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

This 1998 NASA file holds UFO-related letters from constituents that were forwarded by members of Congress, together with NASA's handling records. Senator Olympia Snowe forwarded letters from Maine residents, including a 12-year-old who asked for Roswell documents and listed a number of reported sightings. Senator Charles Grassley forwarded a question about astronaut UFO sightings. NASA's reply says it has no UFO program and has not withheld anything. The reply enclosed a NASA fact sheet and James Oberg's article, which explains the Gemini-4 McDivitt object as the spacecraft's own booster.

From the source: Release of 2026-06-12 Released with redactions. 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.

·--·:®
J The outhor .>nd NASA photo an.:ilvn R ichard
l 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 riptions of theH fra;imonts wore m i s
Interpreted by UFO buffs and metamorph-
ized 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 0 65-65296.
. . ·,·- ··· ~....
... - :~
. ,,,_.
''--:·
..
44