USG-미확인 이상 현상(UAP)-D001, 의회, 백악관, UFO 관련 유권자 서신, 1998

This collection of documents, primarily from 1998, contains draft and final correspondence from the White House and the offices of members of Congress responding to constituent inquiries about Unidentified Flying Objects, or “UFOs.” These inquiries cover a diverse range of topics, including alleged UFO sightings by NASA astronauts, questions regarding the authenticity of photos collected during U.S. missions to Mars, alleged improper withholding of information by the U.S. Government, questions regarding the appropriateness of “UFO-related” governmental spending, and calls for congressional hearings regarding the nature and existence of “UFOs.” The official responses consistently state that, circa 1998, the U.S. Government is not aware of evidence supporting the existence of extraterrestrial technology, and that NASA does not actively investigate “UFOs.” The collection includes references to materials of both confirmed and unconfirmed authenticity, as provided by constituents, as well as references to historical, scientific literature addressing specific “UFO” sighting claims.

1320 .4 Aeronautics:UFO

Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
ID Number: L11998-00407
. (b) (6)
Title: WARD/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from who's interested in
U.F.O. and the recent Mars photo
Recipient: UHeffernan
Author: SNOWE
Organization: SENATE Date Written: 05/18/1998
Date Received: 05/26/1998
Date Concurred:
Date Submitted:
Date Signed: 06/24/1998
Date Closed: 06/24/1998
Action Office: UWard:S >>Current Due Date: 06/18/1998<<
Original Due Date:
Status: Closed
Signature Office: UHeffernan
Info offices: UHeffernan, UHeninger, L/Kerwin
Abstract:
6
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (b) ( ) 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:
5
Keywords: (b) ( )
MAINE U.F.O. MARS
File Plan: 1320.4 Analyst: BMoore
06/24/1998 Page 1 of 1

Headquarters Action Tracking 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 Submitted:
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:
Senator Grassley forwards letter from (ts) (S) who is requesting information on UFO sightings by
Astronauts. --
Comments:
Enclosures: letter
Related Records:
Keywords: (6J (o) UFO,astronauts,sightings
File Plan: 1320.4 Analyst: JMassey
09/10/1998 Page 1 of 1

yeA toGU
SEP - 4 1998
L:HR:mtg:L/1998-729f
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate
Washington, DC 2051 0
Dear Senator Grassley:
5
Thank you for your letter of August 3, 1998, on behalf of(b <) who
is requesting information about the possible sightings of Unidentified Flying
Objects (U 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. The Air 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 (b) (6) )nformation. In addition, enclosed is a NASA Fact Sheet
which summarizes the current status of NASA's involvement in UFO
investigations.
6
We trust this information will aid you in responding to(b) ) inquiry.
---
Sincerely,
Edward Heffernan
Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs
Enclosures

+
bee:
Z/Roger Launius (with incoming) ; provided info
Sent to Sherry Kuntz in the Hill office

S,ncc tho ··auron.iut UFO" genre
is one of rhe m13in pillolrs o f VFO Story!
ovidcr1ce. thi5 study clafmlng !hat
the entire set of C .)Scs i1 inv.,..lid
W 1if 0U1110U5iy CC fCCl.?1"18<J t..Vlth
15eeptic. ism and cri ticism from
UFO buffs. Aation~I objections SGM{q~
f'\~9
and arguments wiH bo printed and ~\?-j ,1{
answered in a subseQuent is'5ue of James E. Oberg WiNT~R 1<;46 ( 1H~~ ij,J?_'lJ
this magazina. Critics are urged to P/\LM~ fvBL\CA'11ou s
raise specific points not address°'d
Associate Editor
in tho study. or to cite and
docum.ant facts which might f\l''\1-\~ f\<;T.) l-Ji ~c... S~Y OG
modify or invalidate conclusions "Space World" magazine
in the study. Su\1\e C.1.1f7 pr:c~ ._f1,25'
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
they are sending us radio signals we have not recognized. Perhaps they have
left artifacts ofpast 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 ofthem valid? What can a careful study reveal?
H ardly a UFO book or movie is tigations Committee on Aerial Force operations, and space miss:ons
complete without the standard Phenomena (NICAP) selected the might give me new insights into this
assertion that "astronauts have seen "McDivitt UFO" photo as one of the most puzzling series of cases. I was not
UFOs too". While critics may attack four best photographs ever taken. disappointed, and my results were
the character or intelligence of many The "astronaut UFO" sightings startling.
UFO witnesses, they cannot use these must appeal to many seriou:i The basic truths behind these
tactics on American and Russian space researchers for a number of reasons. sightings seems lately to have gathered
pilots. Where UFO photographs can be The witnesses and the photographs are an accretion of exaggeration,
accused of distortion and forgery, unimpeachable as to honesty and confusion, and outright fiction. The
photographs taken by astronauts and authenticity. The conditions of the 1968 "Condon Report" on UFOs
processed by NASA must be of the space missions can be calculated and (conducted by the University of
highest trustworthiness. Hence, most recorded, and every object near the Colorado for the U.S. Air Force)
UFO scholars consider the family of spacecraft can be determined by con­ found itself unable to penetrate three
astronaut UFO sightings to be one of sulting the giant space radars of the specific cases, which the analyst felt
the strongest bodi~s of evidence in the North American Air Defense were • a "challenge" to any serious
past thirty years.
Command (NORAD), headquartered investigator. Stories later began
The best of these cases include inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. circulating about sightings of lunar
astronaut James McOivitt's sighting of Extensive crew debriefings and surface lights and structures, and the
o( an "unidentified spacecraft" near on-board tape recorder transcripts may discovery of artifacts on the moon,
his Gemini-4 space capsule in 1965, a be available to obtain direct eye­ about near approaches of structured
curious photo of a pair of UFOs with witness testimony. objects, and about attempts at radio
glowing propulsion fields taken by the With all these facts and assumptions contact between Apollo capsules and
Gemini-7 astronauts. reports of nearby in mind, and mindful of the numerous UFOs. Recent books on UFOs give
objects from X-15 and Mercury 'unsolved' cases which might tell much lists of astronaut sightings which are
spacecraft. tales of how ~he 1968-1969 about the lJFO phenomenon, I began out of numeric sequence, misdated,
Apollo moon shots were followed by a special research program into this mispeUed, and otherwise distorted.
U.FOs on their way to the moon, and particular body of evidence. As an My research has revealed a few
reports and pbutographs of objects aerospace writer. historian, and re­ examples of deliberate photo forgeries
seen by crewmen on the Skylab space searcher, I felt that my experience by UFO buffs or opportunistic authors.
station. Last year, the National Inves- with astronautics, computers, Air My investigations in the NASA
38

arch,n•s has fl'\"l•aled ca..~es whcrl' UFO ~ - -+s _ _ ,., - ,e-- ....... ,., ,+- ............ ,., _,., • .., .... ...... -«•
rt•~c:irchrr; withheld Cl•rtain informa­
tion frl'cly gi,·1•n them by N:\SA
Dc:sµitc the pt!r.~istl'11t rumors of '.,;ccrct space pict'"rcs•. all
officials. infori:tation which would pho /nJ!rupl1s tahl'll by .V,\S.-\ i11 space arc i11 tlie public domui11. That is.
have clearly explained m;my cases any picture tuhc:,: by 1.111 astro11a111 or 011 earth resource, satellite is
which the authors wantt•d to appear ai:ailablr. to anyo11c who wants to pay fur it.
There are foi:r tiers ofplwto,;:-:iph Ji·cilcbility. but two a:-e rescri:ed
mysterious. So the time has come to
for 11ewsme11 only The ~/ructurc is us folluws:
take a ne\\' look at this whote
A . The most popular space photographs /alien arc lithographed for
phenomenon. What is the truth about general free di.,;tributiCJ11 to anyone who asr.s for them. Seueral dozen
"astronaut lirOs"? new photographs are added to this list eucry year. Cost to .VAS,\ is a
The first step in any research might few ce11ts per print.
8. The N.-lS.-l Public Information Offices at uarious centers and at
be with the Condon report. t:-iought
headquarters prints gfossy photographs of timely news stories for
by many to have been commissioned
distribution tu the news media. Hundreds of these photographs are
as a "whitewash" of the UFO released euery year. but only crrtified newsmen can receiue them for
phenomenon. UFO enthusiasts are ~~ .
C. .\!any thousands of other photographs and drawi11gs may be of
accustomed to hearing harsh criticism
interest to the news media and arc therefore fifad at public i11formatio11
of almost all aspects of this study. but
offices. but stock copies are not kept. Each request must be filled by
my own objections to the "astronaut actual photo lab orders. which co:;ts NASA about one dollar per
UFO" section is from a novel angle. photograph.
My own research suggests that the D. A,1y citizen who wants copies of any photograph listed in 'B' or
'C' aboue con get it, but it is entirely reasonable for NASA to expect
Condon investigator, far from being
him to pay for it. News bureau photographs. along with all other (light
the best man for the job, was clearly photography-stills and mouies-can be ordered from Bara Studios, P.O.
unqualified to evaluate the difficult Box 486, Bladensburg, MD 20710. The cost ofany photograph ordered
cases. He was not familiar with the by stock number is seueral dollars apiece. A ny cross-referencing or
researching will also cost money. . •
terminology of space flight or the
Some ground photographs of astronaut accidents, autopsies, and
basics of orbital flight trajectories, as I
a medical examinations are not releasable for publication. On seueral
am. As result, he ignored possible Gemini {lights, special photographic experiments were undertaken for
explanations while incorrecUy the DoD, but these inuolued special cameras and exclusiuely ear th
surface targe{s. In neither case would it be possible to withhold any
eliminating other possible answers.
hypothetical UFO photographs from the public.
In other words, far from being a
Astronaut photographs are indexed by a code which specifies year
coverup, this chapter of the Condon taken and frame number. S66-12387, for example, would be a NASA
report is superficial. It is entirely photo (not necessarily a space photo) taken in 1966. Beginning wi th
as Apollo, space photos were also indexed with a mission code, roll
worthless an endorsement of the
number and frame number (neither of which were repeated on later
unexplained and unexplainable nature
{lights). For example, ASJ6·108-13005 u•as taken on the Apollo-16
of several astronaut sightings which I {light, with the 108th roll of the Apollo project (liglit film. Mouie film
will discuss. I can prove this remark­ is indexed per magazine with similar numbers.
able assertion to any investigator Euery photograph euer taken by American astronauts for NASA is
on file with Bara Studios and can be obtained by anyone wifling to pay
serious enough to consider all the
for them. Writers who produce 'secret NASA UFO photographs' which
evidence, much of which has never
they claim are being hidden from the American public are doing a gross
before been published. disseruice to one of the most open and cooperatiue public information
The Condon report does give some offices of any federal agency.
details about the environment of
astronaut sightings, but even here does
not go far enough. More stress needs
to be put on the visual and photo­ an o bserver on Earth can see a number NASA to know about as it might be a
graphic limitations of space flight: the of orbiting objects with only half an true UFO: Careful investigations are
windows are far smaller than popularly effort. Out or this "backg?ound noise", called for.
realized (about half the size of this can we separate the "signal" which What are some of the most famous
open magazine at arm's length), and will indicate the existence of UFOs? cases, and what are the facts? Interpre­
for many years were subject to These problems all are of interest to tations may differ, but productive
obscuration and smudging by seepage space officials, and numerous studies thinking can only be done when all the
o( sealant and by contamination by have been made. Fragments might information is at hand. Some o( It is
rocket fuel. At various p_oints in the imply a structural failure (a rescue ship hard to find or understand; other
flight, the spacecraft was surrounded was almost sent to Skylab-3 because of information, available to some
by clouds of d~bris (leaking fuel, the crew's observation of leaking fuel researchers, may have been deliberate­
dumped water, chipping paint, fraying droplets). Debris inside t!1e cabin can ly withheld. ·some classical cases may
insulation, ejected equipment. and irritate eyes and damage the electronic consist of made-up fantasies. You can
more). while the inside of the weight• gear behind the instrument panels. soon judge for yourself.
less cabin was usually plagued with Other satellites might be dangerous Has there been any attempt to
floating particles of dust and debris due to the potential of collision or "cover up" space sightings (a common
which often passed in front of camt!ras they might be of intelligence interest if plea when no t!Vidence is available,
pointing out windows. Other satellites they are frcm somt! other nation. even in this age of sieve-like
should have been visible, since few Therefore, any mysterious space government secrecy)? Are astronauts
people realize that on any clear night sighting might as easily be vital for "muzzled" about UFOs? Has fifteen
39
♦--- -■----
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f
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i
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The "McOivitt UFO", prize-winning astronaut photograph taken on Gemini-4. Actually, McOivitt_axplained later after tho flight that
th