pages 100-106. Extensive
transcripts of space communications
cover up the fact that Sandler
carefuily selected evidence and must
have knowingly omitted information
which would have explained . many
cases. An excellent photo section is
included.
UFO Report, People Press, 1975.
"NASA Hiding UFOs From You", by
Robert D. Barry, pages 4-10. Barry is
associated
with
Carl
Mcintyre's
fundamentalist Christian group, and is
one of the wilder UFO writers. Even
the mass media has learned to
disregard his fictional descrip tions of
non-events. Here, he explains "why
NASA called in the CIA to keep these
photos secret", without explaining
how , in that case, he got copies. He
uses the forg.cd Gemini-7 photo
proudly.
Flying Saucers-Here and ,V ow', by
F'rank Edwa rd,,, Lyle Stuart. >iew
York.
1967.
Astruna~1t iar.ta~il's
w h()lly ur in part creatrd in the forti le
(and unlimill)d by w,il ily) mind o f
·11,-11-;man' l·'ra11 l- Ed1\Jrd,; :ire iound
on p:1ge$ t :L l HO. an<1 l !l 'i. Tltrnui,: h
s11d1 entriL'$ :i j,>11 rnalis111 stud t"n l can
trace thl· adual i::r,,wth of the myth.
, \ /'l:U Hui/din, :\l.1rd1-:\pril 1970

6:!

and l-'dJru.iry 197:; a11<! nthc•,~- T l11,
nyi11g saucer club llt'w.,;lettL• r b·,l
t:. pi fit s the dlsn•gard for i1:1p,,.·ti:tl
i11ws1i;,:atio11
o f cvid~•nc~
whid1
prtH·id1)d the climatr in wh:ch the
mylh ot' --astronaut liFOs " co11IJ g-101\·
and tluu nsh.
Th e Star, :Vfan.:h ~- 1976. pa;:,• 7.
Sequence or headlines: On the front
page, ''Astronauts Say: We Saw L:FOs
in Space". On pai::e 7, --Tc-iJ
Astronauts Con firm: We spotted l\\'O
UFOs". lll the article, ;\!cDi·:itt ta!k5
oi his UFO, and Cooper discusses his
exper:ences as a fighter pilot in
Germany-and makes 110 mention of
the space UFO associated with his
name. The headlines, as can be
expected in such a newspaper, are
deliberately misleading.
SAGA magazine,
May
1970:
Classified
TOP
SECRET-Apollo
Astronauts Reported Two
UFO
Sightings, by Beckley and Salkin, p. 13
rr: Complete story of Apollo-12 UFO;.
plus enough false information to
"discredit" the true explanation.
Quotes
"space
expert
Gary
Henderson", another active spreader
of the myth. Refers to long-discredited
stories of "secret dead Russian
cosmonauts" probably created by
F tank Edwards.
Houstvn Post, Nov. 30, 1975. page
1D: "Just One Astronaut Claims
Seeing UFO ", by Jim ;\laloney. 1his
sensible
and
sane
investigation
(i\lcDivitt stuck to his story) clearly
did not excite the national news media
and was relegated to the obscuri ty of a
local newspaper.
Science and .\lechanics, June 1969.
Cover Story:
"This
UFO
was
photographed by astronaut Gordon on
Gemini 11 flight" (the co\·er photo
shows a tremendously enlarged out of
focus image of a piece of insulation
floating a f.:w inches in fron t of the
camera). Page -1-1, Lloyd '.\.lallan: ··.-\re
liFO Space Crews Spying on ou r
Astronauts?" Descriptio n of the late
L. ~lallan's inter\'iews on Ge mini-l ;.
provides some new informaLion but
cements some old misconce ptirrns.
Also embellishes Condon R eport
"unknowns".
Lockhced-~.-\S.-\
Contract ;\ .-\ S
9 -5 191 (.\larch 19 70), ·'T1:ch:1kal
Report:
L'nid1.•11tified
Vi,;uJI
Ph1.•11<1mena ...\ssoc;ated wilh Sp:icl'
fli:,:ht''. F . HL•atty and J. R:.iron.
Dis<.: tb :ic•s the fr,1i,:1ne11ts ~<',· 11 :111d
photographt'd on ,\ pol!•J· 12, and
traces them t,> spacc,cr:ift effct·r;;.

~
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307 Fl!DEHAL B UILDING
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August 3, 1998
Ms . Mary D. Kerwin
Deputy Assoc. For Legislative Affairs
National Aeronautics & Space Administration
300 E Street, S . W.
Two Independence Square, Room 9L33
Washington , DC 20546
Dear Ms . Kerwin:
Enclosed please find a communication from (6) (6)
regarding several concerns about the space program .
------------
I woul d appreciate any assistance you could provide pertaining to
this matter. Please mark your return corre spondence to the
attention of Sherry Kuntz when responding to my office .
Thank you for your attention to my request .
D
Charles E. Grassley
United St ates Senator
CEG/sk
En c los ure
Committee Assignments:
FINANCE
JUDICIARY
AGRICULTURE
BUDGET
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
CHAIRMAN ,
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

.

(

Author: (b)(o)
<(b) (6)
Dat_e~
7/6/98 04:14 PM
Priority: Normal
TO: chuck grassley at Grassley-DC
Subject: Message from a Voter

~

at internet

Greetings Honorable Senator Grassley,
I have recently encountered a number of new and interesting
tidbits of i nf ormation concet"oing letters T hovo previ~unJy written to
you i n regard of the UFO phenomenon that seems to be happeni ng in the
United State s as well as the rest of the world. I greatly appreciate
all the i n f ormation you have led me to through our past correspondence .
I am hoping you c an help me track down a few more specific things.
Here is a something I heard from someone I was corresponding with:
11
0n Sunday, August 10, 1997 at around 9:45am CDT, I was wat-ching
TV and switched to the NASA channel f or news of the ongoing shuttl e
mission . At the time, they were broadcasting a nighttime view of Earth.
As I watched, I was surprised to see a light rising vertically from the
bottom of the screen where Earth was displayed. As it continued to rise
vertically (relative to the TV screen), the shut tle camera clearly began
to track the l i ght and kept the picture c entered on it .
"After it rose we ll above the horizon of Earth, the light made
an apparent 90 - degree turn to the r ight (again relative to the screen)
and continued off in that direction . The shuttle camera continued to
track the object a nd began to zoom i n for a closer l ook. At that point
NASA cut off the feed from the external camera and displayed the Houston
space center instead. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared to record this on
my VCR. The entire episode lasted l ess than a minute, so I was unable to
get the VCR ready i n time."
I am also interested in any information that can be relayed
about the Groom Lake Area , also know as Area 51, or Dreamland, and an
area known as Area S-4. The media has stated t hat these areas in the
Nevada desert are testing grounds for US "Black Projects". I believe
that vehicles such as the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Stealth Fighter
where tested here.
The gove rnment to date denies the existence of such places, even
though I have in my possession of several videotapes, pictures, and e ven
a Russian satellite image showing the area. Does such a place exist?
Or at leas t , are you, the Air Force, or NASA, whoever happens to be in
control of the site willing to tell us that is does exist. It is my
understanding that the Nellis Air Force Base surrounds Area 51, so I
imagine that t he Air force is the one who has jurisdic tion over the
Area.
Many peop le including Bob Lazar, Bill Uhouse, and the father of
a guy I work wi t h all claim to have worked in this secret area, and have
seen and worked on craft o f an alien origin .
Bill Ohouse claims that both President Nixon, and Bush visited
the Area 51 facility to examine the progress of recreating alien
technology. He also claims that the pro ject was going on with the aid
of an alien "gray" known as Jarod (JAY-rod ).
If there is any t ruth to thei r claims and the claims of many
others, I woul d wonde r why such a spectacular secret would be kept from
us, and why the aliens would not have made themselves known to t he
general populace of Eart h .
Please do not just send me another list of Project Blue Book
documents, a nd I have already seen the censored files released by the
CIA . These documents have been censored so all that they do is bring
more suspic ion toward the government, and they just make me think even
more that someone is hiding some thing. The thing I can "t figure out is
why.

Anything you can do to help in my search for the hidden truth is
greatly appreciated. Please help me find out if we do have aliens at
Area 51, or even an admission that Area 51 exists.
Thanks Muc~he-..:..
· -------,
(b) 16)

Here is a list of Organizations, and places which may be helpful in
helping track down some information:
Organizations - Military groups and civilian contractors.
•
Nellis Air Force Base - Controls the land surrounding Area Sl.
*
Nevada Test site - Borders base on the west. I nitially "owned"
Area Sl.
*
Security

Anonymous "Cammo Dudes" patrolling base perimeter.
*
"Janet" Aircraft - Official EG&G "airline" ferrying workers to
Groom Lake
*
~ir Force Flight Test Center - Agency that controls Area 51.
Based at Edwardo Air Force Base.
•
EG&G Special Projects - General contractor at Area 51.
*
Bechtel - General contractor at Nevada Test Site, with some
projects at Area 51.
*
Tonopah Test Range - "Semi-secret" aircraft testing base
northwest of Area 51
•
Lo ck.heed- Martin - Aircraft manufac turer for whom the base was
built.
*
Johnson Controls - Contractor at Nevada Test Site, possibly also
at Area 51.
*
Wackenhut Security - Security contractor at Nevada Test Site
Places
*
Rachel, Nevada - Nevada's "UFO capital", the closest town to
Area 51
*
Basecamp Airfield - "Secret" airfield in plain sight
*
Green River Launch Complex, Utah- According to "Popular
Mechanics" the site of the "new Area 51"
*
Papoose Lake - Site of Lazar's "Area S-4" south of Groom Lake
•
Tikaboo Peak - Last accessible viewpoint into Area 51

..

--------

Author: {~ (6)
<(o) (6)
Date:
7 /6/98 04 :48 PM
Priority: Normal
TO: chuck grassley at Grassley-DC
Subject : NASA

at internet

This is a continuation of an e-mail I just sent you. These are some
alleged conversations and observations made from NASA Astronauts. If
there is ANY truth to this, there is a big sha~e shame, on NASA. If you
could contact NASA on my behalf about t hese incidences ·r would be very
grateful.

(o) (6)

Major Gordon Cooper
One of the original Mercury Astronauts and the last American to fly in
space alone. On May 15, 1963 he shot into space in a Mercury capsule for
a 22 orbit journey around the world. During the fina l orbit, Major
Gordon Cooper told the tracking station at Much (near Perth Australia)
that he could see a glowing, greenish object ahead of him quickly
approaching his capsule. The UFO was real and solid, because i t wa s
picked up by Muchea's tracking radar .
Cooper's sighting was reported by the National Broadcast Company, which
was covering the flight step by step; but when Cooper landed, reporters
were told that they would not be allowed to question him about the UFO
sighting.
Major Cooper was a firm believer in UFOs. Ten years earlier, in 1951 he
had sighted a UFO while piloting an F-86 Sabrejet over Western Germany.
They were metallic, saucer-shaped discs at considerable altitude and
could out-maneuver all American fighter planes.
Major Cooper also testified before the United Nations:
"I believe that these extra -terres trial vehicles and their crews are
visiting this planet from other planets ... Most astronauts were
reluctant to discuss UFOs."
"I did have occasion in 1951 to have two days of observation of many
flights of them, of different sizes, flying in fighter formation,
generally from east to west over Europe . "
And according to a taped interview by J. L. Ferrando, Major Cooper said:
"For many years I have lived with a secret, in a secrecy imposed on all
specialists in astronautics. I can now reveal that every day, in the
USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition
unknown to us. And there are thousands of witness reports and a quantity
of documents to prove this, but nobody wants to make them public.
Why? Because authority is afraid that people may think of God knows what
kind of horrible invaders. So the password still is: We have t •o avoid
panic by all means."
"I was furthermore a witness to an extraordinary phenomenon, here on
this planet Earth. It happened a few months ago in Florida . There I saw
with my own eyes a defined area of ground being consumed by flames, with
four indentions left by a flying object which had descended in the
middle of a field. Beings had left the craft (there were other traces to
prove this). They seemed to have studied topography, they had collected
soil samples and, eventually, they returned to where they had come from,
disappearing at enormous speed .. . I happen to know that authority did
just about everything to keep this incident from the press and TV, in
fear of a panicky reaction from the public."

Ed White & James McDivitt
In June 1965, astronauts Ed White (first American to walk in space) and
James McDivitt were passing over Hawaii in a Gemini spacecraft when they
saw a weird-looking metallic object. The UFO had long arms sticking out
of it. McDivitt took pictures with a cine-camera . Those pictures have
never been released .

James Lovell and Frank Borman
In December 1965, Gemini astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman also
saw a UFO during their second orbit of their record-breaking 14 day
flight. Borman reported that he saw an unidentified spacecraft . some
distance from their capsule. Gemini Control, at Cape Kennedy told him
that he was seeing the final stage of their own Titan booster rocket.
Borman confirmed that he could see the booster rocket all right, but
that he could also see something completely different .
During James Lovell's flight on Gemini 7:
Borman:
ER GEMINI 7, HOUSTON HOW DO YOU READ?
Control: Loud and clear 7 go ahead.
Borman:
GOT A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.
Control:

This is Houston. Say again 7.

Borman:

SAID WE HAVE A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.

control:

Roger

Control:
Borman:

Gemini 7, is that the booster or is that an actual sighting?
WE HAVE SEVERAL ... ACTUAL SIGHTINGS.

Control:

. .. Estimated distance or size?

Borman:
WE ALSO HAVE THE BOOSTER IN SIGHT ...
Further controller cuts in: Gemini control here again, the reference in
that conversation was er bogey. It was er Borman who reported sighting
the bogey. Er this is Gemini control Houston at er 4 hours 24 minutes
into the flight.
Ironically, it was Lovell who ma de the classic statemen t "Please be
informed that there is a Santa Claus". This was during his Apollo 8
flight on Christmas day in 1968 - some people believe there's a deeper
meaning to these words, although the sceptics believe that this was
little more than American humour. However, Walter Schitta, who was
aboard Mercury 8, reputedly used Santa Clause as a code-name for a UFO
presence, adding some weight to the argument that Lovell was
experiencing another sighting.

Neil Armstrong & Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
According to the NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong the Aliens have a base on
the Moon and told us in no uncertain terms to get off and stay off the
Moon .
According to hitherto un-confirmed reports, both Neil Armstrong and
Edwin "Buzz" Aldri n saw UFOs shortly after that hi storic landing on the
Moon in Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969. I remember hearing one of the
astronauts refer to a "light" in or on a crater during the television
transmission, followed by a request from mission control for further
information. Nothi ng more was heard.

emp.1.oye~ ot t q lii nder 1 un nam,ed ra,di o j,a rps wi t j.1
I
their own VHF receiving facilities that b ypassed NASA' s b r o a d casting

A<a:c,;ord i a9 Lo a f.ormer NASA

outletc pic k e d u p

NASA:

t h e fol lo wing exchange:

What's there?
Mission Control calling Apollo 11 ...

Apollo 11: These "Babies " are huge , Sir! Enormous!
OH MY GOD! You wouldn't belie ve it!
I'm telling you there are other spacecraft out there,.
Lined up on the far side of the crater edge!
They ' re on the Moon watching us!
The two astronauts, talking to the NASA base in Houston.
Text of the conversation:
Astronaut 1: Hal What is it?
Astronaut 2: We have some explanation for that?
--BEEP-Houston: We have (not), don't worry, continue your program!
--BEEP-Astronaut 1: Oh boy it ' s a , it's, it, it is really something (similar
to)
fantastic here, you, you could never imagine this!
--BEEP-Houston: Roger, we know about that, could you go the other way, go back
the other way!
--BEEP-Astronaut 1: Well it's kind of (rigged) ha, pretty spectacular ..... .
god . . . what is that there? ··,
--BEEP-Astronaut 1: It's (hollow), what the hell is that?
Houston: Go Tango, Tango!
--BEEP-Astronaut 1: Ha! There's kind of light there now!
--BEEP-Houston : Roger, we got it, we (watched it), lose communication,
Bravo Tango, Bravo Tango , select Jezebel, Jezebel!
--BEEP- Astronaut 1: . ..... ya, ha! .... . . but this is unbelievable!
Houston: (we call you up Bravo Tango, Bravo Tango)!
A certain professor, who wished to remain anonymous, was engaged in a
discussion with Neil Armstrong during a NASA symposium.
Professor:

What REALLY happened out there with Apollo 11?

Armstrong:

It was incredible, of course we had always known
there was a possibility, the fact is, we were
warned off! (by the Aliens). There was never any

question then of a space station or a moon city.

Professor:

How do you mean "warned off"?

Armstrong:

I can't go into details, except to say that their
ships were far superior to ours.both in ·size and
technology - Boy, were they big! ... and

menacing!

No, there is no question.of a space station.

Professor:

But NASA had other missions after Apollo 11?

Armstrong:

Naturally - NASA was committed at that time, and
couldn't risk panic on Earth. But it really was a

quick scoop and back again.
According to a Dr. Vladimir Azhazha:
"Neil Armstrong relayed the message to Mission Control that two large ,
mysterious objects were watching them after having landed near the moon
module. But this message was never heard by the public -- because NASA
censored it ."
According to a Dr. Aleksandr Kasantsev, Buzz Aldrin took color movie
film of the UFOs from inside the module, and continued filming them
after he and Armstrong went outside .
Armstrong confirmed that the story was true but refused to go into
further detail, beyond admitting that the, CIA was behind the cover- up.

Donald Slayton
Donald Slayton a Mercury astronaut revealed in an interview he had seen
UFOs in 1951:
"I was testing a P-51 fighter in Minneapolis when I spotted this object.
I was at about 10,000 feet on a nice, bright, sunny afternoon. I thought
the object was a kite, then I realized that no kite is gonna fly that
high. II

As I got closer it looked like a weather balloon, gray and about three
feet in diameter. But as soon as I got behind the darn thing it didn't
look like a balloon anymore. It looked like a saucer, a disk .
About the same time, I realized that it was suddenly going away from me
- - and there I was, running at about 300 miles per hour. I tracked it
for a little way, and then all of a sudden the damn thing just took off .
It pulled about a 45 degree climbing turn and accelerated and just flat
disappeared."

Major Robert White
On July 17, 1962 Major Robert White reported a UFO during his
fifty - eight-mile high flight of an X-15. Major White reported:
"I have no idea what it could be. It was grayish in color and about
thirty to forty feet away." Then according to a Time Magaz ine article,
Major White exclaimed over the radio:

"There ARE things out there! There absolutely is!"

NASA Pilot Joseph A. Walker
On May 11, 1962 NASA pilot Joseph Walker said that one of his tasks was
to detect UFOs during his X-15 flights. He had filmed five or six UFOs
during his record breaking fifty - mile - high flight in April, 1962. It was
the second time he had filmed UFOs in flight. During a lecture at the
Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space Research in
Seattle, Washington he said : ..
"I don't feel like speculating about them. All"I know i:s what appeared
on the film which was developed after the flight." - Joseph Walker
To date none of those films has been released to the public for viewing.

Commander Eugene Cernan
Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17. In a Los Angeles Times article
in 1973 he said, about UFOs:
"· .. I've been asked (about UFOs) and I 've said publicly I thought they
{UFOs) were somebody else, some other civilization."

NASA's Maurice Chatelain
In 1979 Maurice Chatelain, former chief of NASA Communications Systems
confirmed that Armstrong had i ndeed reported seeing two UFOs on the rim
of a crater. Chatelain believes that some UFOs may come from our own
solar system -- specifically Titan .
"The encounter was common knowledge in NASA, but nobody has talked about
it until now. 11
" ... all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed, both at a distance and
sometimes also quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial
origin - flying saucers, or UFOs, if you want to call them by that name.
Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed Mission Control, who
then ordered absolute silence ."

Pilot Walter Schirra
"I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the
astronauts to use the code name 'Santa Claus • to indicate the presence
of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements
were barely noticed by the general public.

James Lovell
It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8
command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to
hear: ' PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.' Even though this
happened on Christmas Day 1968, many people sensed a hidden meaning in
those words."
The rumors persist. NASA may well be a civilian agency, but many of its
programs are funded by the
defense budget and most of the astronauts are subject to military
security regulations . Apart from the fact that the National Security
Agency screens all films and probably radio communications as well.We
have the statements by Otto Binder, Dr. Garry Henderson and Maurice
Chatelain that the astronauts were under strict orders not to discuss
their sightings. And Gordon Cooper has testified to a United Nations
committee that one of the astronauts actually witnessed a UFO on the
ground. If there is no secrecy, why has this sighting not been made
public?

Shuttle Discovery - Mission 20
The voices of the astronaut and of the amateur radio station WA3NAN
Goddard in the Space Center of Greenbelt Maryland .
WA3NAN: We are retransmitting the Space Shuttle airground communication
from mission 20 . This is WA3NAN .
Astronaut James F. Buchli ...
Astronaut: Houston, this is Riscovery, we still have the alien
spacecraft
under observance ...

JLJN 2 Lt /999

L:ATW:mtg: U1998-407f

The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Snowe:
Thank you for your May 18, 1998, letter on behalf of (b) (6} _ _
regarding
Unidentified Flying Objects and his concern over the "authenticity of the recently
released Mariner photographs."

There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (b) (6
is
referring to the images taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). NASA does not
tamper with images received from MGS. These images are received on Earth in digital

format, meaning "O and 1". NASA merely translates these digital images, using
computer processing, into actual images. All images and other instrument data is
deposited in a publicly accessible archive within six months after receipt where they are
available to everyone. All the images currently released can be found on the Internet at
http://photojournal.jp1.nasa.gov.
We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
you in responding to {6) (6)
Sincerely,

.,d "1J

• ... , . •ieninaer
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs

ecc:
S/ Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)

((J/22-- ltc8 w.1

-----a
COMMnTEES:
~ OLYMPIA J. SN OWE
MAINE
ARMED SERVICES
CoUNSEL TO THE AsslSTANT
BUDGET
COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
MA..K.,:1TV LEADER
250 RUSSELL S ENATE OFFICE 8UILD1NG
TRANS PORTATION
(202) 224-5344
CHAIR OF
OCEANS ANO ASHERIES
SUBCOMMITTEE
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-1903
SMALL BUSINESS
May 18, 1998
Mr. Lawrence E . Medway
Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
National Aeronautic and Space Administration
300 E . Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20546
Dear Mr. Medway :
I am writing to x ou regarding the concerns of my constituent, (o (6)
(b) (6)
_:_:.:.:--- of Stonington, Maine.
(~~)
is interested in U.F . O. 's and the recent photos of
Mars which were recently released. (o) (6)
___
is not
convinced wi th the authenticity of the recently released Mariner
photographs . Further, he questions the authenticity based on the
picture only having 75 shades of grey, rather than t he 256 it is
supposed to have. Any information you could provide which would
help me address his concerns would be appreciated .
Thank you for your time and attention.
lticerel~ ,
1
~t. -~
uni~
tes senator
OJS:mjb
AUBURN
Two GAEAT FALLS Pt.Av.
Su1Te 78
A UBURN, ME 04210
A UGUSTA
68 SEWALL STI1EET, SUITE 101C
AUGUSTA, ME 04330
(207) 622-8292
(207) 786-2451
BANGOR
ONE CUMBERLAND PLACE, SUITE 306
0ANGOA, ME 04401
(207) 945--0432
B tDDEFORO
231 M AIN Smerr. Su1TE 2
8100,•0RO, M E 04005
(207) 282--4144
PORTUINO
3 CANAL PtAZA, SUITE 601
P,O. Box 188
POATLANO, ME04112
(207) 874'"°883
PRESOUE ls~e
169 ACAOfMV STI1fe1', Sum 3
P•Fsoue i s, e. M E 04769
(207) 764-5124
M AINE RELA'< SERVICE
TOO 1" 955-,3323
IN MAINE CALL TOLL-FREE l -800-432- 1599
PRINTEO ON RECYCLED PAPER

L98-407 - Sen. Snowe
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects." As
stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed NASA to end its
search program. T~r-extraterrestfials is conduetee-through-Ibe.Seatch..for:.
E ~ t e Higenee-I-nsHtute-(-SET+Institute) in-Mountain View, CA.
(_
As for your interest in the recent photos of Mars taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS),
not the Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "O and l" . NASA does
not tamper with these images. However, the images do require computer processing before they are
suitable for public viewing. All images and other instrument data obtained from the MGS will be deposited
in a publicly accessible archive, and they will then be available to everyone, scientists and citizens alike,
who wants to examine them and draw their own individual conclusions. You can access all the images
currently released from the following website: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be useful
to you.

L98-407 - Sen. Snowe
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects." As
stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed NASA to end its
search program. Today th@ searoh :fer-extratertEtrials is condttst«l-through..Ihe-Sear:ch.ior.
E~rate11esli ial fotemgenee-Ins-t1-tute-(-SffFHnstitute) in-Mountain View, CA.
(___
As for your interest in the recent photos of Mars taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MOS),
not the Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "0 and I". NASA does
not tamper with these images. However, the images do require computer processing before they are
suitable for public viewing. All images and other instrument data obtained from the MGS will be deposited
in a publicly accessible archive, and they will then be available to everyone, scientists and citizens alike,
who wants to examine them and draw their own individual conclusions. You can access all the images
currently released from the following website: http://photojoumal.jpl.nasa.gov/
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this informatio n will be useful
to you.

.___

ACTION REQUIRED
CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY
Office of Legislative Affairs
NASA Headquarters
300 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20546
TO:
PHONE:
FAX:

DATE: May 26, 1998
PAGES, if faxed: 3

S/Ruth Netting
PHONE:
FAX:

Anne Ward
(202) 358-1946
(202) 358-4343

Action assigned to: S/Ruth Netting
Due date: June 9, 1998
Information copies:
Action number/ Member: L98-407- Sen. Snowe
INSTRUCTIONS:
Please prepare a draft reply to the attached Congressional inquiry and send it
via electronic mail to the following address: Anne.Ward@hq.nasa.gov
or send a copy of your reply on a diskette to the attention of Anne Ward.
If you need clarification of this assignment or additional time to prepare this
reply, please contact Anne Ward.
MESSAGE:
Ruth, If you answer this before June 1, please send answer to me.
Thanks.
Helen

< CONFIRMATION REPORT>
C
TRANSM I T
05-26-1998(TUE) 10:26
J
NO.
DATE
TIME
DESTINATION
PG.
DURATION
MODE
RESULT
18502
5-26
10:25
NASA HQTS
2
0°00'52"
NORMAL
OK
2
0·00•52"

-,
HegClq Yarters Action l racKing '5ystem (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00407
_________ who's interested in U.F.O.
Title : Sen Snowe fwds ltr from (b) (6 )
and th e recent Mars photo
Recipient:
UHeffernan
Author:
Organization:
SNOWE
SENATE
_,
Date Written:
Date Received :
05/18/1998
05/26/1998
Date Concurred:
Action Office:
LD/Rothman:P
Status:
Open
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
06/18/1998<<
Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (o) (6) _ _ _
OF STOCKINGTON, MAINE, WHO'S
INTERESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED.
Comments:
Enclosures:
NO
Related Records :
Keywords: {b) (6)
File Plan:
05/26/1998
_ _STONINGTON, MAINE U.F.O. MARS
Analyst: BMoore
Page 1 of 1

,o ~
1 _t

0~

{;
L:ATW:mtg:U1998-407f
~

/

DRAFT

7/;>

y

he Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
United States Senanns \. .,
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Snowe:

There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (6>l 6)
is
referring to the images taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). NASA does not
tamper with imageveceived from MGS. These images are received on Earth in digital
format, meaning "0~nd 1". NASA merely translates these digital images, using
cq_mputer processing, into actual images. All images and other instrument data is
deposited in a publicly accessible archive within six months after receipt where they are
available to everyone. All the images currently released can be found on the Internet at
http://photojournal.jp1. nasa.gov.
We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
___.
you in responding tol 6) (6)

_____

Sincerely,

Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs

..

ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)

5
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00494
Title: Ward/White House Referral: UFO Hearings
Recipient:
A/Goldin
Author:
Organization:
(15) (6)
White House
Action Office:
UWard:S
Status:
Closed
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Date Written:
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
05/17/1998
06/18/1998
06/26/1998
06/26/1998
07/15/ 1998<<
07/15/1998
Abstract:
White House Correspondence from (6) (6)
who supports having congressional hearing regarding the
----existence of UFO's.
Comments:
Note: Vanessa needs letterhead copy of signed/dated response.
Enclosures:
White House Memo
Related Records:
A/1998-00416
Keywords: (b} (6)
File Plan: 1320.4
06/24/1998
J
UFO, hearings
Analyst: JMassey
Page 1 of 1

JUN 2 4

L:ATW:mtg :U1998-494f

(6) (6)

Dear (b) (6)
The White House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17, 1998, letter to
President Clinton concerning possible hearings on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on UFO. Enclosed is a Fact Sheet, "The
US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects," which gives a brief history of NASA's
investigations into UFO.
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be helpful to
you.

Sincerely,

Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure
ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Sue J. Smith
Director, Office of Agency Liaison
Room 6, OEOB
The White House
Washington, DC 20502

&l-alt:ii

l tt.LY

}J.12

' I i ~lr:;y

THE W HITE H OUS E
WASHINGTON
I
l:
DATE
MEMORANDUM FOR:
'
J.
J
c;f'x1
FROM :
SMITH
SUE
DIRECTOR, OFFfd[ OF AGENCY LIAISON
SUBJECT:
REFERRAL OF CASEWORK IN BULK
An unprecedented number of individuals still write the President and
the First Lady for help. I know that this has meant a far greater
volume of mail for your agency than ever before. I appreciate your
continuing cooperation i n our efforts to be a ·s respons i ve as
possible.
Th e attached l et t ers have not received a White House Staff response.
I am forwarding this correspon den ce to your agency f or any
appropriate action.
Please return the original incoming letter, along with a copy of any
written or telephone response, to me at the address below. I also
would appreciate y our sending a copy of y our agency ' s log of the
nam~§ and adclr@&&@B of 1:h@Be :iFidi vielual 9 . Any misr ~farralg should
be r e ttirn.ed -C9 my o.r:.i:u;~,
i.i: yg~ 11.§V~ qy~etiQns you can reach me at:
4 5 6 - 7486.
Su e J . Smith
Director, Office of Agency Liaison
Room 6, OEOB
The White Ho u se
Washi ngton, D.C.
20502
Again , t hank you for your continuing help.
A98'- 0 I I C,'f

From nobody@wwwr.-wrutehouse.gov Sun May 17 17:57:37 l998
Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 17:54:05 -0400
From: (6) (6)
Subject: InboW1d-White_House_WWW_MAIL => PRESIDENT
Apparently-to: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
To: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
Errors-to: The Postmaster <P,Qstmast~I.whitehouse.gov>
<(b) (6)

Reply-to: {6) (6)

>

Message-id: <199805l 72154.RAA07723@www1.whitehouse.gov>
Keywords: WWW-Correspondence; ; Ask a specific question regarding
Administration policy; Science or Technology; Private Citizen;
Comments: Forwarded from White House WWW
Comments: This message scanned by SCAN version 0. 1 jms/960226
[Connection Infonnation]

CLIENT:
BROWSER

ww-trD2.proxy.aol.com(l 52.163.201.136]

URL:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_President.html

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.0; AOL 3.0; Wmdows 95; Sony

[Sender Infonnation]
PERSONAL-NAME: {6) (6)
EMAlL-ADDRESS:
ORGANIZATION:
RELATIONSHIP:
STREET-ADDRESS:

01Y:

(6) (6)

---------i

Ventura
STA1E-PROvrnCE:
Ca
ZIP-CODE:
93004
~Q1.JNTR.Y;
l Sf}
[Message Information)

PURPOSE:
TOPIC:
AFFILIATION:
SUBJECT:

Ask a specific question regarding Administration policy
Science or Technology
Private Citizen
UFOs

[Message)
Dear Mr. President,
It is my understanding that you, Mrs. Clinton, Vice-President
Gore and heads of Congress, including the CIA director,
members of the Senate and House, the Executive Branch and
senior military reps in the Pentagon were briefed in or around
December of 1997 by Dr. Steven Greer, International Director
of CSETI( The Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial
Intelligence). Basically, he calls on you and other members of

congress to hold open congressional meetings. What is your
positon and intent on this matter? Will you push for open
hearings or are you stonewalled as well by MJ-12? Certainly on
your appoinonent as President you were briefed on the
existence of UFOs. Please use your Executive power to report
and open the truth to the American people. It is time. Your
personal reply is respectfully requested. Thank you

Sincerely,
(b) (6)

L:ATW:mti;,:U1998-494f
(bf (o)

Dear lb) (o)

The White House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17, 1998, letter l'"o ~:QC:: J ot.i:!41..:f-. ( ;;~
0
concerning possible hearings on t1FQ!s.
. - ~ r-- .
.
,
(
f ')
I)
~lll\,cl•Cl.f\+.v~ '"' .'' ''~ a lOJ <.?d-.,. u
~
We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on U£f)\ -t-.T-he-att-aeAed-fact"Sflea,"The
brief history of NASA's
US Government and Unidentified Flyin Objects," iv~
investigations into UFd~. llo\t1e!~f.i
er
be:--.
ge-vemment is curFently inve&tl~aling UFO's.

a

We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust t is information will be helpful to you.
Sincerely,

Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure

ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Sue J . Smith
Director, Office of Agency Liaison
Room 6, OEOB
The White House
Washington, DC 20502

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HAT S)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: U1998-00494
Title: Ward/White House Referral : UFO Hearings
R e cip ient:
A/Goldin
Author:
'.@.36)
Organization:
White House
Action Office:
L/Ward:S
Status:
Open
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, L/Heninger, UKerwin
Abstract:
White House Correspondence from 6) (6)
existence of UFO's.
Date Written:
05/17/1998
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted :
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
06/18/1998
07/15/1998<<
07/15/ 1998
who supports having congressional hearing regarding the
Comments:
Note: Vanessa needs letterhead copy of signed/dated response.
Enclosures:
White House Memo
Related Records:
A/1998-00416
Keywords:
File Plan:
06/18/1998
UFO, hearings
Analyst: JMassey
Page 1 of 1

L
Page
6/17/98
1
CORRESPONDENCE ACTION STATUS HISTORY
15:54:01
Correspondence and Action Tracking System
Code
A98-01199
ID Number:
Title:
A
WHR BULK: CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON UFO'S
Date Written:
Date Received:
Organization:
A
Recipient:
GOLDIN
Original Date Due:
>> Current Date Due:
Submitted for Signature:
Date Signed:
*Other Recipients/ Organizations*:
05/17/1998
06/17/1998
07/15/1998
07/15/1998 <<
j Date Completed:
Author:
(6J (6)
Organization:
WHR BULK
•other Authors I Organizations":
Action Office:
L
Signature Office:
L
Action Officer:
HEFFERNAN
Signature Officer:
HEFFERNAN
Status: Open
Info Copies:
A,P
Security:
Public
Priority:
In/Out:
Normal
Incoming
Abstract: WHR BULK: VIA E-MAIL, (6) (6)
, VENTURA, CA, SUPPORTS HAVING CONGRESSIONAL
HEARINGS REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF UFO'S.
Enclosures: NONE
Comment:
Keywords;
WHR BULK CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS UFO'S ET'S
Related Records:
File plan:
1320-1 G
Ad Hoc:
A/1998-00461
Clerk:
vc

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: A/1998-00461
Title: WHR Bulk: Congressional Hearings on UFO's
Recipient:
A/Goldin
Author:
Organization:
WHR Bulk
Action Office:
UHeffernan
St atus:
Open
Signature Office:
U Heffernan
Info Offices:
A/Goldin, P/WILHIDE
Date Written:
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
05/17/1998
06/17/1998
07/15/1998<<
07/15/1998
Abstract:
WHR Bulk: Via E-mail,(b) <6>ventura, CA, supports having congressional hearings regarding the existence
of UFO's.
Comments:
Enclosures:
None
Related Records:
A98-01199
Keywords: WHR Bulk California Congressional Hearings UFO's
File Plan: 1320-1 G
06/17/1998
Analyst: VCoates
Page 1 of 1

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMINGI CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: U1998-00470
Title: WARD/Rep. Gordon re taxpayers money on space aliens.
Recipient:
UHeffernan
Author:
Organization:
GORDON
HOUSE
Date Written:
06/04/1998
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
06/15/1998
Action Office:
L/Ward:S
Status:
Closed
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, L/Heninger, UKerwin, LO/Rothman
Abstract:
REP. GORDON WRITES ON BEHALF OF (6) (6)
SPENT ON SPACE ALIENS.
06/18/1998
06/18/1998
07/06/1998<<
RE TAXPAYERS MONEY BEING
Comments:
Enclosures:
YES LTR
Related Records:
Keywords: (b) (6) SPACE ALIENS TAXPAYERS MONEY, UFO
File Plan: 1320.4
06/18/1998
Analyst: BMoore
Page 1 of 1

J N I8

L:ATW:mtg: U1998-470f
(o) (6)

Deadb) (6)
Congressman Bart Gordon has asked NASA to respond to your recent letter to him
wherein you enclosed an article on Congress funding the search for extraterrestrials.
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects."
As stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed
NASA to end its search program.

Today the search for extraterrestrials is conducted through The Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA.
We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be useful
to you.
Sincerely,
I.

lYnn W.~He;in~ar
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure
cc:
The Honorable Bart Gordon
ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Patton Lane@ Hill Office (2201 RHOB)

~ls\cei

~

Un i t (

(b) (6)
——_——_——_—
So Kark Bardo
apenas
HoalalMDosshibevall dabasbeatosballbaoetlicel hl

'201 AAVBURN BUILOING
WASHINGTON. DC 2051~206
12021225-4231
FAX: 1202l 22S-6887

~BAft'f GORDON
6TH DISTRICT. TENNESSEE
COMMERCE COMMITTEE
SCIENCE COMMlffiE
RANK ING MEMBER
SUSCOMMITitE dNSPACE

<trongress of tbe Wniteb ~tates
~ouse of l\epresentatibes

106 SOUTli MAPLE STREET
PO. BOX 1986
MURFREESBORO, TN'.31133
l615l89e-1986
FAX: {815) 896--8218

17 SOUlH JEFFEflSON STI\EET
P.O. 8OX 1U0

COOKEVILLE. TN 38501
1'93l J528-5907

June 4, 1998
Ms . Mary D. Kerwin
Deputy Associate Administrator For Legeslative Affairs
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Two Independence Square, Room 9L33
300 E St., SW
Washington, D. C . 20546
Dear Ms . Kerwin,
(6) (6)

I am writing to you on behalf of my constituent , (6) (6)
, and have enclosed a copy of her inquiry .
I would

appreciate i t if you wou l d respond direct l y to my constituent, as
well as send a copy to me for record keeping .
I look forward to
receiving your response.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this
matter . Please ca l l if you n eed more information or have further
questions .
Stay in touch,

BART GORDON
Member of Congress
BJG/pl

email: bart.gordon@mail.house.gov

Internet: http:/ /www.house.gov/gordon/

I’m madder than R2D2 with a loose ‘
bolt that our free-spending Congress
is pa ying 120 mijlion buck "

te contect liens, EI Inset,
carats ‘Dr, Ruth Sais

8661 “61 MOM SHIN OTHOM ATIIIM

'

.

The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/ facts/HTM L/FS-017-HQ.htm I

NASA Facts f IL£ COPY
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
NASA Head(1Jares
Public A f0. irs Offce

CcdeP
300 E Street SW
washington DC 2054 6

FS-1997-01-017-HQ

The US Government and Unidentified
Flying Objects
No branch of the United States Government is currently involved
with or responsible for investigations into the possibility of alien life
on other planets or for investigating Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFO's). The US Air Force (USAF) and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) have had intermittent,
independent investigations of the possibility of alien life on other
planets; however, none of these has produced factual evidence that
life exists on other planets, nor that UFO's are related to aliens.
From I 947 to 1969, the Air Force investigated UFO's; then in 1977,
NASA was asked to examine the possibility of resuming UFO
investigations. After studying all of the facts available, it was
determined that nothing would be gained by further investigation,
since there was an absence of tangible evidence.
In October 1992, NASA was directed by Congress to begin a
detailed search for artificial radio signals from other civilizations
under the NASA Towards Other Planetary Systems (TOPS)/High
Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS) program (also known as the
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project). Congress directed
NASA to end this project in October 1993, citing pressures on the
US Federal budget. The HRMS did not detect any confirmed signal
before it was stopped. However, similar work will continue in a
more limited manner through efforts of private groups and through
academic institutions. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA, effectively
replaced the Government project, borrowing the signal processing
system from NASA. The SETI Institute is a nonprofit corporation
conducting research in a number of fields including all science and
technology aspects of astronomy and planetary sciences, chemical
evolution, the origin of life, biological evolution, and cultural
evolution.
During several space missions, NASA astronauts have reported
phenomena not immediately explainable; however, in every instance
NASA determined that the observations could not be termed
"abnormal" in the space environment. The 1947 to 1969 USAF
investigations studied UFO's under Project Blue Book. The project,
headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was

1 of 3

06/16/ 1998 10:35 AM

.l'he US.dovemment and Unidentified Flying Objects

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-017-HQ.html

terminated December 17, 1969. Of the total of 12,6 18 sightings
reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remain "unidentified."
The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an
evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado
entitled, "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;" a review
of the University of Colorado's report by the National Academy of
Sciences; previous UFO studies; and Air Force experience
investigating UFO reports during the 1940's, '50's and '60's. As a
result of experience, investigations, and studies since 1948, the
conclusions of Project Blue Book were: (1) no UFO reported,
investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our
national security; (2) there was no evidence submitted to, or
discovered by, the Air Force that sightings categorized as
"unidentified" represented technological developments or principles
beyond the range of modem scientific knowledge; and (3) there was
no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified"
were extraterrestrial vehicles.
With the termination of Project Blue Book, the USAF regulation
establishing and controlling the program for investigating and
analyzing UFO's was rescinded. Documentation regarding the
former Project Blue Book investigation was permanently transferred
to the •Modem Military Branch, National Archives and Records
Service, in Washington, DC 20408, and is available for public
review and analysis.
Since the termination of Project Blue Book, nothing has occurred
that would support a resumption of UFO investigations by the
USAF or NASA. Given the current environment of steadily
decreasing defense and space budgets, it is unlikely that the Air
Force or NASA will become involved in this type of costly project
in the foreseeable future.
Since neither NASA nor the Air Force is engaged in day-to-day
UFO research, neither one reviews UFO-related articles intended for
publication, evaluates UFO-type spacecraft drawings, or accepts
accounts of UFO sightings or applications for employment in the
field ofaerial phenomena investigation.

UFO Points of Contact
1. For further information on the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence, please contact the SETI Institute, 2035 Landings
Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415) 960-4530.
2. News media requiring Project Blue Book files should contact
the National Archives Public Affairs Office, (202) 501 -5525.
Public queries should be addressed to the Project Blue Book
archivist at (202) 501-5385. For queries not related to Project
Blue Book, contact the National Archives receptionist at (202)
501-5400. Documentation is available from: Modem Military
Branch, National Archives and Records Service, Eighth Street
and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408.
3. The Air Force publication, "The Roswell Report: Fact vs.

2 of3

06/16/ 1998 10:35 AM

l'hc US Clovemme n t and Unidentified Fly ing O bjects

.

"

http://www.hq.nasa .gov/offi cc/pao/ facts/l lT M L/FS-O I ? - HQ.html

Fiction in the New Mexico Desert," a lengthy document
providing all of the details available from the Air Force on the
Roswell incident, is available for $52 from the US
Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents,
Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328.
4. There are a number of universities and professional scientific
organizations that have considered UFO phenomena during
periodic meetings and seminars. A list ofprivate
organizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in
Gale's Encyclopedia ofAssociations.
5. Persons wishing to report UFO sightings are advised to
contact law enforcement agencies.

Responsible NASA Official: Elsie Weigel - eweigel@hg.nasa.gov
Web Page Curator: Woody Smith - woody.smith@hq.nasa.gov
Web Designer: Pamela Sams
Revised: February 14, 1997

3 of 3

06/ 16/ 1998 10:35 AM

-
L:A1W:mtg:U1998-470f
(6} (6)
Dear 'Cb) (6)
Congressman Bart Gordon has asked NASA to respond to your recent letter to him
wherein you enclosed an article on Congress funding the search for extraterrestrials.
Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects."
-'1Ae Congress in 1993 directed NASA to end
~
¥01:1 will Aete-.tAaHl'l the secenEI paragrc1~
~ ~
·its-search t o r e ~
,;
~
1-Js
. '\ \ \
<;,,Q_ ~
Today the search for extraterrestrials is conducted through The Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA.
0 ~ \i Q!. ~ - . . . )
1
~ ..J J\--e.
We appreciate your interest in this matter~~ ~ k v-:- 'f- f ~
( ~< +
Sincerely,
~~
~
Is
1
>-1} ~
\
.
X'.t.
' \J
1<:>_,,.
•
)'~
~ - ~~
,/
·v\.,~
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure
cc:
The Honorable Bart Gordon
~
~
'f
~~
~
~9.

.....

ecc:
S/Ruth Netting

LB/Barbara Cherry
Sent to Patton Lane @ Hill Office (2201 RHOS)

LA98-00106

Security : U

Type: I

Written : 03/16/98
Received: 04/23/98

To:

No.

Name
GOLDIN

1
0
0

43

Organization
ADMINISTRATOR

WHR

0
0

Action/Info: A
Due Date - Current:
Due Date - Original:
Suspense Status:
Date Completed:

Topics

!Keywords

05/28/98
05/28/98
C
05/01/98

WHITE
HOUSE
CSETI
HEARING
PUBLIC
UFO
EXTRATERRESTRIAL
EVIDENCE

Action Office: L/S
WARD
Info Copy: AI,EH,LH,MDK
Signature Office: HENINGER
Enclosures: N
Clerk : JM
Interim Replies
Dates:
Comments :
Response Progress :

Rel'd records: A98-00789
File plans : 1320.4
Storage Location:
Summary of Contents:
WHITE HOUSE REFERRAL : (o) (B)
, MEMBER OF CSETI, SUPPORTS OPEN CONGRESSIONAL
HEARINGS, OR A PRESIDENTIAL DISCUSSION, REGARDING EVIDENCE AS TO THE EXISTENCE
OF ALIEN BEINGS AND SPACECRAFT.

Referred
From :

No.

Organization
0
0

0

AY
L:ATW:mtg:LA98-106f
(6) (6)

Dear(Df(o)
The White House has forwarded to NASA for response your letter of March 16, 1998, in which
you advocate Congressional Hearings or a Presidential Discussion regarding alien beings and
their spacecraft.
Enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet entitled "The U.S. Government and Unidentified Flying Objects."
This Fact Sheet gives a brief outline of NASA's research into UFO's and will give you other
points of contact you may wish to pursue.
We appreciate your interest in this matter.

Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure
This letter came to us via_the White House Bulk Mail

5lih1 cw;✓

c#t

5"/11w

113(

~-; /7 l
I

Correspondence and Action Tracking System
4122/98
15:46:44
CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
Code A
ID Number:
Title:
A98-00789
WHR BULK: PUBLIC CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON EXTRATERRESTRIAL EVIDENCE
GOLDIN
Recipient:
Organization: A
Date Written:
Date Received:
Original Date Due:
>> Current Date Due:
Submitted for Signature:
Date Signed:
•other Recipients / Organizations•:
Author:
'
05/28/1998 <<
j Date Completed:
,(6\ (6)- - ,
, '
03/16/1998
04/22/1998
05/28/1998
I
I
Organization: WHR BULK
•other Authors/ Organizations*:
/
Action Office: L
Signature Office:
Action Officer: HEFFERNAN
Signature Officer:
Status: Open
L
In/Out: Incoming
Priority: Nonnal
Info Copies:
A. AB,S, P
*Responsible Office I Responsible Officer (Due Date)*:
6
_ ( MINNEAPOLIS, MN, & MEMBER OF CSETI, SUPPORTS OPEN
Abstract: WHR BULK: ( ) (S)
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, OR EVEN A PRESIDENTIAL DISCUSSION, REGARDING
EVIDENCE AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALIEN BEINGS AND SPACECRAFT IN OUR
GOVERNMENT'S POSESSION.
Enclosures:
NONE
Comments:
Ad Hoc:
Clerk:
vc

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: A/1998-00310
Title: WHR Bulk: Public Congressional Hearings on Extraterrestrial
Evidence
Recipient:
A/Goldin
Author:
Organization:
WHRBulk
Action Office:
UHeffeman
Status:
Open
Signature Office:
UHeffeman
Info Offices:
A/Goldin, AB/Heffernan, PJWILHIDE, S/HUNTRESS
Date Written:
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
03/16/1998
04/22/1998
<<
Abstract:
WHR Bulk: (o) (S)
Minneapolis, MN, Member of CSETI, supports open Congresional Hearings, or
even a Presidential discussion, regarding evidence as to the existence of alien beings and spcecraft in our
Government's posession.
•
Comments:
Enclosures:
None
Related Records:
A98-00789
Keywords: WHR Bulk Open Congressional Hearings Alien Beings ET's spacecraft CSETI
File Plan:
Analyst: VCoates
04/22/1998
Page 1 of 1

From nobody@wwwl.whitehouse.gov Mon Mar 16 22: 19:34 1998
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 22:16:43 -0500
From:(6J (S)
do) (6)
_J>
Subject: Inbound-White_House_WWW_MAIL => PRESIDENT
Apparently-to: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
To: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
Errors-t<?: The Postmaster <postmaster@www 1.whi~~e.gov>
Reply-to: (b) (6)
<(o) 6)
~
Message-id: <! 998031703 I 6. W AA! 4 !32@wwwl. whittJ(J.,j{fJ,l,fif

~\:i,VOftf;J .

~-

.-? •

0,4L. .

Keywords: WWW-Correspondence; ; Ask a specific question regJfn~iS
Administration policy; Science or Technology; Private·Citizen;
Comments: Forwarded from White House WWW
Comments: This message scanned by SCAN version 0.1 jms/960226

~ t,,A.,.}..
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[Connection Information]
CLIENT:
BROWSER:
URL:

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206.147.215.243[206.147.215.243]
Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows 3.1)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_Fresident.html

[Sender Information]
PERSONAL-NAME: (5) (6)
EMAIL-ADDRESS:
ORGANIZATION:
CSETI
RELATIONSHIP:
member._ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
STREET-ADDRESS: (b) (6)
CITY:
Minneapolis- - - - - - - - - ~
STATE-PROVINCE: MN
ZIP-CODE:
55405
COUNTRY:
USA
[Message Information]
PURPOSE:
Ask a specific question regarding Administration policy
TOPIC:
Science or Technology
AFFILIATION:
Private Citizen
SUBJECT:
public congressional hearings on extraterrestrial evidence
(Message)
Dear Mr. President:
During these trying days in your Presidency, I want to let
you know and appreciate the work you have done as President

A/1<11S--·a o 31()

A'IB-tJO 78'1

and the warmth and good humor you've displayed. I would like
to suggest as a way ofchanging the headlines about sex in the
White House, to an area that would give you a real legacy and
enlighten the world as to are place in the universe...
As a member of CSETI, I support open Congressional Hearings
or even a Presidential Discussion - public - regarding
evidence as to the existence ofalien beings and spacecraft
in our government's possession. Last April members of your
staff were present during Congressional Hearings in private
with people who were in someway connected with knowledge
about alien beings, ET technology, spacecraft. Did those
discussions make you more interested to know more or are you
being advised not encourage any more meetings with CSETI?
Sometimes, sir... you have to take a positive risk on
matters that can change the world for the better. The Richard
Helms and Strom Thurmond types must be dealt with firmly.
Whether it's opening Cuba to economic trade or a healthy
discussion on a matter that will be far more remembered than
whom you may or may not have had sex with, standing up to
these dinosaurs and people like them, will go a long way in
the American public's and historians recognition of you as a
leader to another level.
I do not have CSETI's telephone number in order for you and
your staff to coordinate hearings with Dr. Steven Greer. But,
his website address is: www.cseti.org
I've heard early in your Presidency you asked former
colleage Webster Hubbel to investigate what is
known about UFO's. I think compared to past presidents, you
have been kept in the dark about ET
matters. Well, I hope that your interest in the topic hasn't
totally diminished. Scientists, engineers, former astronauts,
militay personnel and just plain citizens would like to speak
up and discuss what they know. The American public's attitude
would tum from initial cynicism to enlightenment. Even if it
means we are not on good terms with are alien visitors, or
we are not the smartest or strongest intelligent power out
there, we can handle it.

So ... I do hope you receive this e-mail and not just one of
the many ~sistants answering letters for you. This letter can
make a difference ... and so can you Mr. President. It won't
cost millions of dollars to conduct a hearing/investigation
of potential huge benefits to so many.

Best Regards,

(o) (6)

..

L:ATW: mtg:LA98-106f

DRAFT

) (6)

The White House has foiwarded to NASA for response your letter of March 16, 1998, in which
you advocate Congressional Hearings or a Presidential Discussion regarding alien beings and
their spacecraft.

.,

~·
~
Enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet entitled 1he U.S. Government and Unidentified Flying Objects.
This Fact Sheet gives a brief outline of NASA's research into UFO's and will give you other
points of contact 0A;;f:~ou may wish to pursue.
We appreciate your interest in this matter.
Sincerely,

Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosure

Headquarters Action T racking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: U1998-00415
_______ who's interested in
5 5
Title: ROTHMAN/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from ,,__
<)( )
U.F.O.'s sightings and abductions
Recipient:
L/Heffernan
Author:
Organization:
SNOWE
SENATE
Action Office:
LD/Rothman:P
Status:
Closed
Signature Office:
UHeffernan
Info Offices:
UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin
Date Written:
Date Received:
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Original Due Date:
05/13/1998
05/27/1998
05/27/1998
05/27/1998
06/17/1998<<
Abstract:
WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (o) (6)
--------ABDUCTIONS.
Comments:
Helen spoke w/staffer referring him to Air Force; fwded fax sheet on UFOs.
Enclosures:
YES LTR
Related Records:
Keywords: (b) (6)
File Plan: 1320.4
05/27/1998
U.F.O. SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION
Analyst: BMoore
Page 1 of 1

~&1
Date:
/ji
Time: c) '. os
Phone#:- - - - - - Fax#: !l~Ll - \9\/ '4,
From:
Helen Rothman
Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
Office of Legislative Affairs
Voice#: (202) 358-1943
Fax#: (202) 358-4343
Message: Gl\c.u )2 -
CAc::r'. ~
Clf'<'\ V&6 ~
Number of Pages _ _ including cover
f
a-i,
ru," J

NASA Facts

National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
NASA Headquarters
Public Affairs Office
Code P
300 E Street SW
Washington DC 20546

FS-1997-01-017-HQ

The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects
No branch of the United States Government is cwrently in­
volved with or responsible for investigations into the possi­
bility ofalien life on other planets or for investigating Uni­
dentifiedFlyingObjects (UFO's). The US Air Force (USAF)
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) have had intennittent, independent investigations
ofthe possibility ofalien life onother planets; however, none
of these has produced factual evidence that life exists on
other planets, nor that UFO's are related to aliens. From
1947 to 1969, the Air Force investigated UFO's; then in1977,
NASA was asked to examine the possibility of resuming
UFO investigations. After studying all of the facts avail­
able, it was determined that nothing would be gained by
further investigation, since there was an absence oftangiole
evidence.
In October 1992, NASA was directed by Congress to begin
a detailed search for artificial radio signals from other civi­
lizations under the NASA Towards Other Planetary Systems
(TOPS)/High Resolution Microwave Swvey (HR.MS) pro­
gram (also known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelli­
gence project). Congress directed NASA to end this project
in October 1993, citing pressures on the US Federal budget
The HRMS did not detect any confmned signal before it
was stopped. However, similar work will continue in a more
limited manner through efforts ofprivate groups and through
academic institutions. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intel­
ligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA,
effectively replaced the Government project, borrowing the
signal processing system from NASA: The SETI Institute
is a nonprofit corporation conducting research in a number
offields including all science and technology aspects of as­
tronomy and planetary sciences, chemical evolution, the ori­
gin of life, biological evolution, and cultural evolution.
During several space missions, NASA astronauts have re­
ported phenomena not immediately explainable; however,
in every instance NASA determined that the observations

could not be tenned "abnormal" in the space environment.
The 1947 to 1969 USAF investigations studied UFO's un­
derProject Blue Book. The project, headquartered atWright­
Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was terminated December
17, 1969. Ofthe total of12,618 sightings reported to Project
Blue Book, 701 remain "unidentified."
The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based
on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of
Colorado entitled, "Scientific Study ofUnidentified Flying
Objects;" a review ofthe University of Colorado's report by
the National Academy of Sciences; previous UFO studies;
and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports during
the 1940's, '50's and '60's. As a result ofexperience, inves­
tigations, and studies since 1948, the conclusions ofProject
Blue Book were: (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and
evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our national
security; (2) there was no evidence submitted to, or discov­
ered by, the Air Force that sightings categorized as "uniden­
tified" represented technological developments orprinciples
beyond the range of modem scientific knowledge; and (3)
there was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized
as "unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.
With the termination ofProject Blue Book, the USAF regu­
lation establishing and controlling the program for investi­
gating and analyzing UFO's was rescinded. Documentation
regarding the former Project Blue Book investigation was
permanently transferred to the Modem Military Branch,
National Archives and Records Service, in Washington, DC
20408, and is available for public review and analysis.
Since the termination ofProject Blue Book, nothing has oc­
cwred that would support a resumption of UFO investiga­
tions by the USAF or NASA. Given the cwrent environ­
ment of steadily decreasing defense and space budgets, it is
unlikely that the Air Force or NASA will become involved
in this type of costly project in the foreseeable future.

Since neither NASA nor the Air Force is engaged in day-to­
day UFO research, neither one reviews UFO-related articles
intended for publication, evaluates UFO-type spacecraft
drawings, or accepts accounts of UFO sightings or applica­
tions for employment in the field ofaerial phenomena inves­
tigation.

UFO Points of Contact
1. For further infonnation on the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence, please contact the SETI I~itute, 2035 Land­
ings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415) 960-4530.
2. News media requiring Project Blue Book files should con­
tact the National Archives Public Affairs Office, (202) 5015525. Public queries should be addressed to the Project
Blue Book archivist at (202) 501-5385. For queries not
related to Project Blue Book, contact the National Ar­
chives receptionist at (202) 501-5400. Documentation is

available from: Modem Military Branch, National Ar­
chives and Records Service, Eighth Street and Pennsyl­
vania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408.
3. The Air Force publication, "The Roswell Report: Fact
vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert," a lengthy docu­
ment providing all of the details available from the Air
Force on the Roswell incident, is available for $52 from
the US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of
Docwnents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 204029328.
4. There are a nwnber of universities and professional sci­
entific organizations that have considered UFO phenom­
ena during periodic meetings and seminars. A list ofpri­
vate Oiganizations interested in aerial phenomena may be
found in Gale's Encyclopedia ofAssociations.
5. Persons wishing to report UFO sightings are advised to
contact law enforcement agencies.

2

< CONFIRMATION REPORT>
[
TRAN S M I T
05-27-1998(WED) 13:57
J
NO.
DATE
TIME
DESTINATION
PG .
DURATION
MODE
RESULT
18529
5-27
13:55
202 224 1946
3
0°01'31"
NORM .E
OK
3
0°01'31"

< CONFIRMATION REPORT >
[
TRANS M I T
05-27- 1998(WEO) 13 : 57
J
NO .
DATE
TIME
DEST! NAT ION
PG.
DURATION
MODE
RESULT
18529
5-27
13:55
202 224 1946
3
0°01 '31"
NORM . E
OK
3
0° 01 '31"

OLVMPIA J SNOWE
COMMITTEES:
MAINE
ARMED SERVI CES
BUDGET
CoUNSEL TO THE AsSIS'l"ANT
MAJOftllY l.EAoEA
COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
250 RUSSELL SENATE Orn« BUILDING
TRANSPORTATION
(202) 224-5344
CHAIR OF
OCEANS AND FISHERIES
SUBCOMMITTEE
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-1903
May 13, 1998
SMALL BUSINESS
Mr. Lawrence E. Medway
Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
National Aeronautic and Space Administration
300 E. Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20546
Dear Mr. Medway:
5
I am writing to you regarding the concerns of my constituent, ( ) (S)
Portland, Maine.
of
_ _ ___, is interested in U.F.O. sightings and abductions. I have enclosed a copy
of his correspondence for your review. Any information you could provide which
would help me answer his questions would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time and attention.
OJS:mjb
A UBURN
Two GREAT FALLS P1.AlA
AUGUSTA
BANGOR
8IOOEFORO
PORTlANO
PRESQUE ISLE
68 SEWALL STREET, SUITE 101C
3 CANAL Pl.A2A, Sum, 601
Surre 78
ONE CuM8EALA.NO PLACE, SUnE 306
BANGOR, ME 04401
231 M AIN STReer, SUITE 2
AVGUSTA, ME 04330
810DE.FORD, ME 04005
P.O. Sox 188
169 ACAOcMY STREET, Sum 3
Pa£SOUE ISt.E, ME 04769
Au8UAN, ME 04210
(207) 622-8292
(207) 945-0432
(207) 282-4144
PORTI.AND, ME 04112
(207) 874--0883
1207) 786-2451
(207) 764-5124
MAINE RElAY SERVICE
TOO 1- 955--3323
IN MAINE CALL TOLL-FREE 1- 800-432- 1599
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

i-;J 7953

(r'l ?C{

~

APR O1 1998

FEBUARY 22 1998
TIME- 9:11 am
Dear Senitor Olyimpia Snow,
My name is <6H6>
I'm from Portland, Maine. I'm 12 years
__ __ __
. I heard about the fredom of
old. (6) (6)
information act. I would be so grateful it you could get any or all
government documents released on the Roswell crash. I'm a U.F.O.
researcher. I have heard about the following U.F.O. sightings and
abductions:
1. LAS LUNAS, NEW MEXICO LATE JUNE1977 11 :30A.M.
2. SHIROYAMA, KAWANOE CITY JAPAN FEB/2/ 75 16:00 MILITARY TIME
3. WAIKIKI BEACH, HONOLULU, HAWAII MARCH/1 5/93 12:00 P.M.
4. COLFAX, WISCONSIN APRIU1 9/ 78 13:30 MILITARY TIME
5. DENVER, COLARODO MAY/1991 AFTERNOON
6. BARCELONA, SPAIN JUNE/1978 SUNDOWN
7. MONTEMORELOS, NUEVA LEON, MEXICO SUMMER OF 1994 AFTERNOON
8. VANCOUVER, B.C. CANADA OCTOBER/17/1992
9. GULF BREEZ, FLORADA SEPTEMBER/24/1994 18:50 MILITARY TIME
10. ZACATELCO, TLAXCALA, MEXICO OCTOBER/ 31 /199 1
11. VIBORG, JUTLAND, DENMARK NOVEMBER/17/74 9:00 A.M.
12. COCOYOC, MORELOS, MEXICO NOVEMBER/3/73 9:00 A.M.
13. BELJUM MIDNIGHT
14. MT. KIDTARDIN, MAINE MIDNIGHT 3 CAMPERS WERE ABDUCTED
15. GROOM LAKE NEVADA AREA 51 FREQUNTLY

As you have read ldo know alot aboout U.F.O'S. I also knoew in RIGHT
PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO THERE KEEPING ALIENS AND CRAFT IN
HANGER 18. THERE IS ALSO A GOVERNMENT AGENCY CALLED M.J.12.
I know that U.F.O'S visit america frequntly and our government knows
about it. Soon every political persons are going to get a pitition from a
high school in New Hampshire to have information on the Roswell crash
released to th~ public. I have heard roomers that at HULAMAN AIR FORCE
BASE A U.F.O. LANDED AND THE HIGH RANKING PERSON AT THE BASE TALKED
TO THE ALIEN. The government made a big mistake by letting Aliens
into the country and can do nothing about it.
sincerly,

(6) (6")~--~ - - - - -

P.S.
I'm including my address, phone number, and P.O. box.

APR O7 1998 1
t

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L/1998-00415
Title: ROTHMAN/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from (o) (5)
U.F.O.'s sightings and abductions
------- who's interested in
Recipient:
UHeffernan
Author:
Organization:
SNOWE
SENATE
Action Office:
LD/Rothman:P
Status:
Open
Signature Office :
UHeffernan
Info Offices :
UHeffernan , UHeninger, UKerwin
Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (6f{SJ
ABDUCTIONS.
Date Written:
Date Received :
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed:
Date Closed:
>>Current Due Date:
Origi nal Due Date:
05/13/1998
05/27/ 1998
06/17/1998<<
WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND
Comments:
Enclosures:
YES LTR
Related Records:
Keywords : (b) (6)
File Plan:
05/27/1998
U.F.O. SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION
Analyst: BMoore
Page 1 of 1