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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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 it (