USG-UAP-D001, Corrispondenza del Congresso e della Casa Bianca con cittadini in merito agli UFO, 1998

[PAGE 1] 1320 Aeronautics:UFO [PAGE 2] Headquarters Action Tr acking System HA TS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number L11998-00407 Title WARD/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from U.F.O and the recent Mars photo who's interested in Recipient UHeffernan Author Organization SNOWE SENATE Date Written Date Received Date Concurred 05/18/1998 05/26/1998 Action Office Status UWard:S Closed Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed Current Due Date Original Due Date 06/24/1998 06/24/1998 06/18/1998 Signature Office UHeffernan Info offices UHeffernan UHeninger L/Kerwin Abstract SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM OF STOCKINGTON MAINE WHO'S INTE:RESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED Comments Enclosures NO Related Records Keywords MAINE U.F.O MARS File Plan 1320.4 Analyst BMoore 06 24/1998 Page of [PAGE 3] Headquarters Ac ti on racking System HATS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number L/1998-00729 Title Rothman/UFO Sightings by Astronauts Recipient UHeffernan Author Grassley Organization Senate Date Written 08/03/1998 Date Received 08/31/1998 Date Concurred Date Su bmitted Date Signed 09/04/1998 Date Closed 09 10/1998 Action Office LD/Rothman:P Current Due Date 08/22/1998 Original Due Date 08/22/1998 Status Closed Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan UHeninger UKerwin Abstract Senat or Grassley forwards letter from ts who is requesting information on UFO sigh ti ngs by Astronauts Comments Enclosures letter Related Records Keywords UFO,astronauts,sightings File Plan 1320.4 Analyst JMassey 09/10/1998 Page of [PAGE 4] yeA oGU SEP 1998 L:HR:mtg:L/1998-729f he Honorable Charles Grassley United States Senate Washington DC 2051 Dear Senator Grassley Thank you for your letter of August 1998 on behalf of(b who is requesting informat ion about the possible sightings of Unidentified Flyi ng Objects 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 he A ir 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 nformation In addition enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet which summarizes the current sta tus of NASA's involvement in UFO investigations We trust this in forma ti on wi ll aid you in responding to inquiry Sincerely Edward Heffernan Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs Enclosures [PAGE 5] bee Z/Roger Launius with incoming provided info Sent to Sherry Kuntz in the Hill office [PAGE 6] S,ncc tho auron.iut UFO genre is one of rhe m13in pillolrs VFO ovidcr1ce thi5 study laf ml hat the ent i re set of Scs inv id 1if 1110 5iy CC fCCl 1"1 Vlth 15eepti i sm and cr i tic i sm from UFO buffs Aat i on~I ob ections 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 James Oberg Associate Ed it or Space Wo rl magazine Story SGM WiN 46 ij,J?_'lJ fvBL\CA 11 ou -Ji S~Y OG Su C.1.1f7 pr:c 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 hey are send ing 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 of them valid What can a careful study reveal 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 phot ographs 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 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 eria 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 authe nticity 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 test imony 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 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 968 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 st ructured 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 38 [PAGE 7] arch,n has fl l•a led ca..~es whcrl UFO rt c:i rc hrr withheld Cl•rtain informa tion frl'cly gi them by SA officials infori:tation which would have clearly explained m;my cases which the auth ors want to appear my sterious So the time has come to take a ne look at this whote phenomenon What is the truth about astronaut li rOs The first ste in any research might be with the Condon report t:-iought by many to have been commissioned as a whitewash of the UFO ph enome non UFO enthusiasts are accustomed to hearing harsh criticism of almost all aspects of this study but my own objections to the astron aut UFO section is from a novel angle My own research suggests that the Condon inve stigato fa from being the best man for the jo was clearly unq ualified to evaluate the difficult cases He was not familiar with the terminology of space flight or the basics of orbital flight trajectories as I a As a result he ignored possible explanations while incorrecUy eliminating other possible answers In other words far from being a cov erup this cha pter of the Condon rep ort is superficial It is ent ir ely worthless as an endorsement of the un explained and nexp lainable 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 Th Condon report does give so me deta ils about th envir onme nt of astronaut sightin gs but even ere does no go far en oug More stress needs to be pu on the visual and ph oto graphic limitations of space flight he windows are far smaller than popularly realized about half the size of this open magazine at arm length and for many years were ubject to obscuration and smudging by seepage sealant and by contaminatio by rock et fuel At va ri ous oints in the fligh the spacecraft was surrounded by cl ouds of d~bris leaking fuel dum ped water chipping paint fr aying insulati on 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 pass ed in front of camt!ras point ing out windows Other satellites sho uld have been visible since few people realize that on any clear night all for Dc μitc th pt!r is tl'11t rum rs of cc rct space ict'"rcs ph nJ!rupl1s ta hl ll by V,\S.- i11 space arc i11 tlie publ ic domui11 That is any ict ure tuhc by 1.111 astro11a111 or 011 ea rth resource atellite is ai ailabl to anyo11c who wa nts to pay fur i There are foi tiers of plwto,;:-:iph Ji·cilcbil it but two a:-e res cr i ed for 11ew me11 only The ructurc is us olluws A The mo st pular space photographs alien arc lithographed for general free di tributi CJ 11 to anyone who asr.s for them Seueral dozen new ph tographs are added to this list ucry year Cost to VAS is a few ce11ts per print The N.-lS.-l Public Information Offices at uarious centers and at headquarters prints gfossy photo graphs of im ely news tories distribution tu the news media Hundreds of these photographs ar released euery year but only crrtified newsmen can recei ue them for any thousands of othe photographs and drawi11gs may be of interest to the news media and arc therefore fifad at public i11formatio11 offices but stock cop ies are not kept Each reque st must be filled by actual photo lab orders which co:;ts NASA ab ut one dollar per photograph A,1y citizen who wants copies of any photograph listed in or aboue con get it but it is entirely reasonable for NASA to expect him pay for it News bureau photographs along with all other light photography-stills and mouies-ca be ordered from Bara Studios P.O Box 486 Bladensburg MD 20710 The cost of any photog aph rd ered by st ock number is seueral dollars apiece A ny cross-referencing or esearching will also cost money Some ground photographs of astronaut accidents au topsies and medical examinations are not releasable for publication On seue ral Gemini lights special photographic experiments were und ertaken for the DoD but these inuolued speci al cameras and exclusiuely ear th surface targe{s In neit her case would it be possible to withhold any hypoth etica UFO photographs from the public Astronaut photographs are indexed by a code which specifies year taken and frame number S66 12387 fo example would be a NASA phot not necessarily a space photo aken in 1966 Beginning i th Apollo space photos were al so indexed ith a mission code oll nu mber and frame num ber eithe of which were repeated on later ights For examp 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 numb ers Euery photograph euer taken by American astronauts for ASA is on file ith Bara St dios and can be obtained by anyone wifling to pay for th em Writers who produce secret NASA UFO photographs which hey claim are being hidden from the American public are doing a gross disseruice to one of the most open and cooperatiue public informa ion offices of any federal agency an bserver on Ear th 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 al are of interest to space officials and nume rous studies ha ve been made Fragments might imp ly a structural fa ilure 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 i rritate eyes and damage the electronic gear be hind the instrument panels Other satellites might be dangerous due to the potential of coll is ion th ey mi ght be of i nt elligence i nterest if th ey are fr cm somt oth er nation Therefo re 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 pr od ctive thinking can only be done when all the informatio is at hand Some 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 yo urself 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 Ar astronauts muzzled about UFOs Has fifteen [PAGE 8] I i t't -~~,.-,r-•r 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 th spacecraft rolled the sun rays struck a metal bolt caus i ng the'Ci lares in the camera lens NASA photo 65-H-1013 years of manned pa ceflight uncovered any evidence at all which even remotely suggests that Earth is being visited and observed by advanced spacesl iips from anot her world Let's ook at the evidence On June 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 rend ez vous and a walk in space were completed Approximately thir ty hours into th flight while White was asleep McDivitt report ed 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 Intere ted NAS.- officials in Ho us ton asked NO RAD 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 sma ll scicntit"ic satellites exce pt one the giant winged mete or at ll itc Pegasu It seemed to iit the de sc rip tion radioed down by McDivitt so NASA announc ed that the object ad been identified But Pegasus had been more than a thousand miles away and McDivitt clearly saw an obj ec much closer much more detailed and in an orbit very close to his own Collisi on 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 co mbin ed with the slow stabilization sp in of the spaceship carried it into the glare of the sun after about 30 seconds The astronau later recounted how he went through all the films of the flight every roll of film is accounted for on a flight manif est so they do not disappear and found many over xp osed or blank This mission had been the first ni ght in which space photography was a major experiment and the glaring unlight of space had invalidat ed many pre-flight expo sure settings lcDivitt did not find any thing which lo oked like his FO What was it he aw Why has it becom such a pr ominl nt UFO case And if the pi ctu res did not turn out where did NICAP get its top four photogr aph which how not a winged cylinder but a smeared blob We can answer these question 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 ot like an upper staie of a booster Gemini do es 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 oth er earlier satellites Anyone familiar with computerized information systems one of my professional specialities can guess what happened he computer was given a query which told it to ompare Gemini--t with the othe sate llit es The computer never knew where the Gemini ooste was relati to the spacecraft since it had not been asked lcDiv itt had been visually tracking the thirty foot lo ng cylind at a range of only 75 miles a few hours earlier but this large satellite never mad the NORAD list because 40 [PAGE 9] Arti1t ronrlit i on thu ntro n,,u1s r-n- vlow 1ho ro do.r ovat a i on pod after it hai boon jotti1oncd from the Gem i ni adaptor ioc i un Gorn,n i r;,dar locked to evaluation pod Scott Carpenter took th is photo of a ub atelli balloon jettis oned by is i Js...:'11 ance and even make i ook like two objects The potato shaped grey ob is the pod's in sulat i on blanket i sequence of i ctures illustrate the problem Identi ying photographs of objects in tho glare spa ce 41 [PAGE 10] -c-,,.--~··o I i 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 boo ste had een rept-3tedly spott ed 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 gla re 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 eport w:i that le Divin C\J1:1p!:iini:1i ro thl- ni ht surgt:on abou his t'Yl'$ight duri1\g this pho of th tli~ht Hi eyes were red and teary due to a reaction with the cabin atmosphere and an accid ental massive urine spill I didn't think I was going to be able hack it McDivitt lat er 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 blobs- of light o\·ere.'<posures r~tl cc 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 cti1 off a br\t a~ain the dirty window la~s C..\F think dii'forently b,:c:tu~e t!ll b:!tk of its cop of th ph,Ho is a handwritten note nobody known by whom stating that McDivitt nobody knows when had communicated nobody knows how the fact that the pi cture showed his UFO This was made clear by a telephone conversation etween the autho and Jack Acuff of NICAP on March 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 him se lf did little to clear the case up instead using it as a ticket onto natil•nal TV talk sho ws and news interviews especially after his rr.tirement in 19 To add to the mystPry th former spaceman assl'rts I have ne er bcrn ablt- to it.:entify it and I don't think anyone ever will 42 [PAGE 11] On a recen FO rn co cl i:ig rrll-as rd by Columbia calt.:d UFOs The Credibility Facto VlcDi itt clrarly shows ow is mcmorirs have ch:u1ged bc,m a11g(•d to enhance the mystery ot hi Xpcricnce They NAS chcck,'d iOR..\D to sec what they ad up on radar ancf there w:isn anything within very close range of us Readers can measure the cr edibility of this statcm~nt against the facts If McOivitt was fooled by his own boo ster 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 mys tery 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 ea it very thoroughly and I cannot offer any ext~nsive comments I do not fores ee the opportunity for me to provide any further re~w There weren any errors in my ana lysis 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 1965 NORAD officials confronted with my scenario endorsed it Your comments on the NORAD role rela ted to the case appear to pe ogical wrote NORAD Public Inform at ion Offi ce Ki nd schi on Feo 23 1976 So the lcDivitt ca se is closed The est space UFO ca se has now been identified Do not expect to see any change in the UFO press howev er Such esults are simp ly ignored Photographs made in space sho negative effects such as the McDivitt UFO aura often Spacecraft and a st ronau ts may be engulfed in a strange aura caused by overexposure to sunlight brighter than ever seen on Earth Blowups of photographs of known pace objects show them appearing as blobs due to the en argement process and to the courseness of the grain Ordinary space pi ctures are full clouds debris constellations of man-made starlike oints fluttering through space The Condon re port was fascinated with th lcOi\·itt ca and fe UFO enthusiasts have not heard of it But n,:i tlwr the ondon r£>s t)a rc her or the average eade had ever had all the facts Now people can m:ike up thei own minds I havl iub th lcl)i\"itl w:i l'i:1g his ow11 Til tJCJostrr stage Or Roach wa al so fasd n:•l cl wi t!t anoth er 1co i itt i~foit i tha uf a point of lig ht rc i the The object sound Iii- th appearance of an artifici.!l ea rth satellite and that is e~:actly wh:it kDivitt th ought it There is no information to suggest it w.:_s anything else Another ondo favorite is a Gemini case The report of sightings of a loud of debris right at the moment of bo ostt•r separat ion hese particles in clud ed frozen fu el droplets the boo ster itself assorted in sulation and structural fragments from where the explosive bolts were fired and other smaller objects never iden tified and never cared about is not very impressive The crew on their first space mission saw a few pieces the had nol expected the pilot guessed wrongly -th at they were in polar orbit Only a parti san digging for evidence and desperate to find such ev id ence would make much of this common event But a sign of desperation is indeed i Cla a round in 1'1)1111 ction l'.'isli Lill t,;~mi i I GFO ca~t It is not th clc ra i1a gtn criun nl oflici I i11 to c:u r••r up t.he trut ahoul GfU R;,hrr it thr dl'spernlion of so me out sid er tryi tu:c1 cou ni rf,.i astrnnaut L:FO videnc Jn a cli which should no be nc>c e:s a,y if th t'al FO evidence rC as persuasive as many th int It invol ve i photograph howing two very strange glowing ocjects Each is he:,agonal in shape ew!c'd at an angle nd suppo ted by daz zling force field below it A cloud covered earth is se in the background p\cd Thi photo gra ph as appeared in books magazines news pap ers and pamphlets It is part of the tra velli na slide show of UFO lectur rs from th Mutual UFO Network i\!VFON and else wh ere I have heard it described as howing a typical UFO forc field propulsion system and similar to other UFO photograph taken on Earth the same year The photograph is a fo rgery It is a hoax What the anonymou counter feiter did I have reason to suspect a 43 [PAGE 12] The outhor nd NASA photo an.:ilvn ic hard Undor wood show p~ce UFO photos to Or Allun Hynok dirolctor the cent er or UFO udios July 976 vn4k -subsuquPn';'fy dorscd Ob0rLJ'S conclusions Satu rn boon er S-IV and our open SL A pane ls On moon ligh ts tho four petals fly free a nd together with the empty boo:<t tum ble throug spac a a faw miles from the Apollo capsule They wer often seon as bright flashing lighn as they refl ected th po we rful su nligh On Apo llo-1 astrona des iptions of theH fra;imonts wore i Interpreted by UFO buffs and met amorph ized Into a li en sp acecraft Mysteriou bulls aye object wen and photographed by Gam lnl astronauts I De cem ber 1965 Unfortunately for fly i ng 1aucer buff It Is not UFO it Is an out of focus photo of the approach in Gem lnl- spacesh i noH on NASA photo 65- 652 96 44 [PAGE 13] r..c Jl'ti il 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 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 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 control rocket thrusters used to acijus 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 photo was turned into conrincing UFO evidence and thousands of people were fool ed 45 American spacemen are not the only ones report ing UFOs according to th popular press Stories tha allegedly come from Moscow tell about UFOs followin Soviet man ned spacecraft in the Vostok and Voskhod ser ies ten years ago But such secrecy sur ro und the entir Soviet sp ace effor hat th ese stories cann ot be checked out That very secrecy ho wever is itse lf [PAGE 14] pn I t11 1n1 i i i va hdit:1 of th ru i Sn ir:JI l,v 11L hc So·.ic pro1r J1n a Sl Cr cl and 011g ri te rm a it i 11y o11 who ev en i cc:idc 11l:l ci n,l uclr fatal thal it i inc l•cii lh tt cn tdr i,1d i nit:ca•l fa.:L as a fl i,:htin ro uld erer lea evcn if su a thing had ea ll har,p~ned The rule of id,rncc ha ri been Hret ched and brokt?n by I.JFO partisans It i not up to me to prn that these sig htin gs ne er took place Nobody has a en an idcnce apart from a simp:c sl at ment of fact that th sightings did ta!,e pla ce I will be happy lo consider evidence when it be om es a\'ailahl Let's examin mor of cnese cosmonaut UFO Ir UFOs From Behina The Iron Curtain the UFO magazine Clypeus is ouoted about an object een by th Vostok-5 and Vostok a fleet of disks se en by Voskhod-1 and trail ge cylinders in space which were perfectl formed and had no apertur es se en by Voskhod-1 Voskhod-2 and Gemini-4 sic UF Os ha ve even be en blamed or the malfunction of the Voskhod-2 autopilot As I ha ve sa id th ese reports ar hardly evidence and can be ar mor easily manufactured than refuted Sur ly one of the most specious and gh ou li~h pa ce UFO 3tories deals with th Soyuz 11 flight on which th cr ew me perished du ri ng their re tur to Ea th UFO literature has recently be en circulating a tran cript betw en the co monauts and grc,und co ntrol The crewmen describe se veral glowing objects and discuss them with flight controlle:-s To anyone familiar with typical spac to ground co mmunicati ns this transcript is pat ntly co unterf eit Some ne viv ict ima ginatio embold,med by th knowledge that the men were de ad and could not argue mu st have creat th enti re incide 11c Without further evidenc the entir cla.53 of os mo naut UFO mu st be reje ct ed D~li ber a te at tc mpt to mu dd ht wa ters Jn to man uf ct'..lr ia ncasies ar com on in this LiFO gen re in the In in\'e~ti ga tiu ll1H o~r at-1hic nt.v i lf cnl ar li i t,,r 11cl 11 an cX l'J l'i er.- pilotu in rr er hu h;,s c:,:iminl•d cry si 11 lc pho ph bYu ht b.:c fr om rb it ind eyon 11.l in cr ed ib le emo ry can iJL a a d,J old p:1o c.i n1μh dl·~cribe tr.l si uati and fi nd citJLi in i ld ecor oo ks within minutes ril fli cc i this pho togra lric eng ir c,e is full lack ed iilm i.:a ns light t.ibles wor ld and le.c al map and piles of lett rs from ex-astronauts and ordi nary cit iz ens a lit Has he se any UFO Underw ood answered lhat with a smile I ve nt?n!r fou anythin in th es pic ture hat puzzled me for lo ng and I'm ki nd of dis appoint ed It wo uld be terribly exciting to find evidence for someone else's space hip When UFO writers hint broadly about a NASA coverup or space censorship they ar esse ntially calling Dick Underwood and his colleagues a pa ck of liars Di tortion and withholding of the truth is no a strang to Under wood's flicc ho we er Wht!n a li FO researcher named Al;i 11 Sa ndler was irk in!l on a oo and a o\'ic lffOs Pa st l~cse nl and F'ularc lo he ad er ed as i oc um ent arv he is ited Und erwood of[ir.c and loo ked th ro ugh do ens of rolls of lilm wriling do wn ordt!rs for prints of i nythi ng that looked int er es tin Th is is a standard service ro vi ded by NASA to journali ts SanrllP.r rho se a et of phot og raphs for his mo vie pnoto gr aph which Underwood advised him probab ly nly showt?d dust particles in fron of the ca era de bris out side the spa ce crail or glare on the window this was ea sy enough to prove by lookin at ict ur es ahead of and behind the hots in question Two photograph were particularly upsetting They both showed a bla ck back ground with a string of lights in the middle the photograph In the bo ok with the same name as th mo ie although written by another author Robert Emeneggar th two hots are r,o Ag 12 ro Go-nlr 12 pa of a eQuenc photos ch ta trio ev id Jn FQ i;;h irt br A-;e fr Jnt 11 tu rk Afte rk ly un i ng li ghu are i One e,oar ch et Am~rican i trnn.iu ts I 11 i clu ic ly h:,s w,ao rv pubh hcd IJ 1tcr ho to gr a as a UF a by AS A te be Agena trac:k with Hich i rd Cndrrw h)d at thL NAS A i ng 1;9h ts NASA to 63 101 Jo hn son Sp:ice 11 t~r forrn rly rnc [PAGE 15] I 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 wi th the caption Shot du ri ng Gemi ni XII Novamber 13 966 and said to be Agena Ranging ights prior to docking The erroneous implication of these twisted words is th at this is another NASA excuse for some remarkable UFO photographs Said to be ranging lights indeed sneers the book at's exactly what tn ey were Underwood told me plaintively They are ar of the complete seq ence of twenty photographs showi11g the Agena as it moves from the sunlit side of Earth inLo the shadow As Underwood anJ stood in the photo la boratory inside buildini No at the histo ric Hou$ton sμac.:e center the equence was rii:ht thcrt in fro11t of our eyes 011 the gluwin viewing board ow did the UFO rcscarc.:hcr eact to this expl:rnalion asked° He continue to explain I took the whole se uence with me to Ho ll ywoo 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 ogr aphs anyway Thousands more eo ple 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 tak en three even more remarkabl photogr::iphs Pete Conrad had spotted a mo ir.g ubj..-ct outside his sindow and had s.1apped off a few frames of film varying the xpo ur on t•ach sh,H in an ittempt to get at least 011t oud ic·v which w<rnld how omclhin Pt-r a rcque,;t from NASA NORAD soo rep orted th:it the ob ect ha b~e 47 b;i:Ll 111i i lil•i':- I tull ci;()r ti LO i c:0111 pule it soul I ha Gemini's orhil s~v,.-ral l111 i r,1;ks t,,-ilind Lh crart Yet it is c,bj..- wa in i diftc'<cnt di c·<.:tinn i a nt\l do It a I lir t)sp ilc the se objc tio.1 NOR wJ right i;:ir the wro11g re:1 ns object w,:s indeed otor.-3 Hen tJ1ot tlt Aeri:tl Phe om,mo Research Organizatiu A PRO and it research direct Dr James Harder has made much of the cfo crepa,:cy and ons id1m th is the st Gemini FO ever seen plttf-5 11 1g~1q Few researchers hJ noticed a none had recogniz,,d the signifi cacce of the fact that the roton-3 sate Iii 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 pr dicted by NORAD The simple truth oft2n ig11ored or distort by many writers is that NORAD doe not track e\'erything in space like the rada:.- screens of sor.1e air traffic control center Inste:!d objects which pass through tha beatt 15 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 th en projec ted for'.'.'ard in time the math ematical term is ext ra polat to plot where the spacecr:11t should be if its orbit hasn't een changed Gemini's orbit had een changed by a rendezvous rocket firing Prot on's orbit was changed by its decay I ordered microfilm copies of the la.;t ew NORAD pr edicti on from the Tracking epo rts Section at the NAS A Goc!dard Space Center in Greenbe lt M;u-yland and as soon as I read th em knew the answer The prediction were off by eral hundred miles per da Each new proj ect ion made a correction to the previous one Using a combination of these figures a new dtitude differ ence etwee Gemini and Proton could eas il be compul.:?d It is entirdy clo se ough to coincide with th astron:.iu ts sig htin Further mo re th.i as tronaut r.ad made a vis al is 1.'ll i a i:;hoto5rJ,1hic rec ord heir c11 i1,·,.:-.;s lestin:,>ny cs crib.:s a sat,)lliw hat looks roton look.-d a show by exh ibit in Rus.,iail muse 11111 a stubbv cyli.itkr [PAGE 16] with four lar::e triantlular canted solar p.,nrb Conract compared lhc sight to Oul>ris from open the strap on wosters of a Titau•3 hatch on omini rocket F:vcu the photo graphs show this when ludicd with real Proton-3 photographs close at hand A~trn Co::~::d th l.iFO people clashed again ov~r his next space mission Apollo•12 According lO the Research Director of A.PRO Dr lt 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 ou 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 Fragment i focus at range of to fe et-Sandler calls it unidentiflabJe and Malian and Barry also use It ra e11lo.~z 16 wcc:r::a- 48 Blowups of Gemini-11 photos of Proton-3 Sun gl are and el<treme magnification contribute to bizarre appearance 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 phenom enon 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 hop your paper is widely printed he added Ref,ming to Harder claim of coverup Conrad could only say I think you have more than your share of Kooks [PAGE 17] I Geminl-11 photo of Proton-3 arrow i nd extreme enlargement of image UFO magaz ines often pront funv blobs without indicating that object a ighly magnified ll rn ertlf,icts cause blobblne NASA photo S-66-5466 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 probably did more than any Apollo mission to encourage the stories astronaut sightings of UFOs What lies behind all these stories Who started them What is the offic ial NASA position Apollo-12 was launched on November 1969 on the second oon landing m1ss1 on The crew co ISiste Gcmini-11 veterans Pete Conrad and Ri chard Gordon and space ookie Alan Dean Conrad had also nown into space on Gemini-5 Taking off during a thund erstorm he craft was twice hit by lightning which thr atened to abort the mission In stea the night proceed ed successfully to he first pinpoint moon landing fou da ys lat er Astronauts on rad and Bean flew their Luna.r Module in to a precision to uchd own near the Surveyor automat ic oon probe During a sche duled moon walk the men retrieved samples from he obot crnft he return on Ea nh was routine if f?ights to the moon can ever be considered routine 49 On the outbo und leg Conrad had radioed to Earth that the Apollo was being followed This message trans mitted over the open rad io 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 ub li she in Saga magazine May 19 70 entit led Apollo yste ri ous ncounter with Flying Sauct'rs written by T.G Beckley and Salkinl the as tr nau wat ched Lw na shing lights near ir Command Module about 50,0 00 miles out from Earth At first the [PAGE 18] A A poll 9G9 Obr ct hun bh win im i\Jt•j ly altar A1Joll ull aw ay rom Sa urn bo ost Met am rpho-si of obv i ous sp a ec aft i su at on rn i nto odcl sh a od UF is ourte sy of Bo Ba rr ho fr i 20th Cent ury UF Bureau Hon Hotze Ulo no ua 1976 assig bj ect to Jo Gl flight i nvents ictit i ous c:o men ory a nd co ti ues weav i ng my th un lo tterod by I ecu ground thought it was their S-IV-8 ast onaut decided to ignore the astrcnuut UFO sightings Be sides booster ocket but quickly calcul ated apparently harmless escort and carry the three astronau ts millions of that it would have been in a different on with their mission Americans saw the TV images and direction Next they suggest ed that ln lunar orbit new or perhaps the heard the voices of the cr ewmen the lights could have been pieces of same UFOs dogged the spacemen wondering what the objects could be the Lunar Module garage called During the de cent to the lunar They were obviously unid entified SLA Panels which are quit lar ge surface mill ions of television watchers they were flying in space and they and highly reflect ive Conrad so the on Earth saw brig ht objects crossing were objects of some sort Hence they UFO story goes remarked th at this the field view of th Apollo TV we re UFOs was un li kely since one of th em had camera Simila.r objects were seen The Fawcett List of space UFOs suddenly taken off at a high velocity during he launch from the moon a nd says that the astr onauts said a UFO someth ing that a piece of space debris during the final app roach to Earth accompanied hem all he way to simp ly could not do Finally th Here th en is a major case for wi thin 132,000 miles of the moon Ft S'Jr,~1Jffe»%ffifl I i I rc ury -e..i on co a li ht i 19 6:3 meors a nd gl ar ha nQo fr om on-9 im he no"t ti1h a tro n:ct tl nap pi ng ic tures linip bll oo sub atell it tq plirt 50 [PAGE 19] I JI wo obiecu drifting out of open hatch lowe ight of Geminl-12 Both spe cks are out of focu and hence are within sevoral feet of camera -which ad very large depth of field Object on right in ocus i a scrap of paper NASA photo S-66 62871 preceding hem all the way The origin of that mileage figure is obscure ut it lends unwarranted authenticity to the report Observatories in Europe also watc:ied the two UFOs ether sources re\'eal Embellishing the tory anothe UFO source claims that Next day the 15th at 21.15 hours one bright evohing light ap roached the Apo llo 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 re se arch director Or James Harder At a UFO symposium at the University of California at Santa Cruz on Novembe 1975 Harder claimed that one CFO followed Apollo on three orbits around the moon Further N,\SA suppressed the UFO incident for fonr of 1nic but Harder was ahle to discover the si~htin b"cau$e it was disclos ed by a member of the space tea who he refused to id tif [PAGE 20] i i nc:l all thf m:ill.'riill ll;m.lcr used to prove the 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 clea rl only gimmicks impre the news media with the value of his inform ation 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 lette dated Feb 1973 to Mr Donald Ratsch of APROj were spacecraft fragments ur ing 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 IVB booster he spacecraft lunar adapter SLA panels or smaller objects such as mylar foil particles Be cause of the ir large size and highly reflective surfaces the 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 on ly one of the three still on active NASA duty issued a statement soon after Harder latest charges went out over the news media late in 1975 In a UPI dispatch Ast onaut Alan Bean said that at no time during his mission did he ever see an unidentified objecL Bean said that th ere were some eta llic parts which fl oated behind their sp:>r.e craft after the Apollo-12 Uf'l.?r module lifled off from r:~oon He said th ese small were visible until hey tht nauts made an engine burn f':c metallic objects wer par ts er insulation which came ff 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 tated To arder and his SA uv rup these stat ment are just mo re lies de signed to confuse the American public So let's go back lo the key r\pnll 11 LlF c111 untcr and try lo det ermine just wh:1 is confused Lale on No,.·embcr 15th 969 about 150 000 tatute mi!es from Earlh th Apollo crew was talking to cilD Sl lle commu nic ator astronaut Ger~rJ C:m about SQmc lights they were watching out their wir.do 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 seco nd or at east it is flashing at us at about that rate CAPCOM Roger We are standing by CAPCOM Apollo 12 this is Hou ston Apollo Go ahead CAPCOM As best we can tell ooking at th ings down here on those SLA panels we assume they weren't im parted with any great amount of delta-V velocity change)-like anything more than one or so eet per second when they se parated hirty-three hours ago Your SLA panels would probably be only about 300 nautical miles 345 statute mile away fro you ri ght now The following reply by Conrad has been claimed by UFO believers to indicate that the lights the so-called SLA panels have suddenly pull ed away fr om the Apo llo something that a tumbling piece of debris could not do To clarify the meaning punctuation and a few extra par enthetical words have been added by the UFOiogists Apollo That could be true but gee whiz wh en I just turned ar ound I saw one of those SLA panels leaving the area at a high rat of speed and it lo ked to me like it was leaving us retty fa st)-at a pretty rapid clip like it got a ot more than a foot per secon or so CAPCOM Well since we on't really have any idea how they left or what th eir 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 anyway OK The UFO reasoning as worded by APRO memb er Srad Sparks goes as follows Aft er the SLA panels separated and the S-IVB's tanks were emptied on No they could not change their locity simply because they had no form of pr op ulsi on to do so But Conrad aw one of th SLA pan els on Nov 15th suddenly leave its positi on at a high rate of sμccd an i:11;,ossib1lity unless it really was a al!uvcrable spacec raft of some ort nu where docs one find a maneuverable spacecrait nearly 15 0,0 00 miles from the earth Th 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 ou 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 po sition of the SL A panels based upon their initial separation ve locities from the spent S-IVB ocket stage Second the SLA panels break free after the Apollo pulls off from the bo oster the a stronauts 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 UFOlog ist's punctua tion and clarifying words from he communication and putting it in prop er per spectiv what Conrad as saying was Apollo That could be tru 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 ate of spee 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 entir basis for Harder and for the Saga article's Apollo-12 UFO sighting-is phony The most generous description of it would be a mi stake a misreading of the transcript's meaning in an attempt to rove a UFO incide nt that never really happened outside of the fertile imaginations of certain UFO believers Conrad statement Gordon stat ment Bean statement and the NASA letter must sta nd 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 potted just prior to re-en try 52 [PAGE 21] [PAGE 22] ct- +,21 Publisn ed n~wsp!per story on UFSs captions this p11oto:"Theso two UFOs wo photographed on July 19 1969-the day before Apo:lo's historic moon landing during Buzz A ldri scheduled lunar photo session Noto the imila rity to the hot snapped throo years oarlier during Gcminl-12 according to UFO sources Saga ph tos taken during the 1960s reports that at 11:47 a.m on Whatever it was this halo appE'ared November 24th the spokesman for only in the photo and was n«?ither Apollo 12 rep orte in a startled voice seen nor remarked on by the that they were all watching a bright astronauts red object flashing brilliantly against Houston radio commentator and the earth This incident was carefully UFO enthusiast Frank Haley has his analyzed by Brad Sparks of APRO I own theory about why the Apollo-12 am indebt£:ci to his letl er to Saga of TV camera did not work on the moon August 28 19i0 a letter Saga editor NASA says Bean accidentally pointed ne\'er bothered to answer who it toward the sun Says Haley The object that the astronauts did not i::amera was intent ionally shut off to report that the object they were seeing avoid showing something on the moon was red and they stated specifically that disturbed the astronauts that it's a steady ight not flashing Haley's Comment newsletter Mar It was seen between th"'m and the dark 22 1976 It is only a matter of time earth somew here off the coast of before this nonsense is absorbed into India by a guess of the cr"'wmen the lore of the Apo llo-12 UFOs Perhaps it was a ship's searchlight But Apollo 12 did see some perhap a fire perhaps a violent unidentified flying objects and NASA lightning storm there is no reason to engineers were justifiably concerned suspect that it was a craft in space that they could have been debris from The astronauts lost sight of the light as important spacecraft systems which they turned the Apollo to take a series i ght indicate unexpected failures or of photographs of the sunrise which might interfere with other Th wild fantasies printed in Saga spacec ra ft equipment Hence the dn no end here Beckley and Salkin Mann ed Spacecraft Center in Hou sto claim that the astronauts had been now the ohnson Space Center gave startled by unaccountable seismic a contract to Lockhe£:d to study the disturbances th.:- lunar sur face objects seen on the TV pictures and on This event never occurred there were some movie film no such earthquakes during their visit The Lockhc-ed report was quietly Beckley and Salkin refer to a i ssued on March 18 19i0 about the mysterious blue halo encircling one of same time th at the sensationalized and ou spacemen Sparks of APRO fictionalized Saga story was being consicfors thi lo ha,·c bE't?ll lun3r dust print ed Titled linidcntifhid Visual ki cked up h1le thu crcwmt',l were Ph enomena Associated with Space walkii;g ar ou nd Photo analyst Dick Flight -.iA$A Contract i 9-5191 lind r·.rood sutgestect that it is a LEC HASO No 071-80- 013 the defect in the de ni lopmeut of the eport do cuments tlw moon pigc:Qns photo cuusE>d thl l\'id solar i:larc a term coi11E:d by enl:{inc:t.'r lo oil oi a lii~hly Hl~c ti s11 fi ace dc scribu UIH!Xpcctcci 1Jbj cls seen in Undt•rwood quil'kly located half a operational photo1:r:iphy that ddy do 1.e11 imilar ltalou5 on other space po sitive identification of -\polio 12 l'o11f.r:1rl t.'lll!i111 wen 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 rc n,aJ lhe authors but little or no clo~u111clllJli1111 ll1 cvc11t has i,e..-11 macie Rcfore UF'O bclle crs jump and d1Jw11 with confim~a,ion of a whole new family of astronaut sightings of UFO3 the authors announ ce their intention of demonstrating that 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 simi lar occurenccs are included Positive identifi~ation was not po ssible 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 olo magazine 11651\1 exposed on Apollo-12 shows three objects called A and The object appeared during the Ll jettison man«?uver in lunar orbit A is believed to be a small segment the docking channel was identified by engineers as a portion oi th docking ring possibly the fiberglass sea was probably part of the elect rical harness All were near the spacecraft and were tumbling From this and other examinations eatty and Bar on concluded that most moo 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 eve nt in question was in all pr obability a normal result of outine spacecraft operations These data will undoubtably be of use to the engineering scientific and public relations communities The closing refer ence 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 th Joh 11,;011 Space Cerlll told me early in H)i6 that ht ne got any feedback on his report e,·t'n thoui:h it was fun do i ni it and it had [PAGE 23] This photo was snapped only moment af ter Al dr in's other Apollo 11 sho Here the tw UF Os have begun th ei se paration and a ha lo -li ke fo rce fi el between the two is ea shown retty vious implic a tions for UFO repor ts NASA apparently decided to le he UF writers sprea thei mo rs ho ing tha the stories wou ld ade a way if ignore Wh at had ha pened though was a riew shot in the arm for astronaut UFO ca es The explanations could never catch up with the mi inlerpreta tions and w1ong i mpressions engendered by the oni rlteard conversations and l'iewt'd i111a).(r mm Ap ollo-12 lillions of mer ic..ins we re practically eyewitn esses to a space UFO and were suitably impre sed clusive NASA Photos and NASA cJ nsorship is another part of myt Theso Apollo-11 spots are highly magnified window reflection in Lunar Module de in pace Aldrin turned the amer on by ac i dent hile he i ng eq i pment When presented with the Saga story and with APRO's and MUFON's account of the maneu eri al ien spacecraft at 150,00u il es from Earth the a erage citiz en could only assume that iL might ind t"'d be true If -\SA was denying it l'e th en the go ernm nt has bcl'n kno to lie to us in the pa It is a vai:i hop to im ine that the truth will ev er tc up co the Apollo 12 a11<l oth Os clL- c:iilc<l ere th Apollo I FD H•r cr e:-..istt!d Somc,how milliuns or pl•o plc eli£:Vc that il did Th ere is s,1ff i icnt blam 55 [PAGE 24] i LP vn tu Mi r+::b i,I Forgl!ry c.>n oo ttn nt1t•J tt..t or c:o ov roghl 09ula11ons oecauso a N~SA photo Evon ro\ouch ed it cannot bv COPV"9hl8d 56 or this delusi on lo be ien rousl dislributed to UFO buffs AS.- public affairs officers sc1 ii ation sceking news media and la l.y eade And the astronau UFO ge11r is not yet complrtc Let return to so me more exampl es Anothe example of se lective omission of facts occurs in the Gemtn photo of sunl ig ht glinting oft oll thruster rockots on nose Photo forgers airbrushed the nose Ear th bo und ary out making tt,e two lights appear be float ing in sp:ice NASA phot SGS -63722 iO ALSO QR -ip [PAGE 25] S(t'if I 11 t.jv I I I 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 maybe or possibly orbits later at sunrise condition we looked out again and saw objects lined up in a ro,v and they weren't stars I know They must have been these same things we tossed overbo ard Th original distorti on 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 sPwhere he claimed that Carp,rnter look a photograph of a classical sauce shaped UFO with dome tha foll owed hi cap sule pla.t J,l In fa 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 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 tra 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 shots taken Listed as unrden1,r.ed ob1ec or satelli te by NASA Pho to E,·aluat,on Lab f.!C ii!P.l!'f!';H!¥ i!\":i;- I I liio.t.'.1io-t ii 57 [PAGE 26] sc n~:itinnal rn ll(h for rir:tional far.t l"ri Fr 111 Ed ar-1 hi had two hundrf'rl peopll ar.luatl)i me Lhc ohjt·ct The sou rce of th story secll!S to have bren an BC new sm t!l in Au st ralia But the prob:crn ecms tll 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 reporter to the Columbia UFO recording to Mike Douglas to friends and associates Somehow he k:iows nothing abou 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 18 973 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 Allen Hynek the resp ec ted 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 publi shed the story with an intriguing photograph it had received from NASA and which it lab eled NASA Skylab clt>arly indic;iting that this was the astron au phot ogra ph which had buz zed Coyne It would ha\'e been a neat trick for the Skylab astronauts to have photo graphed anything on October 18th since they weren even on board the space tati on The prc\'ious crew had ret urned to E:irth a 111011th before and th ei relie er was not r.l wdu ed to blast off for anothl·r thrPe weeks The ph og ap prin!rd in the rn:il(a7.ine was clearly labt•lt·rl rm its backsidl as r.j,•('fNI frnm hi spaf r;1rt in an lll lllpl Lo gl't isual lrackilll pr:tctic 11:is photo is often referred to is the cl:issical domed UFO hnt UfO re$ c:J rchers anrl ma i az ine edi ors had dearly not made Hen a minia1u111 of effort to verify thes ansparent errors and mistakes but instr:ad p.!ssed 011 the false data to the public ThOU$ands mor were dcceivr.d Lall in 197:J i str an ge ob did appNtr in Skylab sp,,Cl photo graph Takrn on Conrad's kylab fl igh i11 Jun Lhe objcct was not 11otic rl bl UFO res earchers but bv govE>rnmcn·t photo analyst pl 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 --~~i'-:i oi~~~---..:.6 UFO -seen fro,n Skyl oh-2 Tho e1O,1901tcd ou i actually an air1:lrip ta krn hy tl C:irp,.•u(,•r Oil ll'rcury- in the Br a d,an un Enlargomont of NASA pho SL2- 16 09 morn than t1•n years before II c-fl,t show,•d a limp ball non C:i rp<'nt er had c..a- 58 [PAGE 27] sen Jlinnal l'll••'l~h for fii:t illnal far.t writ,•r Fi wl hr had two hundrrri p<?oplt ar.tually ree the ohjt-ct The sou ec c,f the tory seems to have bren an NBC new man in J\t1 5tralia But th problem eems to that Cooper h:is nc•:er hc-a rd of it Hr has b<:>cn out of ti1e spat•e program for SP Ven yrars and t;ilks freely about us lo epo rt ers to th Columbia UFO recording to Jike Douglas to friends and associates Somehow he know nothing abo is space UFO nd he has no eason to be silent Hi space UFO never existed Confronted by this evidence Fawcett letter of May 10 1976 insists that I sincerP.ly believe some of the a shon aut sightings are bonafide based on some of my sources of inform ation John Keel too recalls letter of March 26 1976 that ex NASA engineers have told me all kinds of fa sc inating UFO tales Always these writers fall back on secret reports and private information wh en their publi shed epo rts and open articl es disintegrate in the face of the truth On October 18 1973 the famous Mansfie!d Ohio UFO sighting ccurred for which Captain Lawrence Coyne and hi elicopter crew later wer to receive the Best UFO Case of th Year award and check from a weekly tabloid blue ribbon panel of UFO experts A few months ater Coyne said he was told by the pa11el chairman Allen yne the re specte head of th Center for UFO Studi es that Skylab astronauts had ph otographed the same UFO from space Hynek ultimately deni ed this A reputable ma az ine Army Rese rY publi she the sto ry with an intri guing photogr aph it had received from NASA and which it labeled ASA Skylab clt>arly i nd ic;1ting that this was the as tronaut photograph which ad b1Jzzed oy ne It would a\'e een a eat trick for the Skylab a st ronauts to have photo graphed anyth ing on OC'tobcr 18th ince they wer n't even on board the space station The prerious crew ad re turne to E:irth a 111011th bl'fore and their relie crP.w was not sc hl'ouled to bl ast ff for ano!h thrre weeks Th photogr:iph prin!t·d in the magazine w<1s clt>arly labl'll·rl its backsidl as t<1hn hy S-:<itt iq.>ent<•r on lt>rcury morl than Pn years efo re It t-pl,{q r.j i•rlt fC'.lrn hi spac·1 cr:ifl in a11 1ttc111pt to g1·1 isual tr.ic:kin pr:1c:tic1 Lis photo is ten referred to is the cl.issical domed UFO sht>lJ UFO res ea chers anri ma::azine dilors had dearly not made en a minimum of effort to ve rify thew transparrn errors and mistakes but instead nssed 011 the false data to the public Thou~ands more ere de cei\·rd La te i11 197'.l a str;in~e objr,;t did aμpt'a in Skrlab sμ,11 ph otog raph Takl'n on onrad's Skyl ab flight i11 June lhe object was not 11olic ed UFO researchr1s but by go\'ernm.:n·t photo 111alysts pl,t 33 Rather than swi?ep the lJFO unde the ru the officials look the other t.ick it ight be a myste ri ous So iet Satellite and could lie of great value to i i~._~;,,..;.r 33 UFO 1ee,n fro,n Skvlot The tongat cd ou,"c actually an a rstrio the 8r~:il,a 1ur,91.i ElllMgomo"t of NASA photo SL2-16-109 show,•d a limp balloon Ca rp<'nter had a 58 [PAGE 28] rn lit 1ry i 11t1 lli~cncc prompt and crg1•Lic in vestigation was launched The object ooked like a long cylinder with l\\'O square p:tddlcs rr sr mbliug sol:i panels at each end ily 11ac,,:-.u1 i11 its tiigu:at on 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 fo 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 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 de scri bed th em and there arc other lesser on es which have also investi gated to a successful conclusion what can we now say about authors who pre se nt uch evidence of astronaut UFOs While speaking ominously about a NASA coverup and of secr et agencies which muzzle space men these same researchers list such quotations as ohn Young Odds are UFOs xist Ed gar -litchell Ve all k'now UFOs are rea Eugene Ceman I believe UFOs belong to someone else and that they arc fro some other civilization Cord Cooper brlieve th at UFOs under i11telligcnt con trol have la ke of ice floatin off of th X-15 rocket plane Somo i nvcst i or call thi a arge UFO NASA photo 76 139 59 [PAGE 29] to,~J OJ 11:'C l♦IJ i I Clouds of debris su rrou nd the Saturn booster ro cke following Apollo opera ion Blow-up photos ot individual pieces ot debris in ide a nd outside the cabin hav been called UFOs NASA photo AS17 14 8-22687 visi ted our pl anet for tho usands of years None of these me claim to ha\·e see UFOs in space By no it should be obvious to open-minded im·estiga tors that no othe aHronaut claims to ha seen any eithe Sugg es tions that they ha ve rt>ally done so are either misconceptions mi repn•s1•ntalions frauds on the part of FO writers Yt>t anothe cast in poi!lt ha just bt>en given an it deals with the ohn Young quotati on Young in Seattle in 19 73 said that the chances were goo that there wer in tell igen civili za tio ns on ot her planets AP Nov 27 973 The news man started the article with the ead Joh oung says that the odds are that unidentiii ed Flying Objects do exi$t even though none of oung's quot ed words indicated that at all Beforr you could say UFO tlap th l.iFO writers had a new authority John Yo ung says Od ds ar UFOs exist It see ms clear that astronauts as a class or the population do ot possess any specia knowledge about CFO which they may have gained from their own experiences They are about as well informed or more truthfully as badly mis informed as the a nirage citizen To quote them as above with the sugiiestion tha they are special authorit it>s on UFOs is a misl ea ding 60 [PAGE 30] and inll•llectually dishonest tactic Three ti lll space veteran Wall ichi rra who acco rding to lff Ologisls saw glowing ma sses actually lightning-lit clouds over the Indian Oc ean os written I do not know enough about this subject to render an opinion of any kind The o!lly information a ve is that which has been released to the public through the years by the various news media UFO writers would ha us belieH that this is part or a a st 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 repor ted it to space officials who made no fort 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 wou ld never have been publicized Astronaut Dick Gordon revealed to me the unpublicized solution to the publicized mystery In a letter dated Sep emhcr 15 19 76 Cordon wrote I i\'idly re..:a!I the inciden which oc 1rrcd when a li ht of indist inct shape and size was spo ll ed on ur eturn to earth it did appear lo be in the Indian Ocean ln our discussions and debriefings that occurred l:iter Ru sty Sc hwcikart pro vi ded the answer He simply said ho about the moon's reflection and of course that is what it was How often those of us in aviation have seen the moon refle ct ion on the water in the course of a nom1al flight We simply did not put it together in returning from lunar distance where we had the black back ground of space the dark night of the earth and the oo behind us Other spacemen have been asked to answer these questions They have been forthright in their denials I never ha\'e personally seen anything I could identify as a UFO says John Glenn now a Senator Crom Ohio Astronauts Grissom and Young said We have never seen any UFOs 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 sunr ise photographed from Skylab NASA photo SL3 118 2177 Conrad on Gcmini-11 and Apo ll writes that I never s:iw a l.Jf'O A stronaut Dcke Sla}·tor claims t!1at do n't reco ll ect anyone porting any UFOs on any of ou nights Bu zz Ald rin went to th moon on Ai,ollo-11 on which th l.iFO press lists at least three sepa rate UFO in cld enls There wer no UFOs There are people who say there's a go\"ernme nt conspiracy to covu up the existence of flying saucers Aldrin told a Reuters re porter in 973 That's a lot of hogwlsh The L.M pilot on th next fli gh Apollo-'12 was Alan Bean Following a new pr ess confe rence in 1975 when James Harder rep eated his stories of Apollo-11 and Apollo-12 UFOs Bean to ld UPI that at no time during his mission did he ever see an unidentifi ed object 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 61 [PAGE 31] Th AH:CJ ll1d 111 di l!J io c:011li1n1c<l to g1•111•r,1t llt.:W JSlClJll;JUt Fl f-1ir IJlcs with tile rinony111011s rcH tinn from Mr who hL·,.irtl th Apt>II htrn11:iuts escribe Hthr di h:-u:l,:-i tl1;,t pac i11 them i th urfc1cc of the mo on The be st answer l.'o thi f:tbrir.ltivn is in a I tler from ASA Assistcnt Administ rator for Legislative Afiairs Rob(;rt Allnutt to Congr<)s nan Bob Casey dated Januar 29 19 70 Conversation between the Apollo 11 c,·ew ind Jission Cont,ol were released live during the entire Apollo 11 mission Th re were betwel)n 1000 and 1500 rep rese ntati\·es of the news media present at the Houston News Cl)nter listening and observing bu not one has suggested that NASA withheld any news or conversations of this nature The evidence is clear There is out of all the doz ns of reports of astronaut UFO sightings no re sidue of authentic cases no 20 or or even 0.01 of tr ue UFOs behind all the noise My research is compelling in i ts conclusion afler fifteen year3 of mann ed 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 existenc of extraterrestrial spacecraft or UFOs That evid nce if it exists at all mu st be sought elsewh re 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 ecognized 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 Fl i ng Objects Condo Report Bant am Edition 1969 Chapter Visual Ob ser vations lade bv Astronauts Franklin Roach Pag;s 76-209 with biblio graphy throu gh 1967 Good bal"k;;ro und m:itNial including unpubli h<'d alitl so lutinn to a numb of c;is rs In co rr ec solution to Gem ini- I case ln ad 4uat<- anal and u1,j11 stificd encinr l)nH•nt ot f:,,r,;i ca Th i c:ul,l fl and Vallee Hl'nry ll'ry Co 975 Pa 6-1 11 i S1.·ctit>1 cn llt ci The Sl nlbl it fi,id tl1 phony Fa1u tt li Li l;a in corn:cl dales and 111a11 lli;.:hi nul if H1ur11cc On uly I 1~7Li lk -\lk-11 yne rc,:i 111 it.lean and cndors it anrl n•p11 11 ci I hr F'awcctt li which he L'p ort tl1,1t lw inr:luded in his book as a ru i ity Olil That is ju st eca ht pre,t nted it a fact to thousand ot adt'rs as no reason for anyone to concl11 dl he thoug ht it was true This appallingly irres ponsible att i tude towards rules of e\·idcnce seems to in fer.t th whole UFO field Sightin gs by 26 A stronauts Co11iir UFOs Spied 011 Sl ylabs sic Jla11y Other Space Shots FOs Wat ch Every tlo\'e NASA Jakes Say Astronauts Who Were Tailed on Space Shot National Tattler Ma rch 17 1974 This is an embellished version of the same Fawcett fantasies Week ly tabloid newspaper conformed to the hi ghest standards of modern reporting Tattler and its staff are dedi ca ted to total truthful coverage In fact staffer Rob ert Abborino made no effort to check any of Fawc ett's outrageous cla im UFOs Past Prese11t and Future by Robert Emenegger research by Alan Sandler allant ine 1974 Chapter 15 Na:;a pages 100 -106 Ex tensive transcripts of pace communications co er up the fact that Sand er carefuily sele cted evidence and must have knowin gly omitted information which would have explain ed many cas es An xcellent photo section is included UFO Report People Pr ess 1975 NASA Hiding UFOs From You by Rob ert Barry pages 4-10 Barry is associated with Carl Mcintyre's fundamentali st Chr is tian group and is one of the wilder UFO writers Even the mass media has le arned to disr egar his fictional descrip tions of non-event Here he explains why NASA called in the CIA to keep the se photos secret wi thout exp aining how in that case he got copies He uses the forg.cd Gemini-7 photo proudly Flying Saucers-Here and Vow by F'rank dwa rd Lyle Stuart iew York 19 67 Astruna~1t iar.ta~il's h()lly ur in part creatrd in the forti le and unlimil by w,il i ly mind 11,-11-;man ra11 Ed1\Jrd ire iound on p:1ge$ HO an<1 i Tltrnu i s11d entr i i 11 rnalis 111 stu t"n can trace thl adua i wth of the myt l:U ui/di rd1-:\pril 970 and l-'dJru.iry 197 a11 nthc•,~- l11 nyi11g saucer club llt'w let tL b·,l pi fit th dlsn•gard for ti:tl i11ws1i;,:atio11 cvid nc hid prtH id1)d th clima tr in wh:ch the mylh ot --astronaut liFOs co11IJ g-101 and tluu nsh Th Star Vfan 197 pa Sequence or ea dline On the front page Astronauts Say We Saw L:FOs in Space On pai c-iJ Astronauts Con firm We spotted l\\'O UFOs lll the article cDi·:itt ta oi his UFO and Co ope discusses his exper:ences as a fighter pilot in Germany-and makes 110 mention of the space UFO as soc iated with his name The headlines as can be expected in such a newspaper ar deliberately misleading SAGA magazine May 197 Classified TOP SECRET-Apollo Astronaut Report ed Two UFO Sightings by Beckley and Salkin 13 rr Complete story of Apollo-12 UFO plus enough false information to discredit the true explanation Quotes space expert Gary enderson another a ctive spreader of the myth Refers to long-discredit ed stories of secret dead Ru ssian cosmonauts probably created by tank Ed wards Houstvn Post Nov 30 1975 page Just One Astronaut Clai ms Seeing UFO by Jim aloney is sensible and sane investigation i\lcDiv itt stuc to his tory cl ea rly did not excite the national news media and was rel eg ated to the obscu ri ty of a local newspaper Science and lechanics June 1969 Cover Story This UFO was photographed by as tronaut Gordon on Gemini 11 flight he co\·er photo shows a tremendously enlarged out of focus image of a pi ece of insul atio floating a f.:w inch es in fron of the camera Page -1-1 Lloyd lallan -\re liFO Space Crews Spying on ou Astronauts De cripti of the late lallan's inter\'iews on Ge mini provides some new informaLion but cements some old mis conc pti rrns Also embellishes Condon eport unknowns Lock hce d-~.-\S.- Contract 191 larch 19 T1:ch:1kal Report L'nid1 11t ified Vi,;uJI Ph1.•11<1mena ss oc at ed wilh Sp:icl fli:,:ht HL•atty and R:.iron Di tb i c•s the r,1i,:1ne11t 11 111d photographt'd on pol!•J 12 and trac es th em spacc,cr:ift effct·r [PAGE 32] EP L,Y To REPLY To 135 HART SE NA TE OfFICE tLOlNG 103 EDERAL COURTHOUSE BUILDING WA SHINGTON 20510-150 3206THSTREET 202 1224-3744 Sioux CITY IA 11 01 124A TTY 2021 224-44 79 e-mail eh uc Lgrassley@g rassley.senate.gov 721 FEDERAL BUILDING tlnitEd totes rnotr 71 21 233-1860 210 WA TERLOO UILDING 531 COMMER IA STRE ET 210 ALNUT $',-REET DES IN ES IA 50309 2140 CHARLES GRASSLEY WATERLOO IA 50701-5497 319 232 657 5151284-4890 206 EDERAL BUI LDING WASH INGTON DC 20510-1501 116 FEDERAL BU I LDING 131 41H TREET 10 TREET SE CEDAR RAP10S IA 52401 122 19 363--6832 August 1998 DAVENPORT IA 52801 15 13 319 32 2-4 331 307 Fl!D EHA ILD ING SOUTH 6TH TREET COUNCIL BLUFFS IA 51501-4204 Ms Mary Kerwin 712 322-7103 Deputy Assoc For Legislative Affairs National Aeronautics Space Administration 300 Street Two Independence Square Room 9L33 Washington DC 20546 Dear Ms Ker in Enclosed please find a communication from regarding several concerns about the space program I wou appreciate any assistance you could provide pertaining to this matter Please mark your return corr spondence to the attention of Sherry Kuntz when responding to my office Thank you for your attention to my request Charles Grassley United St ates Senator CEG/sk En lo ure Committee Assignments FINANCE AGRICULTURE CHAIRM AN JUDICIARY BUDGET SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING PR INTED ON RECYCLED PAPER [PAGE 33] Author b)(o at internet Dat_e 7/6/98 04:14 PM Priority Normal TO chuck grassley at Grassley-DC Subject essage from a Voter Greetings Honorable Senator Grassley I have recently encountered a number of new and interesting tidbits of i nf ormation co nce t"oing letters hovo pr evi~unJy writte to you i regard of the UFO phenomenon th at seems to be happen i ng in the United Stat as well as the rest of the world I greatly appreciate all the i ormation you have led me to through our past correspondence I am hopin you an help me track down a few more specific things Here is a som ethin I heard from someone I wa corresponding with 11 Sunday August 10 1997 at around 9:45am CDT I was wat-ching TV and swi tched to the NASA channel or news of the ongoing shutt mission At the time the ere broadcasting a nighttime view of Earth As I watched I was surprised to see a ligh rising vertically from the bo tt om of the screen where Earth was displayed As it continued to rise ve rt ically relative to the TV screen the shut tl camera clearly began to track the i ght and kept the picture entered on it Afte it rose we ll above the horizon of Earth the ligh made an app are nt 90 degre turn to the igh 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 for a closer ook At that point NASA cut off the feed from the external camera and displayed the Houston space center instea Unfor tun ately I wasn't prepared to record this on my VCR The en ti re ep isode lasted ess than a minute so I was unable to get the VCR ready i time I am also interested in any in form atio that can be relayed abo ut the ro om Lak Are a also know as Area 51 or Dreamland and an area known as Area The media has stated hat these areas in the Nev ad a desert are testing grounds for US Black Projec ts I believe that vehicles such as the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Stealth Fighter where teste here The gov rnment to date denies the exist en ce of such places even tho ug I have in my possession of several videotapes pictures and ven a Russian satellite image showing the area Does such a place exist Or at leas are yo the Air Force or NASA whoever happens to be in cont ro of the site illing to tell us that is does exist It is my understandi ng that th Nellis Air Force Base surrounds Area 51 so I imag ine that he Air force is the one wh has juris dic tion over the Area any peop le including Bob Lazar Bill Uhouse and the father of a guy I work wi all claim to have orked in th is secret area and have seen a nd wo rk ed on craft an alien ori gin Bill Ohouse claims tha both President Nixon and Bush visited th Area 51 facility to exa mine 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 ruth to the i claims and the claims of many others I woul wonde why such a spectacular secret ould be kept from us and why the aliens ould not have made themselves known to he gen eral populace of Ear Please do ot just send me another lis of Project Blue Book doc um ents a nd I have already seen the censored files released by the CIA These documents have been ce nsored so all that they do is bring more suspic ion toward the governm nt and they just make me thin even more that someone is hiding some thing The thing I can figure out is why [PAGE 34] 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 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 evada Test site Borders base on the west I nitia ll 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 Agen cy that controls A rea 51 Based at Edwardo Air Force Base EG&G Special Projects Ge neral contractor at Area 51 Bechtel Ge neral contractor at Nevada Test Site with some projects at Area 51 Tonopah Test Range Semi-secret aircraft testing base northwest of Area 51 Lo k.heed Mar tin Aircraft manufa turer for whom the base was built Johnson Controls Contractor at evada 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 Mechan ics the site of the new Area 51 Papoose Lake Site of Lazar's Area south of Groom Lake Tikaboo Peak Last accessible viewpoint into Area 51 [PAGE 35] Author at internet Date 6/98 04 48 PM Priority Normal TO chuck grassley at Grassley-DC Subject NASA 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 tru th to this there is a big sha~e shame on NASA If you could contact NASA on my behalf about hese incidences would be very grateful 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 wo rl During the fina orbit Major Gordon Cooper to ld 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 wa 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 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 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 coll ec ted 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 [PAGE 36] 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 ooking 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 to ld him that he wa 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 Borman ER GEMINI HOUSTON HOW DO YOU READ Control Loud and clear go ahead Borman GOT A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH Control This is Houston Say again Borman SAID WE HAVE A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH control Roger Control Gemini is that the booster or is that an actual sighting Borman 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 hours 24 minutes into the flight Ironically it was Lovell who ma de the classic state men Pl ease be informed that there is a Santa Claus This was during his Apollo flight on Christmas day in 1968 some people believe there's a deeper meaning to these words although the scep tic beli ve that this as little more than American humour However Walter Schitta who was aboard Mercury reputedly used Santa Clause as a code-name for a UFO presence adding some eight to the argument that Lovell as 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 -co nfirmed reports both Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldr i saw UFOs shortly after that hi storic lan ding on the Moon in Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969 I remember hearing one of the astronauts ref er to a light in or on a crater during the television transmission followed by a request from mis sio control for further information Noth i ng more was heard [PAGE 37] A<a:c,;ord i Lo a f.or er ASA emp oye ot lii nd er un nam ra,di j,a rp wi I their own VHF receiving facilities that ypas se AS A a casting outl etc pi fo ll win exc han ge NASA ha t's there Mission Control calling Apollo 11 Apollo 11 Th ese Babies are huge Sir Enormous OH MY GOD You wouldn't beli 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 Hal What is it Astronaut We have some explanation for that --BEEP- Houston We have not don't worry continue your program --BEEP- Astronaut Oh boy it 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 Well it's kind of rigged ha pretty spectacular god what is that there --BEEP- Astronaut It's hollow what the hell is that Houston Go Tango Tango --BEEP- Astronaut 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 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 [PAGE 38] 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 disap peared 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 in article Major White exclaimed over the radio [PAGE 39] 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 Eug ene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17 In a Los Angeles Tim es 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 Mauric Chatelain In 1979 Maurice Chatelain former chief of NASA Communications Systems confirmed that Armstrong had i nd eed 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 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 command module ca me 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 ational 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 itnessed a UFO on the ground If there is no secrecy why has this sighting not been made public [PAGE 40] 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 Buchli Astronaut Houston this is Riscovery we stil have the alien spacecraft under observance [PAGE 41] JLJN Lt 999 L:ATW:mtg U1998-407f The Honorable Olympia Snowe United States Senate Washington DC 20510 Dear Senator Snowe Thank you for your May 18 1998 letter on behalf of regardi ng Unidentified Flying Objects and his concern over he aut hent icity of the recently released Mariner photographs There are no recently released Mariner photographs We assume 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 and 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 hotojourna jp1 nasa.gov We appreciate your interest in these matters and trust this information will be he lpf ul to you in responding to Sincerely ienina er Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs ecc S/Ruth Netting LB/Barbara Cherry Sent to Mark Berumen Hill Office 250 SROB 22-- tc8 [PAGE 42] COMMnTEES OLYMPIA SN OWE MA I NE ARM ED SE RVI CE CoUNSEL TO THE AsslSTANT BUDGET MA..K 1TV LEADER COMMERCE SCI NCE AND 250 USSELL ENATE FFICE 8UILD1NG TR AN PORTATION 202 224-5344 CH AI OF OCE AN ANO ASH ERI ES WASHINGTON DC 20510-1903 UBC OMMITT EE SMALL BUSINESS May 18 1998 Mr Lawrence Medway Director Congressional Inquiries Division National Aeronautic and Space Administration 300 Street SW Washington D.C 20546 Dear Mr Medway I am writing to ou regarding the concerns of my constituent of Stonington Maine is interested in U.F and the recent photos of Mars which were rece ntly released 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 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 lti cer el uni tes senator OJS:mjb A UGUSTA tDDEFORO PORTUINO RESOUE ls~e wo GAEAT FALLS Pt.Av 68 SEWALL STI1EET SUITE 10 ONE CU BERLAND PLACE SUITE 306 231 AIN Smerr Su TE CANAL PtAZA SUITE 60 169 ACAOfMV STI1fe1 Su Su1Te 78 A UGUSTA ME 04 330 0ANGOA ME 04401 8100,•0RO 0400 ox 88 P•Fsoue i 04769 A UBURN ME 042 10 207 622-8292 07 94 --04 32 207 28 144 POATLANO ME 04 11 207 764-5124 207 786-2451 207 87 4'"°883 AINE ELA SER VICE TOO 55-,3323 AUBURN BANGOR PRINTEO ON ECYCLED PAPE IN MAINE CALL TO LL- FREE -800-432- 1599 [PAGE 43] L98-407 Sen Snowe Enclosed is a fact sheet enti tled 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-extraterrestfial is conduetee through-Ibe.Seatch for E~teH i ge nee-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 Mar iner these images are received on Earth in digital format meaning and 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://photojourna jpl.nasa.gov We appreciate your inter est in this matter and trust this i nformation will be usefu to you [PAGE 44] 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 searc program Today th@ searoh fer-extratertEtrials is condttst«l -through..Ihe-Sear:ch.ior E~rate11esli ial fotemgenee Ins-t1-tut SffFHnstitute in- Mountain View CA As for your interest in the recent photos of Ma rs taken from our Mars Global Surveyor MOS not the Mariner these images are received on Earth in digital format meaning 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 will be useful to you [PAGE 45] ACTION REQUIRED CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY Office of Legislative Affairs DATE May 26 1998 NASA Headquarters PAGES if faxed 300 Street SW Washington DC 20546 TO S/Ruth Netting Anne Ward PHONE PHONE 202 358-1946 FAX FAX 202 358-4343 Action assigned to S/Ruth Netting Due date June 1998 Information copies Action number Member L98-407- Sen Snowe INSTRUCTIONS Please prepare a draft reply to the attached Congressional inqui ry and send it via electronic mail to the following address Anne.Ward@hq.nasa.gov or send a copy of our reply on a diskette to the attention of Anne Wa rd 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 please send answer to me Thanks Helen [PAGE 46] CONFIRMATION REPORT 05-26-1998(TUE 10:26 TRANSM IT NO DATE TIME DESTINATION PG DURATION MODE RESUL 18502 5-26 10:25 NASA HQTS 0°00'52 NORMAL OK 0·00•52 [PAGE 47] egClq arte rs Action racKi ng ystem HATS IN CO MING CORRESPONDEN CE ACTION ID Number 199 00407 Title Sen Snow fwd ltr from who interested in U.F.O and th rec nt Mars photo Recipient Author Organizati on Action Office Status UHeffernan SNOWE SENATE LD/Rothman:P Open Date Written Date Received Date Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed Current Due Date Original Due Date 05/18/1998 05/26/1998 06/18/1998 Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan UHeninger UKerwin Abstract SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM OF STOCKINGTON MAI NE WHO'S INTERESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED Comments Enclosure NO Related Records Keywords STONINGTON MAINE U.F.O MARS File Plan Analyst BMoore 05/26/1998 Page of [PAGE 48] DRAFT ATW mtg U1998-407f he Honorable Olympia Snowe United States Senanns Washington DC 20510 Dear Senator Snowe There are no recently released Mariner photographs We assume 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 forma meaning 0~nd NASA merely translates these digital images usi ng 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 availab le 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 Sincerely Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs [PAGE 49] ecc S/Ruth Netting LB/Barbara Cherry Sent to Mark Berumen Hill Office 250 SROB [PAGE 50] 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 White House Date Written Date Received Date Concurred Date Submitted 05/17/1998 06/18/1998 Action Office Status UWard:S Closed Date Signed Date Closed Current Due Date Original Due Date 06/26/1998 06/26/1998 07/15 1998 07/15/1998 Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan UHeninger UKerwin Abstrac White House Correspondence from who supports havi ng 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 FO hearings File Plan 1320.4 Analyst JMassey 06/24/1998 Page of [PAGE 51] JUN L:ATW:mtg U1998- 494f Dear The White House has reque ted NA SA to respond to your May 17 998 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 a pp reciate your interest in th is matter and trust this information will be helpful to yo Sincerely Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs Enclosure ecc S/Ruth Netting LB/Barbara Cherry Sent to Sue Smith Director Office of Agency Liaison Room OEOB The White House Washington DC 20502 &l-alt:ii lt LY J.12 I i lr [PAGE 52] THE HITE OUS WASHINGTON I DATE MEMORANDUM FOR FROM SUE SMITH c;f'x1 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 our efforts to be a respons i ve as possible Th attached et ers have not received a White House Staff response I am forwarding this correspo de ce to you agency 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 belo I also wo uld appreciate our sending a copy of our age ncy log of the nam~§ and adcl of @Be iFidi vielual Any misr fa rr alg should be ttirn ed my o.r:.i:u i.i yg 11.§V qy~etiQns you can reach me at 486 Su Smith Director Office of Agency Liaison Room OEOB The White Ho se as hi ngton D.C 20502 A gain hank you for your continuing help A98'- I I C,'f [PAGE 53] Fr om no bod wwwr.-wrute ho use gov un May 17 17 57:37 998 Date un 17 May 998 17:54 05 -0400 rom Subject In bo W1d-White_House WWW_MAIL PRESIDENT Apparently-to president@WhiteHouse.GOV To president@ Whit eHouse.GOV Errors-to The Postmaster P,Qstmas I.whitehouse.gov Reply-to Message id 199805 72154.RAA07723@www whi ehouse.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 jms/960226 Connection Infonnation CLIENT ww trD2.proxy aol.com 52.163.201.136 BROWSER Mozilla/4.0 compatible MSIE 4.0 AOL 3.0 Wmdows 95 Sony URL http www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail President.html Sender Infonnation PERSONAL-NAME EMAlL-ADDRESS ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIP STREET-ADDRESS 01Y Ventura STA1E-PROvrnCE Ca ZIP-CODE 93004 Q1.JNTR.Y Message Information PURP OS Ask a speci fi question regarding Administration policy TOPIC Science or Technology AFFILIATI ON Private Citizen SUBJECT UFOs Message Dear Mr Pr es ident It is my und ers tanding that you Mrs Clinton Vice-President Go re and ea ds of Congr ess including the CIA director members of the Senate and House the Executive Branch and senior mi litary reps in the Pentagon were briefed in or around ec ember of 1997 by Dr Steven Gr ee Int rn ational Director of CS ETI Th Ce nt er fo the Study of Extraterrestrial Int lli ge nc as ically he calls on you and other members of [PAGE 54] congress to ho ld open congressional meetings What is yo ur posit on and intent on this matter Will you push for open hearings or are you stonewal led as well by MJ 12 Certainly on yo ur 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 [PAGE 55] L:ATW:mti;,:U1998-494f bf Dear lb The Wh ite House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17 1998 letter l'"o QC ot.i:!41..:f- concerning possible hearings on t1FQ!s I lll\,cl Cl.f\+ a lO We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on T-he-att-aeAed-fact"Sflea,"The US Government and Unidentified Flyin Objects iv a brief history of NASA's investigations into UF llo\t1e f.i er be:-- ge-vemment is curFe ntly inve &tl aling UFO's We appreciate your interest in this matter and tr ust Sincerely Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs Enclosure is information will be helpful to you [PAGE 56] ecc S/Ruth Netting LB/Barbara Cherry Sent to Sue Smith Director Office of Agency Liaison Room OEOB The White House Washington DC 20502 [PAGE 57] ea dquarters Action Tr acking System HAT INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number U1998-00494 Title Wa rd/White House Referral UFO Hearings cipi en A/G oldin Author Organizati on White House Date Written 05 17 1998 Date Received 06/18/1998 Date Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed Action Office L/Ward:S Current Du Date 07/15/1998 Original Due Date 07 15 1998 Status Open Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan L/Heninger UKerwin Abstract White House Correspondence from who supports having congressional hear ing 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 UF hearings File Plan Analyst JMassey 06/18/1998 Page of [PAGE 58] 6/17/98 15:54:01 CORRESPONDENCE ACTION STATUS HISTORY Page Correspondence and Action Tracking System Code A ID Number A98-01199 Title WHR BULK CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON UFO'S Recipient Organization GOLDIN A Other Recipients Organizations Author Organization WHR BULK other Authors I Organizations Date Written Date Received Original Date Due Current Date Due Submitted for Signature Date Signed Date Completed 05/17/1998 06/17/1998 07/15/1998 07/15/1998 Action Office Signature Office Action Officer HEFFERNAN Signature Officer HEFFERNAN Status Open Security Public Priority Normal In/Out Incoming Inf Copies A,P Abstract WHR BULK VIA E-MAIL 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 Ad Hoc A/1998-00461 Clerk vc [PAGE 59] Headquarters Action Tr acking System HATS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number A/1998-00461 Title WHR Bulk Congressional Hearings on UFO's Recipient A/Goldin Au hor Organization WHR Bulk Action Office UHeffernan Sta tu Open Date Written Date Received Date Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed urrent Due Date Original Due Date 05/17/1998 06/17/1998 07/15/1998 07/15/1998 Signatu re Office Heffernan Info ffi ces A/Goldin P/WILHIDE Abstract WHR Bulk Via E-mail,(b ventura CA supports having congressional hearings regarding the existence of UFO's Comme nt Enclosures None Related Records A98-01199 Keywords WHR Bulk California Congressional Hearings UFO's File Plan 1320-1 Analyst VCoates 06/17/1998 Page of [PAGE 60] Headquarters Action Tracking System HATS INCOMING I CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number U1998-00470 Title WARD/Rep Gordon re taxpayers money on space aliens Recipient UHeffernan Author Organization Action Office Status GORDON HOUSE L/Ward:S Closed Date Written Date Received Date Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed Current Due Date Original Due Date 06/04/1998 06/15/1998 06/18/1998 06/18/1998 07/06/1998 Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan L/Heninger UKerwin LO/Rothman Abstract REP GORDON WRITES ON BEHALF OF RE TAXPAYERS MONEY BEING SPENT ON SPACE ALIENS Comments Enclosures YES LTR Related Records Keywords SPACE ALIENS TAXPAYERS MONEY UFO File Plan 1320.4 Analyst BMoore 06/18/1998 Page of [PAGE 61] I L:A TW mtg U1998-470f Deadb Congressman Bart Gordon has asked NASA to respond to your recent letter to him wh erein 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 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 ce i Un it [PAGE 62] I II I lll,11 I I II I I I I I 111 II 11 I 11,1 rll)(o PM I [PAGE 63] 201 AAVBURN BUILOING WASHINGTON DC 2051~206 BA ft'f GO RDON 6TH DISTRICT TENNESSEE 202 12 25-4231 FAX 1202 22S-6887 COMMERCE COMMITTEE SCIENCE COMMlffiE 106 SOUTli MAPLE STREET PO BOX 1986 RA NK ING MEMBER URFREESBORO TN'.31133 SUSCOMMITitE dNSPACE l615l89e-1986 FAX 15 896--8218 trongress of tbe Wniteb tates 17 SOUlH JEFFEflSON STI\EET P.O 8OX 1U0 ouse of l\epresentatibes COOKEVILLE TN 3850 1'93 528-5907 June 1998 Ms Mary Kerwin Deputy Associate Administrator For Legeslative Affairs National Aeronautics and Space Administration Two Independence Square Room 9L33 300 St SW Washington 20546 Dear Ms Kerwin I am writing to you on behalf of my constituent and have enclosed a copy of her inquiry I ould appreciate i if you wou respond direct to my constituent as ell 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 if you 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 [PAGE 64] [PAGE 65] The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects http www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao facts/HTM L/FS-017-HQ.htm I NASA Facts IL£ COPY National Aeronautics and Space Administrati on NASA Head(1Jares Public A irs Offce CcdeP 300 Street SW washington DC 2054 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 ha 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 How ever similar work will continue in a more limited manner through efforts of private groups and through academic institutions The Search for Extraterrestrial Int elligence 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 mi ss ions 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 of 06/16 1998 10:35 AM [PAGE 66] l'he US dov emment 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 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 UF 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 no UFO reported investigated and evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our national security 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 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 Mi li tary 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 su pport 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 A ir 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 of aerial phenomena investigation UFO Points of Contact For further information on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence please contact the SETI Institute 2035 Landings Drive Mountain View CA 94043 415 960-4530 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 The Air Force publication The Roswell Report Fact vs of3 06/16 1998 10:35 AM [PAGE 67] l'h US Clo ve mm and Uni de ntified Fl in bj ec ts http www nasa go ffi cc ao fact lT I 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 There are a number of universities and professional scientific organizations that have considered UFO phenomena during periodic meetings and seminars A list of private organizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations 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.s mi th@hq.nasa.gov Web De signer Pamela Sams Revised February 14 1997 of 06 16 1998 10 35 AM [PAGE 68] L:A1W:mtg:U1998-470f Dear 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 ¥01:1 will Aete-.tAaHl'l the secenEI pa agrc1 -'1Ae Congress in 1993 directed NASA to end its-search tore Today the search for extraterrestrials is conducted through The Sear ch for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute SETI Institute in Mountain View CA X'.t i We appreciate your interest in this matter Sincerely Is Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legi sl ative Aff a ir Enclos ur cc The Honorable Bart Gordon [PAGE 69] ecc S/Ruth Nett ing LB/Barbara Cherry Sent to Patton Lane Hill Office 2201 RHOS [PAGE 70] LA98-00106 Security Name To GOLDIN Action/Info A Due Date Current 05/28/98 Due Date Original 05/28/98 Suspense Status Date Completed 05/01/98 Action Office L/S WARD Info Copy AI,EH,LH,MDK Signature Office HENINGER Enclosures Clerk JM Interim Replies Dates Comments Response Progress Rel'd records A98-00789 File plans 1320.4 Type I No Organization ADMINISTRATOR 43 WHR Topics Written 03/16/98 Received 04/23/98 Ke ywords WHITE HOUSE CSETI HEARING PUBLIC UFO EXTRATERRESTRIAL EVIDENCE Storage Location Summary of Contents WHITE HOUSE REFERRAL MEMBER OF CSETI SUPPORTS OPEN CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS OR A PRESIDENTIAL DISCUSSION REGARDING EVIDENCE AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALIEN BEINGS AND SPACECRAFT Referred No Organization From [PAGE 71] AY L:ATW:mtg:LA98-106f 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 FO and will give you other points of contact you may wish to pursue We appreciate your in terest in this matter Edward Heffernan Acting Associate Administrator for Legislative Af fairs Enclosu re This letter came to us via_the White House Bulk Mail 5li cw 113 c#t I 5"/11w [PAGE 72] 4122/98 15:46:44 Correspondence and Action Tra ck in System CORRESPONDENCE ACTION Code A ID Number A98-00789 Title WHR BULK PUBLIC CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON EXTRATERRESTRIAL EVIDENCE Recipient GOLDIN Organization A other Recipients Organizations Au thor I Organization WHR BULK other Authors Organizations Date Written 03 16 1998 Date Received 04 22/1998 Original Date Due 05 28/1998 Current Date Due 05/28/1998 Submitted for Signature Date Signed Date Completed Action Office Action Officer HEFFERNAN Info Copies A AB,S Signature Office Signature Officer Status Open In/Out In coming Priority Nonnal Responsible Office I Responsible Officer Due Date WHR BULK MINNEAPOLIS MN MEMBER OF CSETI SUPPORTS OPEN Abstract 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 Clerk vc Ad Hoc I [PAGE 73] 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 Date Written 03/16/1998 Date Received 04/22/1998 Date Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed Date Closed Action Office UHeffeman Current Due Date Original Due Date Status Open Signature Office UHeffeman Info Offices A/Goldin AB/Heffernan PJWILHIDE S/HUNTRESS Abstract WHR Bulk 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 of [PAGE 74] From nobody@wwwl.whitehouse.gov Mon Mar 16 22 19:34 1998 Date Mon 16 Mar 1998 22:16:43 -0500 From:(6J do Subject Inbound-White_House_WWW_MAIL PRESIDENT Apparently-to president@WhiteHouse.GOV To president@WhiteHouse.GOV Errors-t The Postmaster postmaster@www whi~~e.gov Reply-to i,VOftf;J Message-id 998031703 I AA 32@wwwl whittJ(J.,j{fJ,l,fif 0,4L Keywords WWW-Correspondence Ask a specific question regJfn~iS Administration policy Science or Technology Private·Citizen Comments Forwarded from White House WWW t,,A Comments This message scanned by SCAN version 0.1 jm s/960226 Connection Information CLIENT 206.147.215.243[206.147.215.243 BROWSER Mozilla/2.0 compatible MSIE 3.02 Windows 3.1 URL http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_Fresident.html ender Information PERSONAL-NAME EMAIL-ADDRESS ORGANIZATION CSETI RELATIONSHIP member STREET-ADDRESS 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 Pr esidency I want to let you know and appreciate the work you have done as President A/1<11S- ao 31 A'IB-tJO 78'1 [PAGE 75] and the warmth and good humor you've displayed I would like to suggest as a way of changing 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 of alien 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 [PAGE 76] 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 [PAGE 77] L:ATW mtg:LA98-106f DRAFT 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 matte Sincerely Edward Hef fernan Acting Associate Administ ra tor for Legislative Affairs Enclosure [PAGE 78] Headquarters Action racking System HATS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number U1998-00415 Title ROTHMAN/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from who's interested in U.F.O.'s sightings and abductions Recipient L/Heffernan Author SNOWE Organization SENATE Date Written 05/13/1998 Date Received 05/27/1998 Da te Concurred Date Submitted Date Signed 05/27/1998 Date Closed 05/27/1998 Action Office LD/Rothman:P Current Due Date 06/17/1998 Original Due Date Status Closed Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan UHeninger UKerwin Abstract SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND ABDUCTIONS Comments Helen spoke w/staffer refer rin him to Air Force fwded fax sheet on UFOs Enclosures YES LTR Related Records Keywords U.F.O SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION File Plan 1320.4 Analyst BMoore 05/27/1998 Page of [PAGE 79] Date i Time os Phone# Fax# l~Ll From Helen Rothman Director Congressional Inquiries Division Office of Legislative Affairs Voice# 202 358-1943 Fax# 202 358-4343 Message Gl\c.u Ac::r a-i ru Clf Number of Pages including cover [PAGE 80] NASA Facts National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Headquarters Public Affairs Office Code 300 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 of alien 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 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 1947 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 avail able it was determined that nothing would be gained by further investigation since there was an absence of tangiole 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 of private 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 of fields 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 der Project Blue Book The project headquartered at Wright Patterson Air Force Base Ohio was terminated December 17 1969 Of the total of 12,618 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 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 inves tigations and studies since 1948 the conclusions of Project Blue Book were no UFO reported investigated and evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our national security there was no evidence submitted to or discov ered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as uniden tified represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of modem scientific knowledge and there was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as unidentified were extraterrestrial vehicles With the termination of Project 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 of Project 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 [PAGE 81] Since neither NASA nor the Air Force is engaged in day-to day UFO research neither one reviews UFO-related articles intended for publi ca tion evaluates UFO-type spacecraft drawings or accepts accounts of UFO sightings or applica tions for employment in the field of aerial phenomena inves tigation UFO Points of Contact 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 News media requiring Project Blue Book files should con tact 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 Ar chives receptionist at 202 501 400 Documentation is available from Modem Military Branch National Ar chives and Records Service Eighth Street and Pennsyl vania Avenue NW Washington DC 20408 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 20402 9328 There are a nwnber of universities and professional sci entific organizations that have considered UFO phenom ena during periodic meetings and seminars A list of pri vate Oiganizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in Gale's Encyclopedia of Associations Persons wishing to report UFO sightings are advised to contact law enforcement agencies [PAGE 82] CONFIRMATION REPORT 05-27-1998(WED 13:57 TRA MIT NO DATE TIME DESTINATION PG DURATION MODE RESULT 18529 5-27 13:55 202 224 1946 0°01'31 NORM OK 0°01'31 [PAGE 83] CONFIRMATION REPORT 05-27 1998(WEO 13 57 TRAN MIT NO AT TIME EST NAT ION PG DURATION MODE RES UL 18529 5-27 13:55 202 22 19 46 0°0 31 NORM OK 01 31 [PAGE 84] OLVMPIA SNOWE MAINE CoUN SE TO THE AsSIS'l"ANT MAJOftllY l.EAoEA COMMITTEES ARM ED ERVI CES BUDGET COMMER CE SC IE CE AND 250 RUSSELL SE NATE Orn« BUILDING TRANSPORTATION 202 224-5344 CHAIR OF OCEANS AND FI SH ER IES WASHIN GT ON DC 20510-1903 SUBCOMMITTEE May 13 1998 SMALL BUSI NE SS Mr Lawrence Medway Director Congressional Inquiries Division National Aeronautic and Space Administration 300 Street SW Washington D.C 20546 Dear Mr Medway I am writing to you regarding the concerns of my constituent of Portland Maine 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 AUGUSTA BANGOR 8IOOEFORO PORTlANO PRESQUE ISLE Two GREAT FA LL P1.AlA 68 SEWALL STREET SUITE 101C ONE CuM8EALA NO PLACE SUnE 306 231 AIN STReer SUITE CANAL Pl.A2A Sum 601 169 ACAOcMY STREET Sum Surre 78 AVGUSTA ME 04330 BANGOR ME 0440 810DE FORD ME 04005 P.O Sox 188 Pa£S OU ISt.E ME 04769 Au8UAN ME 04210 1207 786-2451 207 622-8292 207 945-0432 207 282-4144 PORTI.AND ME 04 12 207 874--0883 207 764-5124 MA INE RElAY SE RVICE TOO 955--3323 IN MAINE CALL TOLL- FREE 800-432 1599 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER [PAGE 85] i-;J 7953 r'l APR 1998 FEBUAR 22 1998 TIME- 9:11 am Dear Senitor Olyimpia Snow My name is I'm from Portland Maine I'm 12 years old I heard about the fredom of information act I would be so gr ateful 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 LAS LUNAS NEW MEXICO LATE JUNE1977 11 30A.M SHIROYAMA KAWANOE CITY JAPAN FEB/2 75 16:00 MILITARY IME WAIKI KI BEACH HONOLULU HAWAII MARCH/1 5/93 12:00 P.M COLFAX WISCONSIN APRIU1 78 13:30 MILITARY TIME DENVER COLARODO MAY/1991 AFTERNOON BARCELONA SPAIN JUNE/1978 SUNDOWN MONTEMORELOS NUEVA LEON MEXICO SUMMER OF 1994 AFTERNOON VANCOUVER B.C CANADA OCTOBER/17 1992 GULF BREEZ FLORADA SEPTEMBER/24/1994 18:50 MILITARY TIME ZACATELCO TLAXCALA MEXICO OCTOBER 31 199 11 VIBORG JUTLAND DENMARK NOVEMBER/17 74 9:00 A.M COCOYOC MORELOS MEXICO NOVEMBER/3/73 9:00 A.M BELJUM MIDNIGHT 14 MT KIDTARDIN MAINE MIDNIGHT 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 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 pit i tion 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 P.S I'm including my address phone number and P.O box AP 19 98 [PAGE 86] Headquarters Action Tracking System HATS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION ID Number L/1998-00415 Title ROTHMAN/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from who's interested in U.F.O.'s sightings and abductions Recipient Author Organization Action Office Status UHeffern an SNOWE SENATE LD/Rothman:P Open 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 Signature Office UHeffernan Info Offices UHeffernan UH eninger UKerwin Abstract SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM SJ WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND ABDUCTIONS Comments Enclosures YES LTR Related Records Keywords U.F.O SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION File Plan Analyst BMoore 05/27/1998 Page of