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.

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~ 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