Documents / Official release

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

U.S. Government · 1998 · 86 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 25 …orbit, over Muchea, Australia, the astronaut (Gordon Cooper) saw a green object. More than one hundred…
  • p. 26 …th:it Cooper has nc,.·er heard of it. He has b-:cn out of tile…
  • p. 28 …Cordo n Cooper: " brlieve that UFOs, under i11telligcnt con trol , have ,;-..... _. - .· . .. . ' :·. - . ·...." -,/ .. ,... .... : . . ' . .... ·•. F lake of ice floating…
  • p. 35 …During the fina l orbit, Major Gordon Cooper told the tracking station at Much (near Perth…
  • p. 39 …And Gordon Cooper has testified to a United Nations committee that one of the astronauts actually…
  • p. 52 …I appreciate your continuing cooperation i n our efforts to be a ·s respons i ve…
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 ltt.LY }J.12
' I i ~lr:;y

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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 86 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.