--- PAGE 1 ---
1320 .4 Aeronautics:UFO

--- PAGE 2 ---
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:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (b) (6)                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: (b) (5)                    MAINE U.F.O. MARS
File Plan: 1320.4                                                       Analyst: BMoore
06/24/1998                                                                          Page 1 of 1

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Headquarters Action T 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 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

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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:

Thank you for your letter of August 3, 1998, on behalf of(b <5)               who
is requesting informat ion 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.

We trust this information wi ll aid you in responding to(b) 6 )         inquiry.
                                                                  ---
Sincere ly,



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 o f VFO
   ovidcr1ce. thi5 study c lafml n g ! hat
   the enti re set of C .)Scs i1 inv.,..l id
   W 1if   0U 1110U 5iy   CC   fCCl.?1"18<J   t..Vlth
                                                                                                                    Story!
   15eeptic. ism    and    cr i tic ism       from

                                                                                                       SGM{ q ~ f'\~9 ~\?-j ,1{
   UFO buffs. Aation~I objections
   and arguments wiH bo printed and
   answered in a subseQuent is'5ue of
   this magazina. Critics are urged to                               James E. Oberg                      WiN T~R 1<;46 ( 1H~~ ij,J?_'lJ
   raise specific points not address°'d
   in tho study. or to cite and                                      Associate Editor                    P/\LM~ fvBL\CA'11ou s
   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~ ._f 1,25'
                               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 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 ofthem valid? What can a careful study reveal?



  H      ardly a UFO book or movie is
         complete without the standard
  assertion that "astronauts have seen
                                                          tigations     Committee
                                                          Phenomena (NICAP) selected the
                                                                                        on A erial    Force operations, and space miss:ons
                                                                                                     might give me new insights into this
                                                          "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 nume rous         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

--- PAGE 7 ---
arch,n•s has fl'\"l•aled ca..~es whcrl' UFO       ~   -   -+s   _ _ ,.,   -   ,e-- ....... ,., ,+- ............ ,., _,., • .., ....   ...... -«•

   rt•~c:i rchrr; withheld Cl•rtain informa­
   tion frl'cly gi,·1•n them by N:\SA                        Dc:sµitc the pt!r.~istl'11t rumo rs of '.,;ccrct space p ict'"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 p ict ure 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 i t.
                                                             There are foi: r tiers of plwto,;:-:iph Ji·cilcbility. but two a:-e rescri:ed
   mysterious. So the time has come to                   for 11ewsme11 only The ~/ructurc is us f olluws:
   take a ne\\' look at this whote                           A . The most p o pular 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 li rOs "?                                   new pho tographs 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 t imely 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 abo ut 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 t o 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 of any photograph ordered
  cases. He was not familiar with the                    by st ock 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, au topsies, and
  basics of orbital flight trajectories, as I            medical examinations are not releasable for publication. On seueral
  am. As   a     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 w i th
  worthless as an endorsement of the                     Apollo, space photos were also indexed w ith a mission code, r oll
                                                         number and frame num ber (neither of which were repeated on later
  unexplained and unexplainable nature                   {lights). For example, ASJ 6·108-13005 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 N ASA is
                                                         on file w ith 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 informat ion
      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
fligh t, the spacecraft was surrounded           was almost sent to Skylab-3 because of                         information,    available    to some
by cl ouds of d~bris (leaking fuel,              the crew's observation of leaking fuel                         researchers, may have been deliberate­
dum ped 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
fl oating particles of dust and debris           due to the potential of coll ision o r                         "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
sho uld 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

--- PAGE 8 ---
, , ..~ 1.~~-· ••·---.'",....:"-r-•':·""'" t 1 - ~ f ' . ~       ~ .....:       · ~'{~,;t't( ✓"~•'·-:..,........,:-.,:-,::,"?\~-."':,~~""t".:~..- ~~,.-,r-•r·,r• . . , - ~ ~ •· ,~-•l"""'-..,.,,
  ,.                                                           •              •



  '
  f
  I
  i
 !




                                                                                                                                                                             .: ;,_<..-:::~~ -'
                                                                                                                                                                            .   ~~




       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 the_spacecraft rolled, the sun rays struck a metal bolt, causing the'Ci lares in the camera lens''.
       NASA photo 65-H-1013.



 years of manned spaceflight uncovered                            NASA announced that the object had                                   And if the pictures did not turn out,
 any evidence at all which even                                   been identified.                                                     where did NICAP get its "top four"
 remotely suggests that Earth is being                               But Pegasus had been more than a                                  photograph (which shows, not a
 visited and observed by advanced                                 thousand miles away, and McDivitt                                    winged cylinder, but a smeared blob)?
 spacesliips from another world? Let's                           clearly saw an object much closer,                                    We can answer these questions at last.
 look at the evidence.                                           much more detailed, and in an orbit                                      The first hint as to the true identity
    On June 3, 1965, rookie astronauts                           very close to his own ("Collision                                     of this space UFO can be found in
 Jim McDivitt and Ed White blasted                               course" to a pilot means that the                                     McDivitt's own words, given at a press
 of( from Cape Kennedy (now again                                relative angle of sight is unchanging,                                conference a week after the flight
 Cape Canaveral), squeezed into their                             which would not be the case for any                                  when his memory was fresh: "It
 Gemini-4 capsule. The two youngest•                             satellite crossing McDivitt's orbit). The                             looked a lot like an upper staie of a
 ever . American spacemen were to                                object became a UFO when nobody                                       booster". Gemini does have a booster
 spend four days in orbit, tripling the                          could identify it. It has remained a                                  just like it, and McDivitt had been
 previous US record. They would be                                UFO up until today, but not any                                      carrying out maneuvers near it early in
 the first American space crewmen to                             longer.                                                               the flight. Why didn't the -list from
 have time to sightsee in space, once                                McDivitt's hasty attempt to take a                                NORAD include the Gemini-4 boost er
major experiments like a booster                                 photograph of the object thrqugh his                                  rocket?
rendezvous and a walk in space were                              smeared window was apparently fruit•                                     NORAD had been tracking the
completed.                                                       less, since the object's motion                                       objects, but NASA had not asked
    Approximately thirty hours into                              combined with the slow stabilization                                  about Gemini-4 and its own associated
the flight ( while White was asleep) ,                           spin of the spaceship carried it into the                             debris- it had asked about Gemini--!
McDivitt reported that he had seen an                            glare of the sun after about 30 seconds.                              and any other earlier satellites.
object in space near his space capsule.                          The astronaut later recounted how he                                  Anyone familiar with computerized
It appeared to be cylindrical with ·'an                          went through all the films of the flight                              information systems (one of my
arm sticking out", possibly on a                                 (every roll of film is accounted for on                               professional specialities) can guess
collision course. Interested NAS.-\                              a flight manifest, so they do not                                     what happened : the computer was
officials in Ho uston asked NORAD                                disappear) and found many over­                                       given a "query" which told it to
which other space satellites were near                           exposed or blank. This mission had                                    compare Gemini--t with the other
Cemini--1 at the time of the sigh ting,                          been the first night in which space                                   satellites. The computer never knew
and NORAD came up with a list of                                 photography was a major experiment,                                   where the Gemini booster was relati\•e
about a dozen objects. All of them                               and the glaring sunlight of space had                                 to the spacecraft, since it had not been
were pieces of tiny debris or small                              invalidated many pre-flight exposure                                  asked. :\lcDivitt had been visually
scicntit"ic satellites except one: the                           settings. :\lcDivitt did not find any-                                tracking the thirty foot long cylind1r
giant, " winged" meteor satC'llitc,                            • thing which looked like ""his UFO".                                   at a range of only 75 miles a few hours
Pegasus-2. It seemed to iit the descrip­                             What was it he ,aw? Why has it                                    earlier, but this large satellite never
tion radioed down by McDivitt, so                                become such a prominl•nt UFO case?                                    made the "NORAD list" because

                                                                                                40

--- PAGE 9 ---
Arti1t', ronrliti on o t thu ,ntron,,u1s·         t> --.,.-~r..-~•r ·~       ~       .-:---•'   ...
                                                              l                              •                            •• •"t'"':•~ ·.r.- n .-· '"-]
                                                                                                                                                    .
           vlow o f 1ho ro n do.r   0
                                        0 u <J ovatv a: ion
                                                              (                                                                             . ' ' .
           pod after it hai boon jotti1oncd from
            the Gemi ni adaptor ioc t iun. Gorn,ni
            r;,dar locked o n to evaluation pod.              i                                                                •      • .. -·
                                                                                                                                                    .        .         ,
                                                                                                                                                    .. .., . . c J . • : .,
                                                                                                                      .....- - . . : - _,..Js...:'11, . :.l• • ' ...- "...


                                                              t·
                                                                                                                  --., - ..

                                                                                                                                                                    . ', '
                                                                       ·,·...
   Scott Carpenter took th is photo of a                                        ., . -
   s ubsatellit e balloon jettisoned by h is                  £' . .




      ance and even make i t l ook like two
      objects. The potato-shaped grey b lob
      is the pod's in sulation blanket.


T h i • sequence of p ictures illustrate• the problem o f
Identi fying photographs of objects in tho glare o f space.

                                                                                                 41

--- PAGE 10 ---
~ --' ·-·. -•-,,-- • C ~ -     ~=- ,.....,--.,•·-•~----. ··.•-c-,,.--~··o,•:·,1


                                                                                       .... .. ..                                                          .- J
                                                                                                                                                           --.1
                                                                                                                                                        . -~1


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                                                  • ' ;.·
                                                                                                                                                           . !;
                                                                                                                                                             ~1•
                             '+   '
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                       .,-                                                                                                                                   ·1




                                  •.. ..,.,   ~



                                                                             . . .;,                                                                   ......-

 ~:·    1•;)   .i. .
       .,....'-I                                                                                                                                -. .
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       r
 t                                                                                                                                          ~


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 nobody thought to ask about it! The                          were red and teary due to a reaction              note (nobody known by whom)
 list was incomplete!                                         with the cabin atmosphere and an                  stating that McDivitt {nobody• knows
     What we do know from the                                 accidental massive urine spill. "I didn't         when) had communicated .{nobody
complete        Gemini-4              transcripts             think I was going to be able t~ hack              knows how) the fact that the picture
(including the on-board tape recorder                         it", McDivitt later had radioed to                showed "his UFO". (This was made
as well as space-to-ground links), is                         Earth.                                            clear by a telephone conversation
that the UFO appeared at the same                                  This famous UFO case now                     between the author and Jack Acuff of
point in the Gemini orbit where the                           becomes that of a pilot with watering             NICAP on March 5, 1976).
booster had been rept-3tedly spotted                          eves catching sight of an object in                   Why has this case achie\'ed such
earlier in the flight. '.\fcDi\•itt had once                  p~rallel orbft, an object which he had            notoriety'? It probably resulted from
described seeing his booster with                             already misidentified a few hours                 the enthusiasm of UFO believers. the
straps h~nglng from it. Furthermore,                          earlier. As to the photograph, an inves•          naive openness of NASA public
on at least one occasion on the first                         tigator must go through all the film of           relations officials, and the publicity­
day, McDivitt had at first been unable                        the night to realize how common such              seeking opportunism of some of the
to recognize the booster when he ·saw                       . blobs-       of    light     (o\·ere.'<posures,   principals.
il because it was close to the glare of·                      r~tlcct i0m. glare. etc. ) ll'erc. Both               \lcDivitt himself did little to clear
the sun! Thi5 had been :it a range of                         NAS.-l. and ;\lc:Di\·itt han• agrel.'d that       the case up. instead using it as a ticket
less than ten miles.                                          tl-ie sc,qucnCI.' ot' mo\·ie irames are a         onto natil•nal TV talk shows and news
     Yet another iniport:int factor                           ,iew out t!u: winc.uw. showit\~ sunlii::ht        interviews     (especially   after    his
unknown to t!1e Cr1nciL•11 report w:i,                        r~tl ~·cti11~ off a br\t. a~ain:;~ the dirty      rr.tirement in 19~. To add to the
that '.\leDivin •.•::t.; C\J1:1p!:iini:1i;: ro thl-'·         window          ~la~s.    '.~ !C..\F'   thinks    mystPry. th~ former spaceman assl'rts.
ni ~ht surgt:on abou 1. his t'Yl'$ight                        dii'forently b,:c:tu~e <)t t!ll' b:!tk of its     "I have never bcrn ablt- to it.:entify it,
duri1\g this pho~c of th:) tli~ht. Hi:; eyes                  cop,· of th<! ph,Ho is a handwritten              and I don't think anyone ever will."

                                                                                       42

--- PAGE 11 ---
·--:a:.::-.;                                                                                               •• • • ••• •• g ,Cla:: t ,an   ,.. ,,,       h /V◄ i   ,




       On a recen t "U FO rncorcli:ig''     own minds.        I havl' ''" d ,iub~ th;,t                                  round in 1'1)1111: •ction l'.'isli Lill! t, ;~mi!! i·
   rrll-asrd by Columbia, calt.:d "UFOs:     ~lcl)i\"itl w:i~ ~<!l'i:1g his ow11 Til.::n                                 I GFO ca~t'. It is not th~ clc::1w ra•.i1a ~
  The Credibility Facto r", :VlcDi\·itt      tJCJostrr stage.                                                           0f gtn·criun•_
                                                                                                                                     •nl oflici, I:; t~y i11!{ to c:ur••r
  clrarly shows h ow h is mcmorirs have         Or. Roach wa~ also fasd n:•l •~cl wi t!t                                up t.he truth ahoul GfU:;. R;,hrr, it :s
  ch:u1ged o r bc,m cl1a11g(•d to enhance    another :,.1coi, itt si~foiti'.11}, that uf a                              thr dl'spernlion of some outsider
  the mystery ot' hi3 C'Xpcricnce: "They     point of light ::rc:,i:::·::; the ; k·: . The                               tryi:1~       t rJ   m:t~:;f:-,.-:- tu:c1   co u ni .~rf,.i,
  (NAS.-\) chcck,'d :'iOR..\D... to sec      object      soundr.,j     j•.1.,l   Iii-:<> th•!                            "astrnnaut L:FO" <?videnc~. Jn acli·. ;r. \·
  what they had up on radar ancf there      appearance of an artifici.!l earth                                           which should not be nc>ce:s;a,y if th~
  w:isn 't anything within very close       satellite, and that is e~:actly wh:it                                       " rt'al"   L: FO evidence w~rC' as
  range of us." Readers can measure the      \kDivitt thought it \•:.:s. There is no                                    persuasive as many thint.
  credibility of this statcm~nt against .   information to suggest it w.:_s anything                                        It involves :i photograph showing
  the facts.                                else.                                                                       two very strange glowing ocjects. Each
       If McOivitt was fooled by his own        Another Condon favorite is a                                            is he:,agonal in shape, ~·:ew!c'd at an
  booster ten years ago, is it too much     Gemini -7 case. The report of sightings                                     angle, ~nd supported by ;;. dazzling
  to expect him to admit it now? What       of a cloud of debris right at the                                           "force field" below it. A cloud­
  would that do to all of his public        moment of boostt•r separation (these                                        covered earth is se.?n in the
  assertions of mystery? There is an        particles included frozen fuel droplets,                                    background. s~~ p\cd~ ~1 ~ :l.8
  easier way out, and i'vlcOivitt took it   the booster itself. assorted insulation
  when I sent him an advance copy of        and structural fragments from where                                             This photograph h as appeared in
  my manuscript. After keeping it two       the explosive bolts were fired, and                                         books, magazines, newspapers, and
  months, he wrote back, "[ was not         other smaller objects never identified                                       pamphlets. It is part of the travellina
  able to read it very thoroughly and I     and never cared about) is not very                                          slide show of UFO lectur~rs from th;
  cannot offer any ext~nsive comments.      impressive. The crew, on their first                                         Mutual UFO Network (i\!VFON) and
  I do not foresee the opportunity for      space mission, saw a few pieces they                                        elsewhere. I have heard it described
  me to provide any further re~w."          had nol expected (the pilot guessed­                                        as •\showing a typical UFO force field
  There weren't any errors in my            wrongly-that they "were in polar                                            propulsion system", and "similar to
  analysis, he implied, but it woulc! be    orbit"). Only a partisan digging for                                        other UFO photograph taken on
  better kept quiet.                        evidence, and desperate to find such                                        Earth the same year".
       NASA never had any real doubts.      evidence, would make much of this                                              The photograph is a forgery. It is a
  "We believe it to be a rocket tank or     common event.                                                               hoax. What the anonymous counter­
 spent second stage of a rocket," wrote         But a sign of desperation is indeed                                     feiter did (I have reason to suspect a
  a high space official on July 1, 1965.
  NORAD officials, confronted with my
 scenario,      endorsed     it:    "Your
 comments on the NORAD role related
 to the case appear to pe logical,"
 wrote NORAD Public Information
  Officer D.W. Kindschi on Feo. 23,
  1976.
      So the "~lcDivitt case" is closed.
 The best space UFO case has now been
 identified. Do not expect to see any
 change in the UFO press, however.
                                                                                                             . ....·.
 Such results are simply ignored.                                                                     .·.;~~.: ~~
      Photographs made in space show                                                                 .\1":,:;:
 negative effects, such as the "McDivitt
 UFO" aura, often. Spacecraft ·and
astronauts may be engulfed in a
strange aura caused by overexposure
 to sunlight brighter than ever seen on
Earth. Blowups of photographs of
 known space objects show them
appearing as "blobs" due to the
enlargement process and to the·
courseness of the grain. Ordinary space
pictures are full o f clouds o f debris,
constellations of man-made starlike
points fluttering through space.
     The Condon report was fascinated
with the ~lcOi\·itt cas<', and fe\\· UFO
enthusiasts have not heard of it. But
n,:itlwr the Condon r£>st)archers nor the
average reader had ever had all the
facts. Now people can m:ike up thei r
                                                           'f~~v·~•.~~-...,:..
                                                                                                 -
                                                                                   ~·. - · • ·• ,) : :.:
                                                                   ····-. . ... ... ... . - ...... . ... .

                                                                      43

--- PAGE 12 ---
·--·:®
                                                       l
                                                       J   The outhor .>nd NASA photo an.:ilvn R ichard
                                                           Undorwood show "•p~ce UFO" photos to Or.
                                                           J. Allun Hynok, dirolctor o f the center for UFO
                                                           n udios. July . 1976. t l vn4k -subsuquPn';'fy ,.,.,_
                                                           dorscd Ob0rLJ'S conclusions.




                                                              Saturn booner S-IV-b and f our open "SL.A"
                                                              panels. On moon flights tho four "petals.'.'
                                                           fly free and, together with the empty boo:<t­
                                                              •r. tum.ble through spaca a faw miles from
                                                              the Apollo capsule. They were often seon as
                                                           ·bright flashing lighn as they reflected th o
                                                           powerful sunligh t . On Apollo-1 2 , astronau t
                                                           desc r iptions of theH fra;imonts wore m i s­
                                                              Interpreted by UFO buffs and metamorph-
                                                           ized Into alien spacecraft.

                                                                                                    ®
"Mysterious" bulls aye object
wen and photographed by Gam­
lnl-6 astronauts I n December, 1965.
Unfortunately for flyi ng 1aucer
buff~, It Is not• UFO; it Is an out of
focus photo of the approaching
Gemlnl-7 spacesh ip, noH on.
NASA photo S 65-65296.
                0




                       . . ·,·-··· ....
                                  ~

                                  ....- :~­
                                        ,,,_.
                                      ''--:·

                                          ..




                                                44

--- PAGE 13 ---
~       : ~......1 n ~ , ~r..c.• ~1:-~-~t~ t-.\~ :-·.-..:-~~l::;...~~"-·•·...
                                            :.
                . ... : . : .. ' . ·. . . .... .. ~ .. ~: . ..•. . '• ·. ' ..
                                                                _             .; . .         .'· •~ .•..;.Jl'ti.,
                                                                                                    :    .·.
                                                                                                                ....,.. ~., ';.••t••.;. •,'\:·~
                                                                                                                                              ··•.-·........•-.,'.:.+'
                                                                                                                                                         .
                                                                                                                                                        . , -:• • . ••'
                                                                                                                                                                        .. •1


 r

.~
l
                                                                              ·•(,
                                                                           .. , ..
                                                                       }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 " e xhaust i:rail". NASA photo S-65-65304.




 Japanese UFO organization) was take                            examined) was then retouched by the                                         American spacemen are not the
 an ordinary photograph oC Earth made                           unscrupulous hoaxter to eliminate the                                   only ones reporting UFOs, according
 Crom the Gemini-7 spaceship on                                 edge of the nose from view. so the                                      to the popular press. Stories tha t
 December 4, 1965. The nose of the                              dark surface of the sp!lct-ship merged                                  allegedly come from Moscow tell
 spacecraft fills the lower part of the                         into the dark Earth beneath. This left                                  about UFOs followin g Soviet man ned
 frame, and on the nose, catching the                           the two now mysterious lights                                           spacecraft in the Vostok and Voskhod
 glare of the sun, is a pair of roll                            seemingly suspendt:d in space, as it                                    series ten years ago. But such secrecy
·c ontrol rocket thrusters used to acijus t                     were. A no rmal space touri., t photo                                   surrounds the entire Soviet space
 the attitude and spin rate of the                              was turned into conrincing UFO                                          effort that these stories cannot be
 Gemini. The original photo (NASA                               evidence, and thousands of people                                       checked out.
 S65-63722, which I have personally                             were fool ed.                                                               That very secrecy. ho wever, is itself

                                                                                                 45

--- PAGE 14 ---
!l   pn\·:•· , ( .. I   t11·;.:~1n1. 1i l   ;i_! :~iu ,i   ,;,.;   :.-..:nt.v i ~ p;, ..,•,·r.lfl Ccnl,·r) 1i.-ar               o flicc , ho wever. Wht!n a          li FO
vahdit:1 of th·! ru,:i u. •. Sn r,1.,n'.)                          li,,,i, t,,r,. U 11cl,•f\\' 111h 1 1s an cXfl'Jl'i•          researcher named Al;i 11 Sa ndler was
o r<!ir:JI'_' th:,:,:-; J l,v11L l hc So·.ic~ s p:.;;,J            er.-: ,•u pilotu in trrp, c ter v: hu h;,s                   w•irkin!l on a book and a m o\'ic
pro1rJ1n a:.: Sl' Cr cl (and 1011g pri~o n                         c:,:iminl•d ,J\'cry si11;:lc pho lo1;r.1 ph                  ("lffOs: Past. l~csenl and F'ularc". lo
terms a,·. ;.it :i11yo11c who even                                 bYuu;;ht b.:cl; from o rbit :ind beyond,                     he ad·,ert1sed as ;i "documentarv •') he
:icc:idc 11l:ll!y cin,l;:es .-.uclr ,fatal thal it                 a111.l h1;; in credible memory can                           \"isited Underwood 's of[ir.c and looked
i,; inc:·l•cii t:1,· lh :tt ; o .,cn, tdr:: :i,1d .;i~­            iJL·1, ,: 1y a d:?rad,J old p:1otc.i:n1µh,                   through do7.ens of rolls of lilm. wriling
nit:ca•ll:, fa.:L as a (.;fl) , i,:htin;: rould                    dl·~cribe tr.l! si .:.uatio n. and fi nd th~                 down ordt!rs for prints of :inything
erer lea k ou~. evcn if su.:h a thing had                          citJLi o;1 in :i,<' o ld record books within                 that looked interesting. This is a
really har,p~ned.                                                  minutes. 'rile o flicc o i this pho togra­                   standard service provided by NASA to
      The rule,; of ~\·id,rncc hari? been                          mc-lric engir;c,el' is full o f slacked iilm                 journalists.
Hretched and brokt?n by I.JFO                                      i.:ans, light t.ibles, world and le.cal maps,                     SanrllP.r rhose a set of photographs
 partisans. It i.; not up to me to " prn,;e"                       and piles of lette rs from ex-astronauts                     for his movie, pnotographs which
 that these sightings ne\·er took place.                           and ordinary citizens alite.                                 Underwood advised him probably o nly
 Nobody has a.; y~ t s£:en any P.\'idcnce                                Has he ser: n any UFO,;? Underwood                     showt?d dust particles in fron t of the
 apart from a simp:c slat .?ment of fact                           answered lhat with a smile : "I've nt?n!r                    camera, de bris outside the spacecrail,
 that th.: .sightings did ta!,e place. I will                      fou n d anything in these pictures that                      or glare on the windows (this was easy
 be happy lo consider evidence when it                              puzzled me for lo ng, and I'm kind of                       enough to prove by looking at pictures
 becomes a\'ailahl<!.                                              disappointed. It would be terribly                           ahead of and behind the shots in
      Let's examine more of cnese                                  exciting to find evidence for someone                        question). Two photographs were
"cosmonaut UFO;;". Ir, UFOs From                                   else's spaceship!'' When UFO writers                         particularly upsetting.
Behina The Iron Curtain, the UFO                                   hint broadly about a "NASA coverup"                               They both showed a black back•
 magazine 'Clypeus' is ouoted about an                              or "space censorship», they are                             ground with a string of lights in the
object seen by b o th Vostok-5 and                                 essentially calling Dick Underwood                            middle o( the photograph. In the book
 Vostok-6 , a fleet of disks seen by                               and his colleagues a pack of liars.                           (with the same name as the mo\·ie. •
 Voskhod-1, and "strailge cylinders in                                   Distortion and withholding of the                       although written by another author,
 space which were perfectly formed                                  truth is no t a strange r to Underwood's                     Robert Emeneggar) the two shots are
 and had no apertures " seen by
 Voskhod-1, Voskhod-2, and Gemini-4
 (sic!). UFOs have even been blamed
  for the malfunction of the Voskhod-2
  autopilot. As I have said, these
 "reports" are hardly evidence, and can
  be far more easily manufactured than
  refuted.
      SurE:ly one of the most specious
  and gh ouli~h "sp ace UFO" 3tories
  deals with the Soyuz-11 flight, on
  which th~ crewmen perished during
  their retur., to Eal'th. UFO literature
  has recently been circulating a
  "transcript" between the cosmonauts
  and grc,und control. The crewmen
  describe several glowing re·d objects
  and       discuss         them       with      flight
  controlle:-s.
      To anyone familiar with typical
  space-to-ground communicatio ns, this
  "transcript" is patently co unterfeit.
  Someone's                vivict       imagination,
  embold,med by th·e knowledge that
  the men were dead and could not
  argue, must have creat£:d the entire
  incide11c.
       Without further evidenct), the entire
  cla.53 of "cosmo naut UFOs" must be
  rejected .         D~libera te attc•mpts to
  " mudd y           tht?     waters''      Jnd       to
  manuf..ct'..lr!:.' iancasies are common in                                                                                                                            .,
  this LiFO gen re, :,.; in o then;.
       In       in\'e~tigatiu~         pll1Ho~rat-1hic
                                                                                                                                                                       .®
                                                                       ;>r,o ~~ ,:,r Ag,, t>.:• 12 f ro m Go-nlr,;. 12 . T h ;, ,, pan of a seQuenc:e o f photos w h ,ch ta~ ~• trio
  evid,Jn,:<'       o f t; FQ ~i;;h tirt,;~ br                         A-;en t1 fr~m l 1tJ nt 11 .tu d .lrk . After o ..1rk , o n ly t h e runn i ng lighu are v•i•b le. One r e,oarchet
  Am~rican :i.;trnn.iu ts, I 11'.>ri,~d clu:icly                       h:,s w,aorv pubh • hcd t h •S IJ 1tcr p ho to gr a p h as a " UF O" . .,, a ,d by N AS A te> be Agena trac:k •
  with Hich:ird Cndrrw,h)d at thL• NAS A                               ing 1;9hts" .   NASA p t,o to S 6 6 -63 101.
  Jo hnson Sp:ice c~•11t~r (forrn,•rly rnc



                                                                                                                      . · - - ·-- -- ---- · ·- -- .~ -·

--- PAGE 15 ---
:1 ;~;,._b;i:Ll t;4..., 111i,; r:t;, ::::),)i":lil•i':-· c•.:;;._.,J
                                                                                               . ... .         . ...
                                                                                                                  ,;. •                      I' .'<.>tull . :;_                  LO .\ i I° r\,, l"'::
                                                                                                                                                                  :\ci;()r:] ti,;_;
                                                                                                                              • ,,    -~,;   c:0111 pulet,.         it ·soul :I ha,,~ .::; ,~-;,;.:(J
                                                                                                                                             Gemini's orhil s~v,.-ral l111 i1d;-_,J r,1;ks
                                                                                                                                     . .     t,,-ilind Lh,• $p,,,:<;crart. Yet t it is c,bj..-.:!
                                                                                                                                       '     wa~ in .i diftc'<cnt di:c·<.:tinn ;i ,1 d 1•. a.,



       I
                                                                                                                                             nt\l (' h l ;)O do•;C. It ','/a_; :I lir O'.
                                                                                                                                                 Dt)spilc these, objc.::tio.1.,. NOR ..\D
                                                                                                                                             wJ,; right i;:ir the wro11g re:1.,cns. T ;:l'
                                                                                                                                             object w,:s indeed P1:otor.-3, Hen
                                                                                                                                             tJ1ot, 6h       tlt •J    Aeri:tl     Phe,:om,mo:':
                                                                                                                                             Research Organizatiur, (A PRO) and it~
                                                                                                                                             research directo,·, Dr. James Harder, has
                                                                                                                                             made much of the cfocrepa,:cy and
                                                                                                                                             consid1m this the h\?st Gemini l =FO
                                                                                                                                             ever seen. c~(:_ plttf-5 11~1g~1q >1. '3,~\f')
                                                                                                                                                  Few researchers hJ\ "P. noticed. a;1d
                                                                                                                                             none had recogniz,,d the significacce
                                                                                                                                             of the fact, that the Proton-3 sateIii 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 pre dicted by
                                                                                                                                             NORAD.
                                                                                                                                                  The simple truth, oft2n ig11ored or
                                                                                                                                             distorte d by many writers, is that
                                                                                                                                             NORAD does not "track e\'erything in
                                                                                                                                             space" like the rada:.- screens of sor.1e
                                                                                                         ........
                                                                                                             . '                             air traffic control center. Inste:!d,
                                                                                                                                             objects which pass through tha beatt15
                                                                                                                                             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 then projec ted for'.'.'ard in
                            ·-                                                                                                               time (the mathematical term is ··extra­
                           ..• . ·=·. ~' . ' ·~·:. ;;:.,.... /~--.--:~~.-...~ ..:.:,·."~.;,./•-~ . ...                    ·:. .~             polated") to plot where the spacecr:11t
                                                                                                                                             should be if its orbit hasn't been
                                                                                                                            ;f
                                                                                                                                             changed.
               "Said to be ranging lights" on Gemini-12, according to Sandler. Compare with
                                                                                                                                                  Gemini's orbit had been changed by
               earlier ph.:ito showing Agena in the sunlight. Deliberate slanting of e•1idence.
                                                                                                                                             a rendezvous rocket firing. Proton's
        reproduced with the caption: "Shot                                       He continued to explain: " I took                           orbit was changed by its decay. I
        during Gemini XII o n Novamber 13,                                   the whole sequence with me to                                   ordered microfilm copies of the la.;t
        1966, and said to be Agena Ranging                                   Hollywood along with other films                                few NORAD predictions from the
        Lights prior to docking". The                                        which NASA was providing. I showed                              Tracking Reports Section at the NASA
       erroneous implication of these twisted                                the sequence to Sandler. He wasn't                              Goc!dard Space Center in Greenbelt,
       words is that this is another NASA                                    interested. Unfortunately he went                               M;u-yland, and as soon as I read them l
       excuse for some remarkable UFO                                        ahead and used the phot_ographs                                 knew the answer.
       photographs. Said to be ranging lights,                               anyway". Thousands more people                                      The predictions were off by Se\·eral
       indeed, sneers the book!                                              v.-ere deceived.                                                hundred miles per da~: ! Each new
           "'that's exactly what tney were!"                                      The flight of Gemini-11 h:5an a                            projection made a correction to the
        Underwood told me plaintively. "They                                 long battle between astronattt Ch:irles                         previous one. Using a combination of
       are p art of the complete sequence of                                  "Pete" Conrad and UFO belieVPI". The                           these figures, a new dtitude difference
       twenty photographs showi11g the                                        astronauts had taken three even more                           between Gemini and Proton could
     • Agena as it moves from the sunlit                                      remarkable        photogr::iphs. "Pete"                        easily be compul.:?d. It 11·:is entirdy
       side of Earth inLo the shadow".                                        Conrad had spotted a mor ir.g ubj..-ct                         close e nough to coincide with th.­
          As Underwood anJ l stood in the                                     outside his ·sindow and had s.1apped                           astron:.iuts' sighting.
       photo laboratory inside buildini,: No. 8                               off a few frames of film, varying the                               Furthermore, th.i astronaut~ r.ad
       at the historic Hou$ton sµac.:e center.                                .:xpo:;ure on t•ach sh,H in an :.ittempt                       made a visual :.is ·,1·1.'ll ;i~ a i:;hoto5rJ,1hic
       the 1;equence was rii:ht thcrt) in fro11t                              to get at least 011t) ~oud ,ic·v which                         record. T heir t• y c11 i1,·,.:-.;s lestin:,>ny
       of our eyes 011 the gluwin~ viewing                                    w<rnld show ;omclhin~.                                         dcscrib.:s a sat,)lliw that looks [;;.e
       board. How did the '·UFO rcscarc.:hcr"                                     Pt-r a rcque,;t from NASA, NORAD                           Proton-3 look.-d. a.-; shown by exhibit.;
       react to this expl:rnalion, [ asked°!                                 soon reported th:it the object ha d b~en                        in Rus.,iail muse11111:;: a stubbv cyli.itkr
                                                                                                           47

--- PAGE 16 ---
----- -

             with four lar::e triantlular canted solar
             p.,nrb. (Conract compared lhc sight to                                      Oul>ris from open
                                                                                                                          t...
            the strap-on lwosters of a Titau•3                                           hatch on G omini• t 2.
            rocket.) F:vcu the photographs show                                                                                        ............
            this when ~ludicd with real Proton-3
            photographs close at hand.
                A~trn:::?:.:~ Co::~::d ~:-:d th:! l.iFO
            people clashed again ov~r his. next                                                                          ;. .
           space mission. Apollo•12. According
           lO the Research Director of A.PRO, Dr.
                                                                                                                         t
                                                                                                                         ltn
                                                                                                                         ~-··.
           Harder, Conrad reported that he was •                                                                         f
           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 our 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 n focus at range
    of 3 to 5 feet-Sandler calls
          0
     it        unidentiflabJe'', and
    Malian and Barry also use It.              ra?'\
               e11lo.~zx..,1..t-0, 16)         ~

                                                                                                                                                      Blowups of Gemini-11 photos of
                                                                                                                                                      Proton-3. Sun glare 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 phenomenon
                                                                                                                                                 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 hope your paper is widely printed.·•
                                                                                                                                                 he added. Ref,ming to Harder's claim
                                                                                                                                                 of coverup, Conrad could only say: "I
t.::                                                                                                                                             think you have more than your share
' .' "'.. ·:--- ... .....
...
  . ..               ..,,,..y;..,·,._.,_,."',,..•..__._"..,.e..••...,
     . . . . .•,...,,.,,.,,
                        ••  • •wcc:r::a-.
                                       •                           •....:..J
                                                                         .•.r"-·- ·..,.....,..___:;,,•·. ..__ _~_ _.___ _ _ _ ___...
                                                                                                                                                 of Kooks."

                                                                                                             48

              ···-- ...       - ..

--- PAGE 17 ---
,
                                                                                                                                                                <

                                                                                                                                                                l
                                                                                               ;
                                                                                           f



                                                                                                                                                               1
                                                                                       I
                                                                                                                                       . ,.




                                                                                                   •   . ..· :; :·..
                                                                                                         '




                                                                                                                                                             · .•




t,
      r                          .....


'
      ,
~




                                                                                                                          .      ~· ~--.·-, .·. ~   .   ~. :.\..®

          Geminl-11 photo of Proton-3 (arrow) i nd extreme enlargement of image. UFO magaz ines often pront funv blobs without indicating
          that object w a s h ighly magnified. f; llrn ertlf,icts cause "blobblneu".   NASA photo S-66-54661 .



           Let's take a moment to look at the             had also nown into space on                                     On the outbound leg, Conrad had
       Apollo--12 flight more ca·re(ully. It              Gemini-5.) Taking off during a                               radioed to Earth that the Apollo was
       probably rates as one of the most                  thunderstorm, t he craft was twice hit                       "being followed". This message, trans­
       "UFO-ridden" space flights ever made,              by lightning which threatened to                             mitted over the open radio link, was
       and ·p robably did more than any                   abort the mission.·                                          heard by hundreds of newsmen and by
       Apollo mission to encourage the                       Instead, the night proceeded                              millions of Americans. It im:nediately
       stories o( astronaut sightings of UFOs.            successfully to t he first pinpoint moon                     gave rise to new UFO stories.
     . What lies behind all these stories? Who            landing fou r days later. Astronauts                            According to the account best
       started them? What is the "official"               Conrad and Bean flew their Luna.r                            known to UFO believers (publishe d in
       NASA position?                                     Module in to a precision to uchdown                          Saga magazine, May 1970, entit led
           Apollo-12    was     launched on               near the Surveyor-3 automatic moon                           " Apollo l 2's ~Jysterious Encounter
       November 1-l, 1969, on the second                  probe. During a scheduled moon walk,                         with Flying Sauct'rs", written by T.G.
       m oon landing m1ss1on. The crew                    the men retrieved samples from the                           Beckley and H. Salkinl. the astro nau~,;
       co;'ISisted o( Gcmini-11 veterans                  robot crnft. The return on Eanh was                          watched Lwo nashing lights near ch~ir
       "Pete" Conrad and Richard Gordon,                  "routine", if f?ights to the moon can                        Command Module about 150,000
       and space rookie Alan Dean (Conrad                 ever be considered routine.                                  miles out from Earth. At first, the
                                                                                 49

--- PAGE 18 ---
A pollo -I 1 U F O, 19G9. Obro ct
                                                                                                                                                      hun bh.'\J p .1s t wind o w im,n r.d i\Jt•j ly
                                                                                                                                                      altar A1Joll o p ull~<1 aw ay f rom
                                                                                                                                                  Sa turn bo osto r. Metamo rpho-si s
                                                                                                                                                      of obvi ous sp ac:ec:r aft i n sul atlon
                                                                                                                                                      l r ~qrno n t i nto "odcl •sha o od UF O "
                                                                                                                                                  is c ourtesy of Bob Barry o f tho
                                                                                                                                                      fri n g e " 20th Century UFO Bureau " .
                                                                                                                                                  Hon> Hotze,·, " Ulonoua" ( 1976)
                                                                                                                                                  assig r,s o bj ect to Joh n Gle n n 's
                                                                                                                                                      flight. i nvents f ictitious c:o m ment ory
                                                                                                                                                  a nd con tin ues weavi ng my th• un­
                                                                                                                                                  lotterod by I ecu.




ground thought it was their S-IV-8                              astronauts decided to ignore the                                           ··astrcnuut UFO sightings". Besides
booster rocket but quickly calculated                           apparently harmless escort and carry                                       the three astronauts, millions of
that it would have been in a different                          on with their mission                                                      Americans saw the TV images and
direction. Next, they suggested that                               ln lunar orbit. new (or perhaps the                                     heard the voices of the crewmen
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 descent to the lunar                                            They were obviously unidentified,
"SLA Panels", which are quite lar ge                            surface, millions of television watchers                                   they were flying in space, and they
and highly reflect ive. Conrad, so the                          on Earth saw bright objects crossing                                       were objects of some sort. Hence, they
UFO story goes, remarke d that this                             the field o f view of the Apollo TV                                        were UFOs.
was unlikely since one of them had                              cameras. Simila.r objects were seen                                           The "Fawcett List" of space UFOs
suddenly taken off at a high velocity,                          during the launch from the moon and                                        says that the astronauts "said a UFO


     .
something that a piece of space debris
simply could not do. Finally, the .

                                       ' A •' '


                                   :-'_.:~--\~ ~
                                                     n          during the final approach to Earth.
                                                                   Here, then, is a major case for

                                                            \ I(' • •
                                                                 l
                                                                     f'~ .,,.,.,"~ Ft.>.•:J
                                                                                      6
                                                            ~ ~ 4 " : C - , ! S'Jr,~1Jffe»%ffifl ~ ¾4'""~
                                                                        • • • • r . ";'" •••.:-.:•i ••,,;
                                                                                                                                           accompanied ~hem all the way to
                                                                                                                                           within 132,000_ miles of the moon.
                                                                                                                                         }4:t¢.:7f~                         -,
                                                                                                             ~•·----~ •C\:--.••::-;•:~•·--•:t ~; ~ ',?~•,~•~•'.:'• •·~~ :::\;•••'~
                                                                                              • ·: ,· •. -·. •. ·- . •               •        :-     ,... -·,
                                                                                                                                                                                    •

                                                                                                                                                                      •. . • .:· -_.,.
                                                                                                                                                                                            ., . t:o(';.



                                       •• -~·-~
                                             -- :f
                                                !



                                                                       . ·,



                                                                                                                        - ·:       ...
                                                                                              -       • · ·, : ".*# ,- - · - · ·

                                                                                                  I     •      •




      . -·. • ..       ~-:   .. .~.                . . ... :.
                    M e rc ury,~. " (.',:,n -e..i ~•F O " on Sco u C·a,o e n : ..,,, flig ht i n 19 6:3. S meors a nd gl aro , c hanQo fr om
                    on-9 1r:ime l O ~he no"t r v1ti1h, a~tro n n :ct ""tl~ ~nappi ng p ic tures o f linip blll oo n sub•,atell ite .
                                                                                                                                                                        @)
                              ::,tq,   plirt,,. ?.. )'3./ + , S
                                                                                                      50

                                                                                                                                          ____.._.,..       __ - . -

--- PAGE 19 ---
:,,.;.




                               ... . ' .   .




                                                                                                        ~-.,., .                                  •·/I 7    ..   • J JI◄
                                                                                                     ._!' ~.                                                        "'1
                                                                                                  ,..,·.·                                             ..,          ~
                                                                                                                                       ~
                                                                                                  ,,;r.1_( J~; .•..,.- . . :.; . _ - .. . . • _•• /                ••~
                                                                                                                                                            (?-2)
 T wo obiecu drifting out of open hatch (lowe, r ight) of Geminl-12. Both spe_cks are out of focus and hence are within sevoral feet of camera.
 -which h ad• very large depth of field. Object on right, in f ocus, i • a scrap of paper. NASA photo S-66-62871.



preceding them all the way." The                 revohing light approached the Apollo                California at Santa Cruz on November
origin of that mileage figure is obscure,        12 spacecraft." Fawcett, not to be                  8, 1975, Harder claimed that one CFO
but it lends unwarranted authenticity            outdone, also claims that the                       "followed Apollo l'.! on three orbits
to the report.                                   astronauts photographed the UFO (or                 around the moon". Further, "N,\SA
    Observatories in      Europe also            UFOs).                                              suppressed the UFO incident~ for fonr
watc:ied the two UFOs. ether sources                One of the loudest proponents of                 of p,1 nic", but Harder was ahle to
re\'eal. Embellishing the story. another         the Apollo-12 UFO is APRO research                  discover the si~hting~ b"cau$e it " was
UFO source claims that "Next day,                director Or. James Harder. At a UFO                 disclosed by a member of the space
the 15th, at 21.15 hours, one bright             symposium at the University of                      team" who he refused to id1:ntif:: .
                                                                       51

--- PAGE 20 ---
!.iinc:l' all thf" m:ill.'riill ll;m.lcr used to     the key r\pnll 11-l 2 LlFU c111:ountcr and   its position at a " high rate of sµccd ...
  ..prove" the r xistcncc Qf the inddcnts              try lo determine just wh:1 is confused.      an i:11;,ossib1lity, unless it really was a
  werl.' public information ( Harder could                 Lale on No,.·embcr 15th. 1969,           m.lal!uvcrable spacec raft of some ::-ort.
  have read it in Saga, which is hardlr a              about 150,000 statute mi!es from             nut     where docs one             find    a
  top scc;rrt )!O\'crnmcnt r:!port), his               Earlh. the Apollo crew was talking to        maneuverable         spacecrait       nearly
  rdcrcnce to a co\·eruµ and to sr.cret                cilDSllle    communicator        astronaut   150,000 miles from the earth? The
  inside informatiu,1 were clearly only                Ger~rJ C:m about SQmc lights they            :inswer: (excepting ,\ pollo 12 itself) in
  gimmicks t\1 impre~r; the news, media                were watching out their wir.do w.            November of 19C9 th~re weren't any.
  with the value of his •'information".                    Apollo: The object is very bright        The conclusion is inescapable: One
       NASA, meanwhile, says that no                   and it is obviously something that is        (possibly         two)       maneuverable
  such UFO event took place. The lights,               tumbling. It is tumbling (at) one and        spacecraft not of man-made origin
  according to Dale Myers (Associate                   one half rev(olution)s per second, or at.    were following our Apollo 12 on
  Administrator for Manned Space                       least it is flashing at us (at) about that   November 14 and 15, 1969."
  flight: quoted in a letter dated Feb. 5,             (rate)...                                        To anyone familiar with the flight
  1973 to Mr. Donald Ratsch of APROj,                      CAPCOM: Roger. We are standing           plan of an Apollo moon flight,
  were spacecraft fragments: "During all               by.                                          Conrad's words imply nothing of the
  of our Apollo lunar missions. objects                    CAPCOM: (Apollo) 12, (this is)           sort. Two facts must be brought to
  have been sighted by the various                     Houston.                                     mind. First, Apollo and the Capcom
  crews. Subsequent to the crew                            Apollo: Go ahead.                        were discussing the present position of
 sightings,         the      flight     controllers        CAPCOM: As best we can tell,             the SLA panels based upon their initial
  determined the observations were                     looking at things down here, on those        separation velocities from the spent
  probably either the S-IVB booster, the               SLA panels, we assume they weren't           S-IVB rocket stage. Second,. the SLA
 spacecraft lunar adapter (SLA) panels,                imparted with any great amount of            panels break free after the Apollo pulls
  or smaller objects such as mylar foil                delta-V        (velocity     change)-like    off from the booster; the astronauts
  particles. Because of their large size               anything more than one or so feet per        then perform a maneuver called the
 and highly reflective surfaces, the                   second       when       they     separated   "turnaround" the Command Module
  S-IVB and SLA panels should be                       (thirty-three hours ago). Your SLA           returns to the booster to dock with
 visible at great distances in the space               panels would probably be only about          the now-exposed Lunar Module,
 emironment..."                                        300 (nautical) miles (345 statute            before pulling the LM free from its
       Astronaut Conrad, as quoted                     miles) away fro m you right now.             "garage".
 earlier, claimed that the flash ing lights                **** The following reply by                  Striking the UFOlogist's punctua­
 were obviously SLA panels but that he                 Conrad has been claimed by UFO               tion and clarifying words from the
  was 'joking with the ground. He                      believers to indicate that the lights        communication, and putting it in
  denounced the Saga story explicitly                  (the so-called "SLA panels") have            proper perspective, what Conrad was
 and gave his opinion that Harder was a                suddenly pulled away from the                saying was:
  "kook". Astronaut Gordon has                         Apollo, something that a tumbling                Apollo: That could be true (that
 publicly stated that he has never seen a              piece of debris could not do. To             the SLA panels were flying off at one
  UFO on any .;pace flight. Alan Bean,                 clarify the meaning, punctuation and a       or so feet per second), but gee whiz,
 the only one of the three still on active             few extra parenthetical words have           when I turned around (right after they
 NASA duty, issued a statement soon                    been added by the UFOiogists:                flew free, thirty-three hours ago) I saw
 after Harder's latest charges went out                    Apollo: That could be true, but gee      one of those SLA panels leaving the
 over the news media late in 1975. In a                whiz, when I (just) turned around I          area (of the LM "garage") at a high
  UPI dispatch:                                        saw one of those "SLA panels" leaving        rate of speed, and it looked to me that
       "Astronaut Alan Bean...said that                the area at a high rate of speed, and it     it was leaving us pretty...at a pretty
 at no time during his mission did he                  loo ked to me like it was leaving us         rapid clip, like it got a lot more than a
 ever see an unidentified objecL Bean                  pretty (fast)-at a pretty rapid clip,        foot per second or so.
 said that there were some metallic                    like it got a lot more than a foot per           The UFO believers' reasoning-and
 parts which floated behind their sp:>r.e­             second or so.                                the entire basis for Harder 's and for
 craft after the Apollo-12 !Uf'l.?r module                CAPCOM: Well, since we don't              the Saga article's Apollo-12 UFO
 lifled off from t~•• r:~oon. He said                 really have any idea how they left, or        sighting-is phony. The most generous
 these small p:.-<'::.; were visible until            what their t rajectory could be, it's         description of it would be a mistake, a
 they (tht> ...•!:onauts) made an engine              kind of tough really to say just what         misreading of the transcript's meaning
 burn 'f':c: metallic objects wer~ par ts             the heck that could be.                       in an attempt to "prove" a UFO
 er <!",e insulation which came off the                   Apollo: Okay. We'll assume it's           incident that never really happened
 lunar module during the launch phase                 friendl y anyway, OK?                         outside of the fertile imaginations of
 and lunar orbital phase. ' At no time                    The UFO reasoning, as worded by           certain     UFO believers. Conrad's
•did we see anything which was not of                 APRO member Srad Sparks. goes as              statement, Gordon's statement. Bean ·s
 our spacecraft, either during lunar                  follows: ''After the SLA panels               statement. and the NASA letter must
 orbit or during the voyage to and from               separated and the S-IVB's tanks were          stand validated on this case: Apollo-12
 the moon,' Bean stated."                             emptied (on No \·. U) they could not          was not followed by a t;FO on its
      To       Harder and his "N,\SA                  change their ·,t>locity simply because        to the moon.
 cuv~rup", these statements are just                  they had no form of propulsion to do              But how about on the way back?
 mo re lies designed to confuse the                   so. But Conrad saw one of the "SLA            "A light of indistinct shape" was
 American public. So let's go back lo                 panels" (on Nov. 15th ) suddenly leave        spotted just prior to re-en try,
                                                                          52

--- PAGE 21 ---
-
                                   _·-····-··~ ~
                   ~ - - - )·~ ·_:--··     __
                                       --•-..._,'
                                           ,.
                                     ,. -:·.




                                                1




.... .._____

--- PAGE 22 ---
··-.. . :- . ...                                                                 l'o11f.r:1rl t.'lll!i111•1•r:; wen• F. D. 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." rcn,aJ
                                                                                                                       lhe authors." but. ''. .little or no
                                                                                                                       clo~u111clllJli1111 ll1 p,1,~ cvc11t.; has i,e..-11
                       . . ·•                                                                                          macie." Rcfore UF'O bclle,·crs jump uµ
       l·.                                                                                                             and d1Jw11 with confim~a,ion of a
                           '. ...                                                                                      whole new family of ''astronaut
                                                                                                                       sightings of UFO3'', the authors
                                                                                                                       announce?             their      intention       of
                                : >:,;;,_;; ~.~::.. >ct-'. : '.:,·.'. _: \ . .                                         demonstrating that 1'such evenl~ were
                                                                                                                       spacecraft debris associated with an
      l        .w~.:.~~:,.~ -.....,-; ;; ;~·,!<~-~--~ ~
                                                      - :·,::: :~J::.s:,:, .£.,.:·,,·~~i«~-;c :+,21~-==.:
                                                                                                        .., ;-         earlier pyrotechnical operation, or ice,
             Publisn ed n~wsp!per story on UFSs captions this p11oto:"Theso two UFOs wo , u
                                                                                                         ""            or window reflections. Cases for each
             photographed on July 19, 1969-the day before Apo:lo's historic: moon landing­                             of these theories have been presented
             during Buzz A ldri n'• scheduled lunar photo session. Noto the s imilarity to the                         and exhibits of similar occurenccs are
             •hot snapped throo years oarlier during Gcminl-12."                                                       included. Positive identifi~ation was
                                                                                                                       not possible. . . The quality of tile
  according to UFO sources. Saga                                   photos taken during the? 1960s.                     imagery precludes a precise definition
  reports that " ...at 11:47 a.m. on                               Whatever it was, this "halo" appE'ared              of the object under question. . . In
  November 24th, the spokesman for                                 only in the photo, and was n«?ither                 general,         it      takes     much    more
  Apollo 12 reported in a startled voice                           seen nor remarked on by the                         information to identify an object that
  that they were all' watching a bright                            astronauts.                                         if does to detect it."
  red object flashing brilliantly against                              Houston radio commentator and                        Sixteen millim~ter color magazine
  the earth." This incident was carefully                           UFO enthusiast Frank Haley has his                 11651\1, exposed on Apollo-12. shows
  analyzed by Brad Sparks of APRO (I                               own theory about why the Apollo-12                  three objects, called "A", "B", and
  am indebt£:ci to his letler to Saga of                           TV camera did not work on the moon                  "C". The objects appeared during the
  August 28, 19i0, a letter Saga editor                            (NASA says Bean accidentally pointed                 Ll\·l jettison man«?uver in lunar orbit.
  ne\'er bothered to answer), who                                  it toward the sun). Says Haley, "The                "A" is believed to be a small segment
  objects that "the astronauts did not                             i::amera was intentionally shut off to              o f the docking channel; "B" was
  report that the object. they were seeing                         avoid showing something on the moon                 identified by engineers as a portion oi
  was red, and they stated specifically                            that     disturbed    the       astronauts"         the docking ring, possibly                    the
  that 'it's a steady light', not flashing."                       ("Haley's Comment" newsletter, Mar.                 fiberglass seal; "C" was probably part
  It was seen between th"'m and the dark                           22, 1976). It is only a matter of time              of the electrical harness. All were near
  earth , somewhere off the coast of                               before this nonsense is absorbed into               the spacecraft and were tumbling.
  India by a guess of the cr"'wmen.                                the lore of the "Apollo-12 UFOs''.                   From this and other examinations,
  Perhaps it was a ship's searchlight,                                 But Apollo 12 did see some                       Beatty and Baron concluded that
  perhaps a fire, perhaps a violent                                unidentified flying objects, and NASA               "most 'moon pigeons' have as their
 lightning storm...there is no reason to                           engineers were justifiably concerned                source a programmed pyrotechnic
 suspect that it was a craft in space.                             that they could have been debris from               event and are the normal debris
 The astronauts lost sight of the light as                         important spacecraft systems which                  associated with such an incident. They
 they turned the Apollo to take a series                           m ight indicate unexpected failures, or             are often spectacular. . . The main
 of photographs of the sunrise.                                    which might interfere with other                    thing to be learn«?d from this study is
     The wild fantasies printed in Saga                            spacecraft equipment. Hence, the                    that the event (in question) was, in all
 dn no t end here. Beckley and Salkin                              Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston                  probability, a normal result of routine
 claim that the astronauts had been                                (now the Johnson Space Center) gave                 spacecraft operations. . . These data
 "startled by unaccountable seismic                                a contract to Lockhe£:d to study the                will undoubtably be of use to the
 disturbances o n th.:- lunar surface."                            objects seen on the TV pictures and on              engineering, scientific, and public
 This event never occurred; there were                             some movie film.                                    relations communities." The closing
 no such earthquakes during their visit.                               The Lockhc-ed report was quietly                reference clearly indicates that Beatty
     Beckley and Salkin refer to "a                                issued on March 18, 19i0, about the                 and Baron were aware of the "Apollo•
 mysterious blue halo encircling one of                            same time that the sensationalized and              12 UFOs" controversy and felt that
 our spacemen." Sparks of APRO                                     fictionalized Saga story was being                  their study would be useful in
 consicfors thi:; lo ha,·c bE't?ll lun3r dust                      printed. Titled "linidcntifhid Visual               demolishini: any UFO buffs' wild
•kicked up •.,·h1le thu crcwmt',l were                             Phenomena Associated with Space                     n1mor;.
 walkii;g around. Photo analyst Dick                               Flight" (:-.iA$A Contract '.'i . \S 9-5191.               unfortunately. tht? ·'moon pigeons"
 lind,,r·.rood sutgestect that it is a                             LEC; HASO No. 071-80-013), the                      rrport seems to ha\·e been tiled a\\ ay
 defect in the denilopmeut of the                                  report documents tlw "moon pigc:Qns"                in the :--i..\S.-\ archi,·C's. Baron. who still
 photo cuusE>d h,· thl' , l\'id solar i:larc                       (a term "coi11E:d by :'\.\S.-\ enl:{inc:t.'r.; lo   wurks at the Joh11,;011 Space Cerlll' r,
 oil' oi' a lii~hly ,Hl~cti,·e s11 fi·ace:                         dcscribu UIH!Xpcctcci 1Jbjccls seen in               told me early in H)i6 that ht! ne\ l!r
 Undt•rwood quil'kly located half a                                operational photo1:r:iphy that ddy                  got any feedback on his report, e,·t'n
 do1.e11 ~imilar "ltalou5" on other space                          positive identification") of .-\polio• 12.           thoui:h it was fun doini,: it and it had
                                                                                         5.i

--- PAGE 23 ---
...
                                                                           ~     ..
                                                                               -· '·

                                                                         >}{




          This photo was snapped only moments af ter Aldrin's other Apollo 11 sho t . Here the two UFOs
                                                                                                   ~
          have begun their separation and a halo -li ke force field between the two is c/ea,/y shown .


p retty o bvious implications for UFO                                                       When presented with the Saga story
repor ts. NASA apparently decided to          "E x clusive NASA Photos" and NASA            and with APRO's (and MUFON's)
le t the UFO writers spread their             cJ nsorship is another part of myth . Theso   account of the "maneuverin g alien
;-umors, hoping tha t the stories would       Apollo-11 spots are highly magnified          spacecraft at 150,00u m iles from
fade away if ignored.                         window reflection, in Lunar Module dee ~      Earth", the a\·erage· citizen could only
    Wh at had ha ppened. though. was a        in ,pace (Aldrin turned the .:amer.> on by    assume that iL might indt"'d be true. If
riew shot in the arm for ·'astronaut          ac c ident w hile c hec k ing equ ipment) .   N.-\SA was denying it, '.l'e!l then, the
 UFO cases". The explanations could                                                         government has bcl'n kno\'/,1 to lie to
 never catch up with the mi~inlerpreta•                                                     us in the pa~t.
 tions     and      w1ong    impressions                                                         It is a vai:i hop<! to im :.gine that the
engendered        by    the     onirlteard                                                  truth will ever .:.1tc:h up co the Apollo-
conversations and l'iewt'd i111a).(r~ (mm                                                    12 a11<l oth,•r C [· Os..-\ s clL-c:iilc<l h ere,
 Apollo-12. :\lillions of ,\meric..ins were                                                 th.:: Apollo•I:! C FD 1H•rcr e:-..istt!d.
 practically eyewitnesses to a "space                                                       Somc,how, milliuns or pl•oplc beli£:Vc
 UFO", and were suitably impressed.                                                          that il did . There is s,1ffi<:icnt blame

                                                                    55

--- PAGE 24 ---
for this delusi on lo be :.ien( rousl y
                                                                                                                                  dislributed to                  UFO buffs, ~AS.-\
                                                                                                                                  public affairs                  officers, sc1ii:ation­
                                                                                                                                  sceking news media, and lal.y readers.
                                                                                                                                  And the "astronaut UFO" ge11r•: is not
                                                                                                                                  yet complrtc. Let's return to some
                                                                                                                                   more examples.
                                                                                                                                     Another example of selective
                                                                                                                                   omission of facts occurs in the

                                                                                                                              Gemtnl-7 photo of sunl ight glinting oft
                                                                                                                              roll thruster rockots on nose. Photo
                                                                                                                               forgers airbrushed the nose/Earth bound•
                                                                                                                              ary out, making tt,e two lights appear t o
                                                   (   .
                                                                                                                              be float ing in sp:ice. NASAphoto SGS-63722 .

                                                                                                                             f H-1 iO ALSO ~!:V2~ ~ E'b                           QR)
                                                                                                                             ~.. t
                                                                                                                                 ·" -~ - i p .,~ P :&,~4!•_:-.~~ ' : '.~

                                                                                                                                                                                       -♦ •




                                                                                                                                                              .'




                                                                         ~~
                                                                       .....~ ··:
                                                                       • . z._...,.,,
                                                                                                                                               :    .                    .   .




                                                                                                                                                        ... ,..




                               -r---· ,?
                                         .,,, .
                         ;.-,., -t,.~i       '-·
                     ~            -~. ~·
                     (               .
                    \                    t
~
 t                       ~ LP, , r•
                         ··•(?;
~ _ . _ _ , i , I , _~~ ~
     Forgl!ry c.>n oo "'ttn r ,nt1t•J ,n 1r.•tt..t or c:oov­
     roghl ,09ula11ons oecauso ,,.,,. ,s a N~SA
     photo, Evon ro\ouch ed, i t cannot bv                     l'' -                    .   .. .        .      .
                                                               ~ ••• ' vn tu, ,#,.£+,.·· . , Mi ·+ r+::b·
    COPV"9hl8d.

                                                                                                   56


                                                                                                            . - -· .. .... - . - ·--· - - - - - -

--- PAGE 25 ---
. ..
1         f 7.. ~ ~ T -. ... I ··"'""11':",~'t.jv" · . - -·.'" t S(t'if. J .
                                                                                          ~ , , . . . ~, - 7
                                                                                                                                                             ,_,..
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j
\
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I


I
                                                                                                                               .;'(



           -; .. , '~~
                     .<~';;~:~=~::.::~~~=~:.
                                          and below) as published with erroneous captions.


     "Fawc:dt list" of astronaut sightings.                tracking practice. The balloon did not
     Geori;e t·awcett is a respected and                   inflate but spun in a limp oblong sack.
     level-headed    UFO researcher in                     The flight schedule and the voice
     Maiden, North Carolina. But an                        transmissions confirm this unexciting
     example of his work gives a different                 explanation-and confirm Fawcett's
     impression:                                           fantasizing.
         "Gemini-XII: Jim Lovell and Edwin                     An example of the difficulty of
     Aldrin saw four UFOs linked in a row.                 " disproving" an "astronaut UFO
     Both spacemen said the objects were                   sighting" is the Mercury-9 case in
     not stars" (quoted from The Edge of                   1963. Well established in the UFO
     Reality, Hynek & Vallee, 1975, page                   lore, the story claims that on the 15th
     64).                                                  orbit, over Muchea, Australia, the
         From    the    GT-12      Astronaut               astronaut (Gordon Cooper) saw a
     Debriefing, page K/3.4, Lovell relates:               green object. More than one hundred
     "During the last EVA we discarded, in                 people at the trac king station saw the
    addition to the ELSE (life support                     bogie on a radar screen (this wasn't
    system), three bags. About 2, maybe
     3 or possibly 4, orbits later at sunrise
                                                                                               Shot during Sky Lab Ill second manned Sky Lab
    condition, we looked out again and                                                              Flighl 263 day of 1973-1645 Zulu Time.
    saw 4 objects lined up in a ro,v and                                                          NASA Photo =sLJ- 118-2 140 (4 shots taken)
    they weren't stars I know. They must                                                       Listed as unrden1,r.ed ob1ec t or satellite by NASA
    have been these same things we tossed                                                                    Pho to E,·aluat,on Lab
    overboard."
        The original distortion of this
    entirely ordinary event, according to
    the      Condon     Report,     is   the
                                                              rt,,
                                                                  ;(f.!C,;ii!P.l!'f!';H!¥,"""i!\":i;-':.~
                                                                                                     ,   -   •   ••   <
                                                                                                                          ~-, . :.-. ,..
                                                                                                                                 •    • : · ·



                                                                                                                                    . ·.
                                                                                                                                      ~
                                                                                                                                                :. , .
                                                                                                                                                         r               '-'· -, " ,.
                                                                                                                                                                               •   •   •




    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." E!sPwhere he                           t                                                                                          .
    claimed that Carp,rnter "look a
    photograph of a classical saucer-shaped
    UFO with dome tha t foll owed his
    capsule." ~(._ pla.t,;:, J,l
                                                              I
                                                              t
                                                              liio.t.'.1io-t.~   .....:..- ~    .;...~-:::....~0 .:s.::·, : :...ii
                                                                                                                                                  lI
                                                                                                                                                  -~ L .,....,._...~ ~ ~....~              .
                                                                                                                                                                                               - .·•• · •-
        In fact, the photographs s!iow an
    entirr.ly ordinary object: a space                                                                                        @                                                                3A
    balloon ejected from the capsule for
                                                                                                57

--- PAGE 26 ---
scn~:itinnal rn•.•'ll(h' for rir:tional •'far.t"
                                                      r.j,•('fNI               frnm                  hi, spaf'(•cr;1rt in an                                              Lall' in 197:J, ;i strange ob!c••:t did
   ·,l"ril n Fr•111 ;.; Ed ·: ar-1;: hi) had two      :lll!.' lllpl Lo gl't. \"isual lrackilll'. pr:tctic,:                                                            appNtr in Skylab sp,,Cl' photograph,.
   hundrf'rl peopll• ar.luatl)i me Lhc                (11:is photo is often referred to :is the                                                                        Takrn on Conrad's S kylab fl igh t i11
   ohjt·ct.).                                         "cl:issical domed UFO" shnt). UfO                                                                                June, Lhe objcct was not 11oticE'rl bl·
        The source of the story secll!S to            re$c:Jrchers anrl mai;azine edi tors had                                                                         UFO researchers but bv govE>rnmcn·t
   have bren an NBC newsm:t!l in                      dearly not made Hen a minia1u111 of                                                                              photo analysts. pl..t~ '33 •
   Australia. But the prob:crn ~ecms tll b.:          effort to verify thes•? t ransparent                                                                                Rather than ·•swP.ep thc t;FO under
   th:it Cooper has nc,.·er heard of it. He           errors and mistakes. but instr:ad p.!ssed                                                                        the rug", the officials look the other
   has b-:cn out of tile spat'e program for           011 the false data to the public.                                                                                tack : it might be a mysterious So,·itit
  SP.Ven years. and talks freely about                ThOU$ands more were dcceivr.d.                                                                                   SatP.llite and could be of great value to
   urus lo reporters, to the Columbia
  "UFO recording·•.. to Mike Douglas,
   to friends and associates. Somehow he
  k:iows nothing abou t. "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, 1973, 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, J. Allen Hynek, (the
 respected 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" published the story with an
intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;iting
that this was the astronau t photograph
which had buzzed Coyne.
       It would ha\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo·
graphed anything on October 18th.
since they weren·t even on board the
                                                                                                                          ,._
space s tation. The prc\'ious crew had
returned to E:irth a 111011th before and
thei r relie f ere ·.\· was not sr.lwduled to
blast off for anothl·r thrPe weeks. The
pho tograph prin!rd in the rn:il(a7.ine
                                                          . . ..   j • • .;    :··   • '• • / - " ' : " : :.
                                                                                                                ..                  ...             .      ..     .
                                                                                                               -.,"1-·/ ,-:;;..".. -':,.... ,(;-':.,.::,~,!~--~~i'-:i...-.., ... ~
                                                                                                                                                                                        .                .
                                                                                                                                                                                     ~Joi~~~---..:.6'~,(;A»~~~-®
                                                                                                                                                                                                              .:..~ -
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        .-   ..--:,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         6.::>
was clearly labt•lt·rl rm its backsidl' as
                                                                    "UFO.. -seen fro,n Skyl oh-2. Tho e1O,1901tcd ou ,~c t i, actually an air1:lrip
ta krn hy S.:,>tl C:irp,.•u(,•r Oil .\ll'rcury-             in the Bra :d,an 1un 9 ,.,~. Enlargomont of NASA pho t o SL2- 16-1 09,
7 morn than t1•n years before. II c-fl,t~ .
show,•d a limp ball non C:i rp<'nter had ")..\ c..a-..."" !

                                                                                                           58

--- PAGE 27 ---
sen~Jlinnal l'll••'l~h' for fii:t illnal "far.t"            r.ji•rlt•d fC'.lrn hi, spac·1·cr:ifl in a11                    La te i11 197'.l, a str;in~e objr,;t did
    writ,•r Fi ·1n;_ !~d·: ;wl;: hr. had two                   .1ttc111pt to g1·1 \·isual tr.ic:kin~! pr:1c:tic1?         aµpt'a r in Skrlab sµ,11:t' photograph~.
   hundrrri p<?oplt• ar.tually ree the                         (!Lis photo is o ften referred to ;is the                  Takl'n on Conrad's Skylab flight i11
   ohjt-ct.).                                                  "cl.issical domed UFO" sht>lJ. UFO                         June, lhe object was not 11oliced b\·
       The sou rec c,f the ~tory seems to                      researchers anri ma::azine edilors had                      UFO researchr1s but by go\'ernm.:n·t
   have bren an NBC newsman in                                 dearly not made e\·en a minimum of                         photo :111alysts. pl,t._ '33
   J\t15tralia. But th,:, problem ,;eems to b.:                effort to verify thew transparrn t                             Rather than ·•swi?ep the lJFO unde r
   that Cooper h:is nc•:er hc-ard of it. Hr.                   errors and mistakes. but instead 1nssed                    the rug", the officials look the other
   has b<:>cn out of ti1e spat•e program for                   011    the false data to the public.                       t.ick: it m ight be a mysterious So,·iet
  SP.Ven yrars. and t;ilks freely about                        Thou~ands more were decei\·rd.                             Satellite and could lie of great value to
   Ur us lo reporters, to the Columbia
   "UFO recording''., to ~.·Jike Douglas,
   to friends and associates. Somehow he
   knows nothing abou t, "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 sincerP.ly believe some of
  the ashonaut sightings are bonafide,
  based on some of my sources of
  information." John Keel, too, recalls                                     ...
                                                                             '                        •:    ... :   '                      . .... : . .,•. •
  (letter of .M arch 26, 1976) that "ex­
  NASA engineers have told me all kinds
  of fascinating UFO tales.. . " Always
  these writers 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, 1973, the famous
  Mansfie!d,        Ohio     UFO         sighting
  occurred, for which Captain Lawrence                                                                                                                         -.- ..•·
 Coyne and his h elicopter crew later
 were to receive the 'Best UFO Case of
 the Year" award (and check) from a                        l
                                                           r
                                                                                                                    .,.
 weekly tabloid's 'blue-ribbon panel' of
 UFO experts. A few months later,
                                                           t
                                                                                                                              i.
 Coyne said he was told by the pa11el
 chairman, J . Allen Hynek, (the
 respected 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" published the story with an                                                                      ·.,.
 intriguing photograph it had received
from NASA and which it labeled
"NASA: Skylab", clt>arly indic;1ting
that this was the as tronaut photograph
which had b1Jzzed Coy ne.
     It would h a\'e been a neat trick for
the Skylab astronauts to have photo•
graphed anything on OC'tobcr 18th,
since they weren't even on board the
space station. The prerious crew h ad                                                       ,.,
re turned to E:irth a 111011th bl'fore and
their relie f crP.w was not schl'ouled to
blast o ff for ano!hl•r thrre weeks. The        .. ! .. ··., ·:--. · .•..;'-..:. ~:.....-_,;_,,: _,;.._'•.,•.,,.,, :::.,~.., ; ~;.,_,,_/ ~ ~...;i~._~;,,..;.r,..+.,_;.~~@-
                                                                                                                                                                        ..:·-~-
photogr:iph prin!t·d in the magazine                                                                                                                                   33
w<1s clt>arly labl'll·rl 1m its backsidl• as
                                                         ..UFO .. 1ee,n fro,n Skvlot,.:?. The '!tongatcd ou,"c t i1 actually an a ,rstrio
t<1hn hy S-:<itt <:.::iq.>ent<•r on ~lt>rcury-           .
                                                         '" the 8r~:il,a" 1ur,91.i,. ElllMgomo"t of NASA photo SL2-16-109.
7 morl' than tPn years before. It t-pl,{q_
show,•d a limp balloon Ca rp<'nter had ')..\ "'a'';" !

                                                                                    58

--- PAGE 28 ---
.... ........:.. . ...... .



                               rn;lit:1ry i11t1·lli~cncc. /\ prompt and                              ... _.. - .· .
                                                                                                 ,;-..



                               <?ncrg1•Lic investigation was launched.
                                   The object looked like a long
                               cylinder with l\\'O square p:tddlcs
                               rr.srmbliug sol:i r panels at each end.
                               ily 11ac,,:-.u1i11~ its ,-tiigu:at 5i;:c on ~~o
                               negative, analysts were able. to
                               deter'.nine that it wa!> about 20 feet
                               long a mile away or 2000 feet long a
                                                                                 j
                               hundred milrs away.                               r.
                                   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 for
                               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 X-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
                               described them (and there arc other
                               lesser ones which [ have also investi­
                               gated to a successful conclusion),
                               what can we now say about authors
                               who present such evidence of
                               "astronaut UFOs"? While speaking
:,
f                              ominously about a NASA coverup and
                               of secret agencies which muzzle space•
                               men, these same researchers list such
                               quotations as:

                                    J ohn Young: '.' Odds are UFOs
                                 exist" .
                                    Edgar '.\-litchell: "\Ve all k'now UFOs
                                 are real".
                                    Eugene Ceman: "I believe UFOs
                                 belong to someone else and that they
                                 arc fro m some other civilization".                            F lake of ice floating off of the X-15 rocket plane. Somo i nvcsti g:,1or~
                                    Cordo n Cooper: " [ brlieve that                            call thi• a " large UFO". NASA photo 76 -H-139.
                                 UFOs, under i11telligcnt con trol , have
                                                                                                                 59

--- PAGE 29 ---
..-V--~~..,,......,,, . , , , , , , ~ ~ ~.....
                                                 .,,,--:-__,_...___ ~ _   ••· .. - -, . ~ ~to,~J,._<.,.Q.""'
                                                                                           .            •""'"W.~             ..,....._~ ,...,,, . ..   f ► OJ, 11:'C ♦ l♦IJ ."!" "-~--:"1\i

                                                                                                                                                                                         ,,
                                                                                                                                                                                          f



                                                                                                                                                                                        l•




I
 J




                      ,;




                                  ,.




                Clouds of debris su rrou nd the Saturn booster rocket following Apollo ,opera t ion. Blow-up photos ot individual
                pieces ot debris inside and outside the cabin have been called "UFOs". NASA photo AS17- 148-22687.


visited our planet for tho usands of                     Young quotation. Young, in Seattle in                                 John Yo ung says, " Odds are UFOs
years".                                                  1973, said that the chances were good                             exist".
    None of these me n claim to ha\·e                    that there were in tell igen t civilizatio ns                         It seems clear that astronauts as a
seen UFOs in space. By now it should                     on other planets (AP, Nov. 27, 1973).                             class or the population do n ot possess
be obvious to open-minded im·estiga­                     The newsman started the article with                              any special knowledge about CFO:;
tors that no other aHronaut claims to                    the lead, "John Young says that the                               which they may have gained from
ha\·e seen any either. Suggestions that                  odds are that unidentiiied Flying                                 their own experiences. They are about
they have rt>ally done so are either                     Objects do exi$t'', even though none                              as well informed (or more truthfully.
misconceptions. mi; repn•s1•ntalions. o r                of Young's quoted words indicated                                 as badl y misinformed) as the anirage
frauds on the part of L: FO writers.                     that at all. Beforr. you could say                                citizen. To quote them as above with
   Yt>t another cast: in poi!lt has just                 "UFO tlap·•. th~ l.iFO writers had a                              the sugiiestion that they are special
bt>en given, and it deals with the J ohn                 new authority :                                                   authoritit>s on UFOs is a misleading

                                                                                  60

                                                                                                     .   • • w . - - •--· - · ...   -   --   -   - ~

--- PAGE 30 ---
and inll•llectually dishonest tactic.           Septemhcr 15. 1976, Cordon wrote:          Conrad on Gcmini-11 and Apollo-1 2.
       Three ti llll' space veteran Wally ::ichirra,   " I ,•i\'idly re..:a!I the inciden t which writes that " I never s:iw a l.Jf'O".
        who according to lffOlogisls saw               oc.:11rrcd when a light of indistinct      Astronaut "Dcke" Sla}·tor, claims t!1at
        "glowing masses"( actually lightning-lit       shape and size was spolled on o ur         "[ don't recollect anyone u,porting
       clouds, over the Ind ian Ocean) hos             return to earth... (it) did appear lo be   any UFOs on any of our nights''.
       written. "I do not know enough about            in the Indian Ocean. ln our discussions       "'Buzz" Ald rin went to the moon
        this subject to render an opinion of           and debriefings that occurred l:iter.      on Ai,ollo-11, on which the l.iFO
       any kind. The o!lly information l ~ave          Rusty       Schwcikart provided        the press lists at least three separate UFO
       is that which has been released to the          answer. He simply said, 'how about         incldenls. There were no UFOs:
        public through the years by the                the moon's reflection?' and, of course,    "There are people who say there's a
       various news media". UFO writers                that is what it was... How often those     go\"ernment conspiracy to covu up the
        would ha,·e us belieH~ that this is part       of us in aviation have seen the moon's • existence of flying saucers." Aldrin
        or a ,·ast conspiracy of lies which only       reflection on the water in the course      told a Reuters reporter in 1973,
        they can penetrate.           ,Accil~ t:l.,.   of a nom1al flight. We simply did not
            The actual answi!r to the "shapeless                                                  "That's a lot of hogwlsh."
                                                       put it together in returning from lunar       The L.M pilot on the next fligh~.
        light" mystery illustrates the wa~·            distance, where we had the black back­
        NASA races real space mysteries. The                                                      Apollo-'12, was Alan Bean. Following a
                                                       ground of space, the dark night of the     new press conference in 1975 when
        crew was puzzled by the sighting but           earth. and the moon behind us."
        reported it to space officials who made                                                   James Harder repeated his stories of
                                                           Other spacemen have been asked to
      • no e ffort to conceal the incident. If                                                    Apollo-11 and Apollo-12 UFOs, Bean
                                                        answer these questions). They have
        NASA were trying to co,·er up actual           been forthright in their denials: "I       told UPI that at no time during his
        UFO sightings by astronauts, this was                                                     mission did he ever see an unidentified
                                                       never ha\'e personally seen anything I
        a good candidate for one-and it                could identify as a UFO", says John        object. "At no time did we see
        would never have been publicized.              Glenn, now a Senator Crom Ohio.            anything     which was not of our
            Astronaut Dick Gordon revealed to                                                     spacecraft,  either during lunar orbit or
                                                        Astronauts Grissom and Young said,
        me the unpublicized solution to the            "We have never seen any UFOs".             during   the  voyage to and from the
..,     publicized mystery. In a letter dated                                                     moon,"    Bean  stated.
                                                        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 sunrise photographed from
                                                        Skylab. NASA photo SL3-118,2177.




                                                                            61

--- PAGE 31 ---
Th:.: AH:CJ ll1d l ·t111 \ Fdi. l!J io J                         Sl.'!,·nlbl~ :it \\',,.-1;". \,L• fi,id tl1 c phony    and l-'dJru.iry 197:; a11<! nthc•,~- T l11,
       c:011li1n1c<l to g1•111•r,1t..: llt.:W ;JSlClJll;JUt                  Fa1u·..tt li., t. Li.; L l;a~ incorn:cl dales         nyi11g saucer club llt'w.,;lettL• r b·,l
       (;Fl) f-1iry IJlcs with tile rinony111011s                           and 111a11y lli;.:hi.:; nul ,if ~•H1ur11cc. On         t:. pi fit s the dlsn•gard for i1:1p,,.·ti:tl
       rcH•l;,tinn from "Mr. X", who hL·,.irtl                              J uly I, 1~7Li. lk J . .-\lk-11 Hyne k                 i11ws1i;,:atio11     o f cvid~•nc~         whid1
       the Apt>II,>-I l ,htrn11:iuts d escribe                              rc,:i,".\"£•d 111 y ,,,·it.lean, and cndors,·d it,     prtH·id1)d the climatr in wh:ch the
       Hthre•: di::,· ::h:.!:J•.•\! s h:-u:l,:-i•.•:5 tl1;,t \.V' •n-•      anrl n•p11 :l'.11,·ci I hr. F'awcctt li, t. which      mylh ot' --astronaut liFOs " co11IJ g-101\·
       paci11~ them ::ic r-i,:; th.: :;urfc1cc of the                       he ;·L'port,·d tl1,1t lw inr:luded in his              and tluu nsh.
       moon. '' The best answer l.'o thi.;                                  book as a ru,i1.>sity Olily. That is, just                  Th e Star, :Vfan.:h ~- 1976. pa;:,• 7.
      f:tbrir.ltivn is in a I! tler from ;--:ASA                            becau~e ht' pre,t'nted it a~ fact to                   Sequence or headlines: On the front
       Assistcnt Administrator for Legislative                              thousands ot' ro:adt'rs '.\·as no reason for           page, ''Astronauts Say: We Saw L:FOs
      Afiairs       Rob(;rt          F'.        Allnutt,          to        anyone to concl11 dl.! he thought it was               in Space". On pai::e 7, --Tc-iJ
      Congr<)s;:nan           Bob          Casey,           dated           true. This appallingly irresponsible                   Astronauts Con firm: We spotted l\\'O
      January 29, 1970: ''Conversation                                      attitude towards rules of e\·idcnce                    UFOs". lll the article, ;\!cDi·:itt ta!k5
      between the Apollo 11 c,·ew :ind                                      seems to in fer.t the whole UFO field.                 oi his UFO, and Cooper discusses his
      ~·Jission • Cont,ol were released live                                     Sightings         by      26      A stronauts     exper:ences as a fighter pilot in
      during the entire Apollo 11 mission.                                  Co11iirm: UFOs Spied 011 Sl:ylabs (sic)                Germany-and makes 110 mention of
      There were betwel)n 1000 and 1500                                     Jla11y Other Space Shots-U FOs Watch                   the space UFO associated with his
      rep resentati\·es of the news media                                   Every tlo\'e NASA ;\Jakes, Say                         name. The headlines, as can be
      present at the Houston News Cl)nter                                   Astronauts Who Were Tailed on Space                    expected in such a newspaper, are
      listening and observing, but not one                                  Shot, " National Tattler", March 17,                   deliberately misleading.
      has suggested that NASA withheld any                                  1974. This is an embellished version of                     SAGA magazine,               May      1970:
      news or conversations of this nature."                                the same Fawcett fantasies. Weekly                     Classified       TOP         SECRET-Apollo
          The evidence is clear. There is, out                              tabloid newspaper "conformed to the                   Astronauts Reported Two                     UFO
      of all the dozens of "reports of                                      highest standards of modern reporting.                Sightings, by Beckley and Salkin, p. 13




II    astronaut UFO sightings", no residue                                 Tattler and its staff are dedicated to                 rr: Complete story of Apollo-12 UFO;.
     of authentic cases, no 20:o or 5% or                                  total, truthful coverage... " In fact,                 plus enough false information to
     even 0.01% of " true UFOs" behind all                                 staffer Robert Abborino made no                        "discredit" the true explanation.
     the "noise". My research is compelling                                effort to check any of Fawcett's                       Quotes          "space          expert      Gary
     in its conclusion: afler fifteen year3 of                             outrageous claims.                                     Henderson", another active spreader
     manned space voyages including space                                       UFOs Past, Prese11t and Future, by                of the myth. Refers to long-discredited
     stations and landing on the moon,                                     Robert Emenegger, research by Alan                     stories of "secret dead Russian
     spacemen have brought back not a:                                   . Sandler. Ballantine, 1974. Chapter 15,                 cosmonauts" probably created by
     shred of evidence-verbal, phpto•                                      "Na:;a", pages 100-106. Extensive                      F tank Edwards.
     graphic,        or        otherwise-for                   the         transcripts of space communications                          Houstvn Post, Nov. 30, 1975. page
     existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft,                             cover up the fact that Sandler                         1D: "Just One Astronaut Claims
     or "UFOs".                                                            carefuily selected evidence and must                   Seeing UFO ", by Jim ;\laloney. 1his
          That" evidence, if it exists at all,                             have knowingly omitted information                     sensible        and      sane       investigation
     must be sought elsewh ere. The                                        which would have explained . many                      (i\lcDivitt stuck to his story) clearly
     performance and standards of conduct                                  cases. An excellent photo section is                   did not excite the national news media
     of the UFO groups and of UFO writers                                  included.                                              and was relegated to the obscuri ty of a
     cannot be cause for optim;sm that                                          UFO Report, People Press, 1975.                   local newspaper.
     such evidence, if it exi;;ts. will bP.                                "NASA Hiding UFOs From You", by                             Science and .\lechanics, June 1969.
     recognized and correctly ~valuated.                                   Robert D. Barry, pages 4-10. Barry is                  Cover Story:             "This       UFO      was
     The lesson of the "astronaut UFOs",                                   associated          with       Carl     Mcintyre's     photographed by astronaut Gordon on
     then, teaches us nothing about UFOs,                                  fundamentalist Christian group, and is                 Gemini 11 flight" (the co\·er photo
     but a lot about UFO investigators.                                    one of the wilder UFO writers. Even                    shows a tremendously enlarged out of
                                                                           the mass media has learned to                          focus image of a piece of insulation
                                                                           disregard his fictional descrip tions of               floating a f.:w inches in fron t of the
                                                                           non-events. Here, he explains "why                     camera). Page -1-1, Lloyd '.\.lallan: ··.-\re
         Scientific Study nf Unidentified                                  NASA called in the CIA to keep these                   liFO Space Crews Spying on ou r
     Fly ing Objects (Condon Report},                                      photos secret", without explaining                     Astronauts?" Descriptio n of the late
     Bant_am Edition, 1969, Chapter 6:                                     how , in that case, he got copies. He                  L. ~lallan's inter\'iews on Ge mini-l ;.
     Visual       Observations            :\lade    bv                     uses the forg.cd Gemini-7 photo                        provides some new informaLion but
     Astronauts/ Franklin E. Roach. Pag;s                                  proudly.                                               cements some old misconce ptirrns.
     176-209, with bibliography through                                         Flying Saucers-Here and ,V ow', by                Also embellishes Condon R eport
     1967. Good bal"k;;round m:itNial                                       F'rank Edwa rd,,, Lyle Stuart. >iew                   "unknowns".
     including unpublish<'d 1·alitl solutinns                               York.        1967.        Astruna~1t iar.ta~il's           Lockhced-~.-\S.-\         Contract ;\ .-\ S
     to a numbL'r of c;isrs. Incorrect                                     w h()lly ur in part creatrd in the forti le            9 -5 191 (.\larch 19 70), ·'T1:ch:1kal
     solution        to      Gemini-:--~ I        case.                    (and unlimill)d by w,il ily) mind o f                  Report:            L'nid1.•11tified        Vi,;uJI
     lnad..-4uat<- anal_.-~b and u1,j11stificd                             ·11,-11-;man' l·'ra11 l- Ed1\Jrd,; :ire iound          Ph1.•11<1mena ...\ssoc;ated wilh Sp:icl'
     encinr,;l)nH•nt ot f:,,r,;i ni-1 ',- ca.,,·.                          on p:1ge$ t :L l HO. an<1 l !l 'i. Tltrnui,: h         fli:,:ht''. F . HL•atty and J. R:.iron.
        Th i: £,!;;,: o/ Uc:ul,l_\', b} fl:,-n,·k and                      s11d1 entriL'$ :i j,>11 rnalis111 stud t"n l can       Dis<.: tb :ic•s the fr,1i,:1ne11ts ~<',· 11 :111d
     Vallee. Hl'nry H,•:,:1ll'ry & Co., 1975.                              trace thl· adual i::r,,wth of the myth.                photographt'd on ,\ pol!•J· 12, and
     Pa;:l· G:!,6-1 111 ::i S1.·ctit>11 cnllt·ci ..The                        , \ /'l:U Hui/din, :\l.1rd1-:\pril 1970             traces them t,> spacc,cr:ift effct·r;;.
                                                                                                   6:!

--- PAGE 32 ---
~
     REPL,Y To:                                                                                  REPLY To;

 0 135 HART SENATE OfFICE 8UtLOlNG                                                          Q 103 FEDERAL COURTHOUSE BUILDING
     WASHINGTON, 0C 20510-1501                                                                   3206THSTREET
     (2021224-3744                                                                               Sioux CITY, IA 5 1101- 124A
     TTY: (2021 224-4479                                                                         (71 21 233-1860


 0
     e-mail:ehucLgrassley@grassley.senate.gov

     721 FEDERAL BUILDING
                                                tlnitEd ~totes ~rnotr                       Q 210 WATERLOO B UILDING
                                                                                                 531 COMMERCIAL STREET
     210 W ALNUT $',-REET                                                                        WATERLOO, IA 50701-5497
     DES M OINES. IA 50309- 2140                     CHARLES E. GRASSLEY                         (3191 232-6657
     (5151284-4890
                                                  WASH INGTON, DC 20510-1501                0    116 FEDERAL BUILDING
0    206 FEDERAL BUILDING                                                                        131 E. 41H S TREET
     101 1 S1 STREET SE.                                                                         DAVENPORT, IA 52801 - 15 13
     CEDAR RAP10S. IA 52401 - 1227
     (319) 363--6832
                                                             August 3, 1998                      (3191 322-4331

                                                                                             0   307 Fl!DEHAL B UILDING
                                                                                                 8 SOUTH 6TH STREET
                                                                                                 COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA 51501-4204
                                                                                                 (7121 322-7103
                  Ms . Mary D. Kerwin
                  Deputy Assoc. For Legislative Affairs
                  National Aeronautics & Space Administration
                  300 E Street, S . W.
                  Two Independence Square, Room 9L33
                  Washington , DC 20546

                  Dear Ms . Kerwin:

                  Enclosed please find a communication from (6) (6)
                  regarding several concerns about the space program .            ------------
                  I woul d appreciate any assistance you could provide pertaining to
                  this matter. Please mark your return corre spondence to the
                  attention of Sherry Kuntz when responding to my office .

                  Thank you for your attention to my request .



                                                            DCharles E. Grassley
                                                             United St ates Senator

                  CEG/sk
                  En c los ure




                                                    Committee Assignments:
 FINANCE                                                 AGRICULTURE                                   CHAIRMAN ,
JUDICIARY                                                  BUDGET                         SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

                                                      PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

--- PAGE 33 ---
.   (



Author: (b)(o)        <(b) (6)         ~   at internet
Dat_e~   7/6/98 04:14 PM
Priority: Normal
TO: chuck grassley at Grassley-DC
Subject: Message from a Voter
 Greetings Honorable Senator Grassley,
       I have recently encountered a number of new and interesting
  tidbits of i nf ormation concet"oing letters T hovo previ~unJy written to
 you i n regard of the UFO phenomenon that seems to be happeni ng in the
 United State s as well as the rest of the world. I greatly appreciate
 all the i n f ormation you have led me to through our past correspondence .
 I am hoping you c an help me track down a few more specific things.
 Here is a something I heard from someone I was corresponding with:
       11
          0n Sunday, August 10, 1997 at around 9:45am CDT, I was wat-ching
 TV and switched to the NASA channel f or news of the ongoing shuttl e
 mission . At the time, they were broadcasting a nighttime view of Earth.
 As I watched, I was surprised to see a light rising vertically from the
 bottom of the screen where Earth was displayed. As it continued to rise
 vertically (relative to the TV screen), the shut tle camera clearly began
 to track the l i ght and kept the picture c entered on it .
       "After it rose we ll above the horizon of Earth, the light made
 an apparent 90 - degree turn to the r ight (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 n for a closer l ook. At that point
NASA cut off the feed from the external camera and displayed the Houston
 space center instead. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared to record this on
my VCR. The entire episode lasted l ess than a minute, so I was unable to
get the VCR ready i n time."
      I am also interested in any information that can be relayed
about the Groom Lake Area , also know as Area 51, or Dreamland, and an
area known as Area S-4. The media has stated t hat these areas in the
Nevada desert are testing grounds for US "Black Projects". I believe
that vehicles such as the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Stealth Fighter
where tested here.
      The gove rnment to date denies the existence of such places, even
though I have in my possession of several videotapes, pictures, and e ven
a Russian satellite image showing the area. Does such a place exist?
Or at leas t , are you, the Air Force, or NASA, whoever happens to be in
control of the site willing to tell us that is does exist. It is my
understanding that the Nellis Air Force Base surrounds Area 51, so I
imagine that t he Air force is the one who has jurisdic tion over the
Area.
      Many peop le including Bob Lazar, Bill Uhouse, and the father of
a guy I work wi t h all claim to have worked in this secret area, and have
seen and worked on craft o f an alien origin .
      Bill Ohouse claims that both President Nixon, and Bush visited
the Area 51 facility to examine 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 t ruth to thei r claims and the claims of many
others, I woul d wonde r why such a spectacular secret would be kept from
us, and why the aliens would not have made themselves known to t he
general populace of Eart h .
      Please do not just send me another list of Project Blue Book
documents, a nd I have already seen the censored files released by the
CIA . These documents have been censored so all that they do is bring
more suspic ion toward the government, and they just make me think even
more that someone is hiding some thing. The thing I can "t 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~he-..:..
                 · -------,
(b) 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.
      Nevada Test site - Borders base on the west. I nitially "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 - Agency that controls Area 51.
Based at Edwardo Air Force Base.
 •   EG&G Special Projects - General contractor at Area 51.
 *   Bechtel - General contractor at Nevada Test Site, with some
projects at Area 51.
 *   Tonopah Test Range - "Semi-secret" aircraft testing base
northwest of Area 51
•    Lo ck.heed- Martin - Aircraft manufac turer for whom the base was
built.
*    Johnson Controls - Contractor at Nevada 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
Mechanics" the site of the "new Area 51"
*    Papoose Lake - Site of Lazar's "Area S-4" south of Groom Lake
•    Tikaboo Peak - Last accessible viewpoint into Area 51

--- PAGE 35 ---
Author: {~ (6)
  Date:
                        --------
                          <(o) (6)
            7 /6/98 04 :48 PM
                                        at internet

  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 truth to this, there is a big sha~e shame, on NASA. If you
 could contact NASA on my behalf about t hese incidences ·r would be very
 grateful.
(o) (6)




 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 world. During the fina l orbit, Major
Gordon Cooper told 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 t wa s
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 J. L. 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 t •o 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 collected
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-looking 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 told him
that he was 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 7:
Borman:   ER GEMINI 7, HOUSTON HOW DO YOU READ?
Control: Loud and clear 7 go ahead.
Borman:   GOT A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.

Control:   This is Houston. Say again 7.

Borman:    SAID WE HAVE A BOGEY AT 10 O'CLOCK HIGH.

control:   Roger

Control:   Gemini 7, 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 4 hours 24 minutes
into the flight.
Ironically, it was Lovell who ma de the classic statemen t "Please be
informed that there is a Santa Claus". This was during his Apollo 8
flight on Christmas day in 1968 - some people believe there's a deeper
meaning to these words, although the sceptics believe that this was
little more than American humour. However, Walter Schitta, who was
aboard Mercury 8, reputedly used Santa Clause as a code-name for a UFO
presence, adding some weight to the argument that Lovell was
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-confirmed reports, both Neil Armstrong and
Edwin "Buzz" Aldri n saw UFOs shortly after that hi storic landing on the
Moon in Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969. I remember hearing one of the
astronauts refer to a "light" in or on a crater during the television
transmission, followed by a request from mission control for further
information. Nothi ng more was heard.

--- PAGE 37 ---
emp.1.oye~ ot t q lii nder 1 un nam,ed ra,di o j,a rps wi t j.1
 A<a:c,;ord i a9 Lo a f.ormer NASA
     I
 their own VHF receiving facilities that b ypassed NASA' s b r o a d casting
 outletc pic k e d u p   t h e fol lo wing exchange:



 NASA:       What's there?

             Mission Control calling Apollo 11 ...



 Apollo 11: These "Babies " are huge , Sir! Enormous!
              OH MY GOD! You wouldn't belie 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 1: Hal What is it?
 Astronaut 2: We have some explanation for that?
 --BEEP--
Houston: We have (not), don't worry, continue your program!
 --BEEP--
Astronaut 1: Oh boy it ' s 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 1: Well it's kind of (rigged) ha, pretty spectacular ..... .
              god . . . what is that there? ··,
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: It's (hollow), what the hell is that?
Houston: Go Tango, Tango!
--BEEP--
Astronaut 1: 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 1: . ..... 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
disappeared."


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 ine 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
Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17. In a Los Angeles Times 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 Maurice Chatelain
In 1979 Maurice Chatelain, former chief of NASA Communications Systems
confirmed that Armstrong had i ndeed 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 8 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 8
command module came 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 National 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 witnessed 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 F. Buchli ...
Astronaut: Houston, this is Riscovery, we still have the alien
spacecraft
           under observance ...

--- PAGE 41 ---
JLJN 2 Lt /999



  L:ATW:mtg: U1998-407f


  The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
  United States Senate
  Washington, DC 20510


  Dear Senator Snowe:

 Thank you for your May 18, 1998, letter on behalf of (b) (6} _ _              regarding
 Unidentified Flying Objects and his concern over the "authenticity of the recently
 released Mariner photographs."

 There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (b) (6         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 "O and 1". 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://photojournal.jp1.nasa.gov.

 We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
 you in responding to {6) (6)

 Sincerely,
                    .,d "1J
    • ... , . •ieninaer
 Edward Heffernan
 (Acting) Associate Administrator
 for Legislative Affairs


ecc:
S/ Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)

((J/22-- ltc8 w.1

--- PAGE 42 ---
-----a
                                                                                                                                                            COMMnTEES:
 ~ OLYMPIA J. SN OWE
              MAINE                                                                                                                                     ARMED SERVICES
    CoUNSEL TO THE AsslSTANT                                                                                                                             BUDGET
         MA..K.,:1TV LEADER
                                                                                                                                                   COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
250 RUSSELL S ENATE OFFICE 8UILD1NG
          (202) 224-5344                                                                                                                               TRANS PORTATION
                                                                                                                                                           CHAIR OF
                                                                                                                                                      OCEANS ANO ASHERIES
                                                                       WASHINGTON, DC 20510-1903                                                         SUBCOMMITTEE
                                                                                                                                                        SMALL BUSINESS



                                                                          May 18, 1998




                 Mr. Lawrence E . Medway
                 Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
                 National Aeronautic and Space Administration
                 300 E . Street, SW
                 Washington, D.C. 20546

                 Dear Mr. Medway :

                  I am writing to x ou regarding the concerns of my constituent, (o (6)
                 (b) (6)  _:_:.:.:--- of Stonington, Maine.
              (~~)             is interested in U.F . O. 's and the recent photos of
               Mars which were recently released. (o) (6)     ___     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 t 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.



                                                                         lticerel~ ,               1
                                                                         ~t. -~
                                                                          uni~                  tes senator


                 OJS:mjb




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Two GAEAT FALLS Pt.Av.        68 SEWALL STI1EET, SUITE 101C   ONE CUMBERLAND PLACE, SUITE 306   231 M AIN Smerr. Su1TE 2   3 CANAL PtAZA, SUITE 601     169 ACAOfMV STI1fe1', Sum 3
Su1Te 78                      AUGUSTA, ME 04330               0ANGOA, ME 04401                  8100,•0RO, M E 04005       P,O. Box 188                 P•Fsoue i s, e. M E 04769
A UBURN, ME 04210             (207) 622-8292                  (207) 945--0432                   (207) 282--4144            POATLANO, ME04112            (207) 764-5124
(207) 786-2451                                                                                                             (207) 874'"°883
                                                                                                                           M AINE RELA'< SERVICE
                                                                                                                           TOO 1" 955-,3323

   IN MAINE CALL TOLL-FREE l -800-432- 1599                                                                                                           PRINTEO ON RECYCLED PAPER

--- PAGE 43 ---
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
search program. T~r-extraterrestfials is conduetee-through-Ibe.Seatch..for:.
E ~ t e Higenee-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 Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "O and l" . 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://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/

We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be useful
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
search program. Today th@ searoh :fer-extratertEtrials is condttst«l-through..Ihe-Sear:ch.ior.
E~rate11esli ial fotemgenee-Ins-t1-tute-(-SffFHnstitute) in-Mountain View, CA.
(___

As for your interest in the recent photos of Mars taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MOS),
not the Mariner, these images are received on Earth in digital format, meaning "0 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 n will be useful
to you.

--- PAGE 45 ---
.___




        ACTION REQUIRED
                 CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY
       Office of Legislative Affairs               DATE: May 26, 1998
       NASA Headquarters                           PAGES, if faxed: 3
       300 E 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 9, 1998
                 Information copies:
           Action number/ Member: L98-407- Sen. Snowe

       INSTRUCTIONS:
       Please prepare a draft reply to the attached Congressional inquiry and send it
       via electronic mail to the following address: Anne.Ward@hq.nasa.gov
       or send a copy of your reply on a diskette to the attention of Anne Ward.
       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 1, please send answer to me.

       Thanks.

       Helen

--- PAGE 46 ---
< CONFIRMATION REPORT>                               05-26-1998(TUE) 10:26




C     TRANSM I T           J


     NO.    DATE   TIME        DESTINATION   PG.   DURATION   MODE     RESULT
    18502   5-26   10:25       NASA HQTS       2   0°00'52"   NORMAL   OK
                                               2   0·00•52"

--- PAGE 47 ---
-,




                        HegClq Yarters Action l racKing '5ystem (HATS)
                         INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                                 ID Number: L/1998-00407

                                      _________ who's interested in U.F.O.
 Title : Sen Snowe fwds ltr from (b) (6 )                     _,
 and th e 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:
                                                        Date Closed:
Action Office:         LD/Rothman:P                     >>Current Due Date:      06/18/1998<<
                                                        Original Due Date:
Status:                Open
Signature Office:      UHeffernan

Info Offices:          UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin

Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (o) (6) _ _ _         OF STOCKINGTON, MAINE, WHO'S
INTERESTED IN U.FO.'S AND THE RECENT PHOTOS OF MARS WHICH WERE RECENTLY RELEASED.

Comments:



Enclosures:            NO

Related Records :




Keywords: {b) (6)   _ _STONINGTON, MAINE U.F.O. MARS
File Plan:                                                                Analyst: BMoore
05/26/1998                                                                            Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 48 ---
,o ~
                               1 _t        DRAFT
                              0~
                              {;
    L:ATW:mtg:U1998-407f           /   7/;>   y
~    he Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
    United States Senanns \. .,
    Washington, DC 20510


    Dear Senator Snowe:




    There are no recently released Mariner photographs. We assume (6>l 6)               is
    referring to the images taken from our Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). NASA does not
    tamper with imageveceived from MGS. These images are received on Earth in digital
    format, meaning "0~nd 1". NASA merely translates these digital images, using
    cq_mputer processing, into actual images. All images and other instrument data is
    deposited in a publicly accessible archive within six months after receipt where they are
    available to everyone. All the images currently released can be found on the Internet at
    http://photojournal.jp1. nasa.gov.

    We appreciate your interest in these matters, and trust this information will be helpful to
                         _____
    you in responding tol 6) (6)      ___.

    Sincerely,



    Edward Heffernan
    (Acting) Associate Administrator
    for Legislative Affairs

--- PAGE 49 ---
..


     ecc:
     S/Ruth Netting
     LB/Barbara Cherry

     Sent to Mark Berumen @ Hill Office (250 SROB)

--- PAGE 50 ---
5




                           Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
                            INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                                  ID Number: L/1998-00494

Title: Ward/White House Referral: UFO Hearings

Recipient:                A/Goldin

Author:                   (15) (6)
Organization:              White House                     Date Written:            05/17/1998
                                                           Date Received:           06/18/1998
                                                           Date Concurred:
                                                           Date Submitted:
                                                           Date Signed:             06/26/1998
                                                           Date Closed:             06/26/1998
Action Office:            UWard:S                          >>Current Due Date:      07/15/ 1998<<
                                                           Original Due Date:       07/15/1998
Status:                   Closed
Signature Office:         UHeffernan

Info Offices:             UHeffernan, UHeninger, UKerwin


Abstract:
White House Correspondence from (6) (6) who supports having 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: (b} (6)   J   UFO, hearings
File Plan: 1320.4                                                            Analyst: JMassey
06/24/1998                                                                               Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 51 ---
JUN 2 4


 L:ATW:mtg :U1998-494f


(6) (6)




 Dear (b) (6)

The White House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17, 1998, letter to
President Clinton concerning possible hearings on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on UFO. Enclosed is a Fact Sheet, "The
US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects," which gives a brief history of NASA's
investigations into UFO.

We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be helpful to
you.

Sincerely,



Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs

Enclosure

ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Sue J. Smith
       Director, Office of Agency Liaison
       Room 6, OEOB
       The White House
       Washington, DC 20502

 &l-alt:ii      l tt.LY   }J.12
                           ' I i ~lr:;y

--- PAGE 52 ---
THE W HITE H OUS E
                                  WASHINGTON




                                                          I

                                                         l:
                                                                DATE



 MEMORANDUM FOR:
                            '             J
 FROM :                          SUE J. 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 n our efforts to be a ·s respons i ve as
possible.

Th e attached l et t ers have not received a White House Staff response.
I am forwarding this correspon den ce to your agency f 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 below. I also
would appreciate y our sending a copy of y our agency ' s log of the
nam~§ and adclr@&&@B of 1:h@Be :iFidi vielual 9 . Any misr ~farralg should
be r e ttirn.ed -C9 my o.r:.i:u;~, i.i: yg~ 11.§V~ qy~etiQns you can reach me at:
4 5 6 - 7486.

                                Su e J . Smith
                                Director, Office of Agency Liaison
                                Room 6, OEOB
                                The White Ho u se
                                Washi ngton, D.C.       20502
Again , t hank you for your continuing help.




                                                        A98'- 0 I I C,'f

--- PAGE 53 ---
From nobody@wwwr.-wrutehouse.gov Sun May 17 17:57:37 l998
Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 17:54:05 -0400
From: (6) (6)
Subject: InboW1d-White_House_WWW_MAIL => PRESIDENT
Apparently-to: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
To: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
Errors-to: The Postmaster <P,Qstmast~I.whitehouse.gov>
Reply-to: {6) (6)          <(b) (6)               >
Message-id: <199805l 72154.RAA07723@www1.whitehouse.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 0. 1 jms/960226

[Connection Infonnation]

CLIENT:              ww-trD2.proxy.aol.com(l 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: {6) (6)
EMAlL-ADDRESS:
ORGANIZATION:
RELATIONSHIP:
STREET-ADDRESS:          (6) (6)
                         ---------i
01Y:         Ventura
STA1E-PROvrnCE:     Ca
ZIP-CODE:     93004
~Q1.JNTR.Y;     l Sf}

[Message Information)

PURPOSE:              Ask a specific question regarding Administration policy
TOPIC:              Science or Technology
AFFILIATION:           Private Citizen
SUBJECT:             UFOs

[Message)
Dear Mr. President,
 It is my understanding that you, Mrs. Clinton, Vice-President
Gore and heads of Congress, including the CIA director,
members of the Senate and House, the Executive Branch and
senior military reps in the Pentagon were briefed in or around
December of 1997 by Dr. Steven Greer, International Director
of CSETI( The Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial
Intelligence). Basically, he calls on you and other members of

--- PAGE 54 ---
congress to hold open congressional meetings. What is your
positon and intent on this matter? Will you push for open
hearings or are you stonewalled as well by MJ-12? Certainly on
your 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,
(b) (6)

--- PAGE 55 ---
L:ATW:mti;,:U1998-494f


(bf (o)




 Dear lb) (o)

 The White House has requested NASA to respond to your May 17, 1998, letter l'"o ~:QC:: J ot.i:!41..:f-. ( ;;~
                                               . - ~ r-- .
                                                                                                              0
 concerning possible hearings on t1FQ!s.                      .      ,         (   f ')                         I)
                                 ~lll\,cl•Cl.f\+.v~ '"' .'' ''~ a lOJ <.?d-.,. u        ~
 We are not aware of any hearings scheduled on U£f)\ -t-.T-he-att-aeAed-fact"Sflea,"The
 US Government and Unidentified Flyin Objects," iv~          abrief history of NASA's
 investigations into UFd~. llo\t1e!~f.i    er                                    be:--.
 ge-vemment is curFently inve&tl~aling UFO's.

 We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust t is information will be helpful to you.

 Sincerely,



 Edward Heffernan
 (Acting) Associate Administrator
 for Legislative Affairs

 Enclosure

--- PAGE 56 ---
ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Sue J . Smith
       Director, Office of Agency Liaison
       Room 6, OEOB
       The White House
       Washington, DC 20502

--- PAGE 57 ---
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HAT S)
                         INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                               ID Number: U1998-00494

Title: Ward/White House Referral : UFO Hearings

R e cip ient:         A/Goldin

Author:               '.@.36)
Organization:         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 Due 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 6) (6)         who supports having 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:           UFO, hearings
File Plan:                                                                   Analyst: JMassey
06/18/1998                                                                                Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 58 ---
L
     6/17/98                                                                                                      Page   1
     15:54:01                CORRESPONDENCE ACTION STATUS HISTORY
                                      Correspondence and Action Tracking System
                                                          Code      A


      ID Number:                A98-01199
      Title:      WHR BULK: CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON UFO'S


    Recipient:                      Organization:                                 Date Written:              05/17/1998
   GOLDIN                           A                                             Date Received:             06/17/1998
                                                                                  Original Date Due:         07/15/1998
   *Other Recipients/ Organizations*:                                             >> Current Date Due:       07/15/1998 <<
                                                                                  Submitted for Signature:
                                                                                  Date Signed:
                                                                                 j Date Completed:
       Author:                   Organization:
  (6J (6)                        WHR BULK


  •other Authors I Organizations":




      Action Office:     L                                       Signature Office:       L
      Action Officer:   HEFFERNAN                                Signature Officer:      HEFFERNAN

     Status: Open                  Security:     Public          Priority:    Normal               In/Out:   Incoming
     Info Copies:
   A,P



    Abstract: WHR BULK: VIA E-MAIL, (6) (6)   , 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 G
   Ad Hoc:       A/1998-00461                                                Clerk:    vc

--- PAGE 59 ---
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
                         INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                               ID Number: A/1998-00461

 Title: WHR Bulk: Congressional Hearings on UFO's
 Recipient:             A/Goldin

 Author:
 Organization:          WHR Bulk                           Date Written:                05/17/1998
                                                           Date Received:               06/17/1998
                                                           Date Concurred:
                                                           Date Submitted:
                                                           Date Signed:
                                                           Date Closed:
 Action Office:         UHeffernan                         >>Current Due Date:          07/15/1998<<
                                                           Original Due Date:           07/15/1998
 St atus:               Open
 Signature Office:      U Heffernan

 Info Offices:          A/Goldin, P/WILHIDE


 Abstract:
 WHR Bulk: Via E-mail,(b) <6>ventura, CA, supports having congressional hearings regarding the existence
 of UFO's.

 Comments:



Enclosures:            None

Related Records:       A98-01199




Keywords: WHR Bulk California Congressional Hearings UFO's
File Plan: 1320-1 G                                                            Analyst: VCoates
06/17/1998                                                                                   Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 60 ---
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
                      INCOMINGI CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                            ID Number: U1998-00470

Title: WARD/Rep. Gordon re taxpayers money on space aliens.
Recipient:          UHeffernan

Author:             GORDON
Organization:       HOUSE                          Date Written:            06/04/1998
                                                   Date Received:           06/15/1998
                                                   Date Concurred:
                                                   Date Submitted:
                                                   Date Signed:             06/18/1998
                                                   Date Closed:             06/18/1998
Action Office:      L/Ward:S                       >>Current Due Date:      07/06/1998<<
                                                   Original Due Date:
Status:             Closed
Signature Office:   UHeffernan

Info Offices:       UHeffernan, L/Heninger, UKerwin, LO/Rothman


Abstract:
REP. GORDON WRITES ON BEHALF OF (6) (6)                  RE TAXPAYERS MONEY BEING
SPENT ON SPACE ALIENS.

Comments:



Enclosures:         YES LTR

Related Records:




Keywords: (b) (6) SPACE ALIENS TAXPAYERS MONEY, UFO
File Plan: 1320.4                                                    Analyst: BMoore
06/18/1998                                                                       Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 61 ---
J N I8




 L:ATW:mtg: U1998-470f


(o) (6)




 Deadb) (6)

 Congressman Bart Gordon has asked NASA to respond to your recent letter to him
 wherein you enclosed an article on Congress funding the search for extraterrestrials.

 Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects."
 As stated in the second paragraph of the Fact Sheet, Congress, in 1993, directed
 NASA to end its search program.

 Today the search for extraterrestrials is conducted through The Search for
 Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA.

 We appreciate your interest in this matter and trust this information will be useful
 to you.

 Sincerely,
          I.


          lYnn W.~He;in~ar
Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs

Enclosure

cc:
The Honorable Bart Gordon

ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Patton Lane@ Hill Office (2201 RHOB)

~ls\cei        ~

                Un i t (

--- PAGE 62 ---
I rll)(o))_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
                                                                 , ,•              ..
                                                      '(? PM • )
                                                                         I ' ·:1    ;

                                                       L •   '    •     --~ ✓




                                   III I, lll,11 ,I ,I, ..,II ,I, I, ,I.. I,, I, 111, ..,II 11, I11,1

--- PAGE 63 ---
~BAft'f GORDON                                                                             '201 AAVBURN BUILOING
                                                                                           WASHINGTON. DC 2051~206
 6TH DISTRICT. TENNESSEE                                                                         12021225-4231
                                                                                               FAX: 1202l 22S-6887
COMMERCE COMMITTEE
 SCIENCE COMMlffiE                                                                          106 SOUTli MAPLE STREET
                                                                                                  PO. BOX 1986
 RANK ING MEMBER                                                                            MURFREESBORO, TN'.31133
 SUSCOMMITitE dNSPACE                                                                             l615l89e-1986

                                       <trongress of tbe Wniteb ~tates                         FAX: {815) 896--8218


                                                                                           17 SOUlH JEFFEflSON STI\EET
                                            ~ouse of l\epresentatibes                             P.O. 8OX 1U0
                                                                                              COOKEVILLE. TN 38501
                                                                                                  1'93l J528-5907




                                                  June 4, 1998


              Ms . Mary D. Kerwin
              Deputy Associate Administrator For Legeslative Affairs
              National Aeronautics and Space Administration
              Two Independence Square, Room 9L33
              300 E St., SW
              Washington, D. C . 20546

              Dear Ms . Kerwin,
                           I am writing to you on behalf of my constituent , (6) (6)
            (6) (6)        , and have enclosed a copy of her inquiry . I would
             appreciate i t if you wou l d respond direct l y to my constituent, as
             well 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 l l if you n 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 f IL£ COPY
                           National Aeronautics and
                           Space Administration

                           NASA Head(1Jares
                           Public A f0. irs Offce
                           CcdeP
                           300 E Street SW
                           washington DC 2054 6


                                                                                      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 has 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. However, similar work will continue in a
                               more limited manner through efforts of private groups and through
                               academic institutions. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
                               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 missions, 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


1 of 3                                                                                                           06/16/ 1998 10:35 AM

--- PAGE 66 ---
.l'he US.dovemment 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 12,6 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 UFO 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: (1) no UFO reported,
                            investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our
                            national security; (2) 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 (3) 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 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 occurred
                            that would support 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 Air 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 ofaerial phenomena investigation.


                            UFO Points of Contact
                                1. For further information on the Search for Extraterrestrial
                                   Intelligence, please contact the SETI Institute, 2035 Landings
                                   Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415) 960-4530.

                               2. 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.

                               3. The Air Force publication, "The Roswell Report: Fact vs.


2 of3                                                                                                      06/16/ 1998 10:35 AM

--- PAGE 67 ---
l'hc US Clovemme n t and Unidentified Fly ing O bjects                      http://www.hq.nasa .gov/offi cc/pao/ facts/l lT M L/FS-O I ? - HQ.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.

                                   4. There are a number of universities and professional scientific
                                      organizations that have considered UFO phenomena during
                                      periodic meetings and seminars. A list ofprivate
                                      organizations interested in aerial phenomena may be found in
                                      Gale's Encyclopedia ofAssociations.

                                   5. 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.smith@hq.nasa.gov
             Web Designer: Pamela Sams
             Revised: February 14, 1997




3 of 3                                                                                                                     06/ 16/ 1998 10:35 AM

--- PAGE 68 ---
-

                L:A1W:mtg:U1998-470f


              (6} (6)




                Dear 'Cb) (6)

                Congressman Bart Gordon has asked NASA to respond to your recent letter to him
                wherein you enclosed an article on Congress funding the search for extraterrestrials.

                Enclosed is a fact sheet entitled "The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects."
 ~              ¥01:1 will Aete-.tAaHl'l the secenEI paragrc1~
                                                          -'1Ae Congress in 1993 directed NASA to end                            ~
 ~ ~           ·its-search t o r e ~                                         ,;       ~                         1-Js
                                                                                                                   . '\ \ \
<;,,Q_ ~            Today the search for extraterrestrials is conducted through The Search for                      \        .
 0 ~ -              Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA.                       X'.t.
 \i Q!. ~ - . . . )                                                       1                                               ' \J
  ~ ..J J\--e.      We appreciate your interest in this matter~~ ~ k v-:- 'f- f ~                                            1<:>_,,.
( ~< +          Sincerely,                                                                Is   1
                                                                                                   >-1} ~   •                     )'~
 ~~                                                                                                  ~ - ~~                             ~
         ,/                                                                                           ·v\.,~                            'f




               Edward Heffernan
                                                                                                                ~
                                                                                                                    ~~
               (Acting) Associate Administrator
               for Legislative Affairs

               Enclosure
                                                                                                                        ~
                                                                                                                                 ~9.
               cc:
               The Honorable Bart Gordon

--- PAGE 69 ---
.....




ecc:
S/Ruth Netting
LB/Barbara Cherry

Sent to Patton Lane @ Hill Office (2201 RHOS)

--- PAGE 70 ---
LA98-00106              Security : U        Type: I                    Written : 03/16/98
                                                                     Received: 04/23/98
          Name                            No.        Organization
  To:     GOLDIN                                1    ADMINISTRATOR
                                                0
                                                0

                                            43       WHR
                                                0
                                                0

                Action/Info: A                  Topics               !Keywords
         Due Date - Current:   05/28/98
        Due Date - Original:   05/28/98                               WHITE
            Suspense Status:   C                                      HOUSE
             Date Completed:   05/01/98                               CSETI
                                                                      HEARING
Action Office: L/S    WARD                                            PUBLIC
Info Copy: AI,EH,LH,MDK                                               UFO
Signature Office: HENINGER                                            EXTRATERRESTRIAL
      Enclosures: N                                                   EVIDENCE
           Clerk : JM
Interim Replies
   Dates:
Comments :
Response Progress :



Rel'd records: A98-00789
   File plans : 1320.4
                                                            Storage Location:
Summary of Contents:
WHITE HOUSE REFERRAL : (o) (B)  , 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 :                                          0
                                                0
                                                0

--- PAGE 71 ---
AY
L:ATW:mtg:LA98-106f


(6) (6)




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 UFO's and will give you other
points of contact you may wish to pursue.

We appreciate your interest in this matter.




Edward Heffernan
(Acting) Associate Administrator
for Legislative Affairs

Enclosure
This letter came to us via_the White House Bulk Mail

5lih1 cw;✓           113(
c#t                    ~-; /7 l
                             I


 5"/11w

--- PAGE 72 ---
4122/98                              Correspondence and Action Tracking System
 15:46:44
                                        CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                                                   Code A

   ID Number:             A98-00789
  Title:    WHR BULK: PUBLIC CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON EXTRATERRESTRIAL EVIDENCE


  Recipient:    GOLDIN                                                  Date Written:              03/16/1998
  Organization: A                                                       Date Received:             04/22/1998
  •other Recipients / Organizations•:                                   Original Date Due:         05/28/1998
                                                                        >> Current Date Due:       05/28/1998 <<
                                                                        Submitted for Signature:
                                                                        Date Signed:
  Author:
                ,(6\ (6)- - ,
                , '   '        I                                        j Date Completed:                       I
  Organization: WHR BULK
  •other Authors/ Organizations*:



                           /


Action Office: L                           Signature Office:    L                              Status: Open
Action Officer: HEFFERNAN                  Signature Officer:                                  In/Out: Incoming
  Info Copies:                                                                                 Priority: Nonnal
         A. AB,S, P


  *Responsible Office I Responsible Officer (Due Date)*:




                     6
Abstract: WHR BULK: ( ) (S)  _ ( MINNEAPOLIS, MN, & MEMBER OF CSETI, SUPPORTS OPEN
          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:




Ad Hoc:                                                             Clerk:     vc

--- 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: (o) (S)        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 1 of 1

--- 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 (S)       do) (6)           _J>
 Subject: Inbound-White_House_WWW_MAIL => PRESIDENT
 Apparently-to: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
 To: president@WhiteHouse.GOV
 Errors-t<?: The Postmaster <postmaster@www 1.whi~~e.gov>                             ~-
 Reply-to: (b) (6)     <(o) 6)           ~        ~\:i,VOftf;J .                  .-? •
 Message-id: <! 998031703 I 6. W AA! 4 !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.,.}..         c-'
Comments: This message scanned by SCAN version 0.1 jms/960226                                               -"!
                                                                                           r l....~-~ ~ j   .

[Connection Information]                                                                              ~1;J--
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

[Sender Information]

PERSONAL-NAME: (5) (6)
EMAIL-ADDRESS:
ORGANIZATION:     CSETI
RELATIONSHIP:    member._ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
STREET-ADDRESS: (b) (6)
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 Presidency, I want to let
you know and appreciate the work you have done as President




            A/1<11S--·a o 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 ofchanging 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 ofalien 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,


(o) (6)

--- PAGE 77 ---
..



     L:ATW: mtg:LA98-106f


     ) (6)
                                                   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 matter.

     Sincerely,



     Edward Heffernan
     (Acting) Associate Administrator
     for Legislative Affairs

     Enclosure

--- PAGE 78 ---
Headquarters Action T racking System (HATS)
                          INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                                ID Number: U1998-00415

                                        5 5
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
                                                            Date 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 (o) (6)   WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND
ABDUCTIONS.             ---------

Comments:
Helen spoke w/staffer referring him to Air Force; fwded fax sheet on UFOs.


Enclosures:            YES LTR

Related Records:




Keywords: (b) (6)   U.F.O. SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION
File Plan: 1320.4                                                            Analyst: BMoore
05/27/1998                                                                               Page 1 of 1

--- PAGE 79 ---
Date:   ~&1    /ji
                                      Time: c) '. os




             Phone#:- - - - - - -
             Fax#: !l~Ll - \9\/ '4,

From:            Helen Rothman
   Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
          Office of Legislative Affairs
            Voice#: (202) 358-1943
             Fax#: (202) 358-4343


Message: Gl\c.u )2 -      CAc::r'. ~         f   a-i,   ru," J
  Clf'<'\ V&6 ~




Number of Pages _ _ including cover

--- PAGE 80 ---
NASA Facts
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

NASA Headquarters
Public Affairs Office
Code P
300 E 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         could not be tenned "abnormal" in the space environment.
volved with or responsible for investigations into the possi­     The 1947 to 1969 USAF investigations studied UFO's un­
bility ofalien life on other planets or for investigating Uni­    derProject Blue Book. The project, headquartered atWright­
dentifiedFlyingObjects (UFO's). The US Air Force (USAF)           Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was terminated December
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration             17, 1969. Ofthe total of12,618 sightings reported to Project
(NASA) have had intennittent, independent investigations          Blue Book, 701 remain "unidentified."
ofthe possibility ofalien life onother planets; however, none
of these has produced factual evidence that life exists on        The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based
other planets, nor that UFO's are related to aliens. From         on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of
1947 to 1969, the Air Force investigated UFO's; then in1977,      Colorado entitled, "Scientific Study ofUnidentified Flying
NASA was asked to examine the possibility of resuming             Objects;" a review ofthe University of Colorado's report by
UFO investigations. After studying all of the facts avail­        the National Academy of Sciences; previous UFO studies;
able, it was determined that nothing would be gained by           and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports during
further investigation, since there was an absence oftangiole      the 1940's, '50's and '60's. As a result ofexperience, inves­
evidence.                                                         tigations, and studies since 1948, the conclusions ofProject
                                                                  Blue Book were: (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and
In October 1992, NASA was directed by Congress to begin           evaluated by the Air Force was ever a threat to our national
a detailed search for artificial radio signals from other civi­   security; (2) there was no evidence submitted to, or discov­
lizations under the NASA Towards Other Planetary Systems          ered by, the Air Force that sightings categorized as "uniden­
(TOPS)/High Resolution Microwave Swvey (HR.MS) pro­               tified" represented technological developments orprinciples
gram (also known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelli­      beyond the range of modem scientific knowledge; and (3)
gence project). Congress directed NASA to end this project        there was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized
in October 1993, citing pressures on the US Federal budget        as "unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.
The HRMS did not detect any confmned signal before it
was stopped. However, similar work will continue in a more        With the termination ofProject Blue Book, the USAF regu­
limited manner through efforts ofprivate groups and through       lation establishing and controlling the program for investi­
academic institutions. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intel­     gating and analyzing UFO's was rescinded. Documentation
ligence Institute (SETI Institute) in Mountain View, CA,          regarding the former Project Blue Book investigation was
effectively replaced the Government project, borrowing the        permanently transferred to the Modem Military Branch,
signal processing system from NASA: The SETI Institute            National Archives and Records Service, in Washington, DC
is a nonprofit corporation conducting research in a number        20408, and is available for public review and analysis.
offields including all science and technology aspects of as­
tronomy and planetary sciences, chemical evolution, the ori­      Since the termination ofProject Blue Book, nothing has oc­
gin of life, biological evolution, and cultural evolution.        cwred that would support a resumption of UFO investiga­
                                                                  tions by the USAF or NASA. Given the cwrent environ­
During several space missions, NASA astronauts have re­           ment of steadily decreasing defense and space budgets, it is
ported phenomena not immediately explainable; however,            unlikely that the Air Force or NASA will become involved
in every instance NASA determined that the observations           in this type of costly project in the foreseeable future.

--- PAGE 81 ---
Since neither NASA nor the Air Force is engaged in day-to­              available from: Modem Military Branch, National Ar­
day UFO research, neither one reviews UFO-related articles              chives and Records Service, Eighth Street and Pennsyl­
intended for publication, evaluates UFO-type spacecraft                 vania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408.
drawings, or accepts accounts of UFO sightings or applica­
tions for employment in the field ofaerial phenomena inves­       3. The Air Force publication, "The Roswell Report: Fact
tigation.                                                            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
UFO Points of Contact                                                the US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of
                                                                     Docwnents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-
1. For further infonnation on the Search for Extraterrestrial        9328.
   Intelligence, please contact the SETI I~itute, 2035 Land­
   ings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415) 960-4530.           4. There are a nwnber of universities and professional sci­
                                                                     entific organizations that have considered UFO phenom­
2. News media requiring Project Blue Book files should con­          ena during periodic meetings and seminars. A list ofpri­
   tact the National Archives Public Affairs Office, (202) 501-      vate Oiganizations interested in aerial phenomena may be
   5525. Public queries should be addressed to the Project           found in Gale's Encyclopedia ofAssociations.
   Blue Book archivist at (202) 501-5385. For queries not
   related to Project Blue Book, contact the National Ar­             5. Persons wishing to report UFO sightings are advised to
   chives receptionist at (202) 501-5400. Documentation is               contact law enforcement agencies.




                                                                  2

--- PAGE 82 ---
< CONFIRMATION REPORT>                                05-27-1998(WED) 13:57




[     TRAN S M I T         J


     NO.    DATE   TIME        DESTINATION    PG .   DURATION   MODE      RESULT

    18529   5-27   13:55       202 224 1946      3   0°01'31"   NORM .E   OK
                                                 3   0°01'31"

--- PAGE 83 ---
< CONFIRMATION REPORT >                                05-27- 1998(WEO) 13 : 57




[     TRANS M I T          J

     NO .   DATE   TIME        DEST! NAT ION   PG.   DURATION     MODE       RESULT

    18529   5-27   13:55       202 224 1946      3   0°01 '31"    NORM . E   OK
                                                 3   0° 01 '31"

--- PAGE 84 ---
COMMITTEES:
    OLVMPIA J SNOWE
                MAINE                                                                                                                                    ARMED SERVI CES
    CoUNSEL TO THE AsSIS'l"ANT                                                                                                                                BUDGET
           MAJOftllY l.EAoEA
250 RUSSELL SENATE Orn« BUILDING
                                                                                                                                                  COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND
            (202) 224-5344                                                                                                                              TRANSPORTATION
                                                                                                                                                            CHAIR OF
                                                                                                                                                       OCEANS AND FISHERIES
                                                                       WASHINGTON, DC 20510-1903                                                          SUBCOMMITTEE

                                                                           May 13, 1998                                                                  SMALL BUSINESS




                 Mr. Lawrence E. Medway
                 Director, Congressional Inquiries Division
                 National Aeronautic and Space Administration
                 300 E. Street, SW
                 Washington, D.C. 20546

                 Dear Mr. Medway:
                                                                                                                               5
                 I am writing to you regarding the concerns of my constituent, ( ) (S)                                                                              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 FALLS P1.AlA         68 SEWALL STREET, SUITE 101C   ONE CuM8EALA.NO PLACE, SUnE 306   231 M AIN STReer, SUITE 2   3 CANAL Pl.A2A, Sum, 601     169 ACAOcMY STREET, Sum 3
Surre 78                       AVGUSTA, ME 04330              BANGOR, ME 04401                  810DE.FORD, ME 04005        P.O. Sox 188                 Pa£SOUE ISt.E, ME 04769
Au8UAN, ME 04210               (207) 622-8292                 (207) 945-0432                    (207) 282-4144              PORTI.AND, ME 04112          (207) 764-5124
1207) 786-2451                                                                                                              (207) 874--0883
                                                                                                                            MAINE RElAY SERVICE
                                                                                                                            TOO 1- 955--3323

   IN MAINE CALL TOLL-FREE 1- 800-432- 1599                                                                                                            PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

--- PAGE 85 ---
i-;J 7953        (r'l ?C{

~                                                               APR O1 1998
FEBUARY 22 1998                             TIME- 9:11 am
Dear Senitor Olyimpia Snow,
My name is <6H6>                  I'm from Portland, Maine. I'm 12 years
old. (6) (6) __ __ __                  . I heard about the fredom of
information act. I would be so grateful 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:
1. LAS LUNAS, NEW MEXICO LATE JUNE1977 11 :30A.M.
2. SHIROYAMA, KAWANOE CITY JAPAN FEB/2/ 75 16:00 MILITARY TIME
3. WAIKIKI BEACH, HONOLULU, HAWAII MARCH/1 5/93 12:00 P.M.
4. COLFAX, WISCONSIN APRIU1 9/ 78 13:30 MILITARY TIME
5. DENVER, COLARODO MAY/1991 AFTERNOON
6. BARCELONA, SPAIN JUNE/1978 SUNDOWN
7. MONTEMORELOS, NUEVA LEON, MEXICO SUMMER OF 1994 AFTERNOON
8. VANCOUVER, B.C. CANADA OCTOBER/17/1992
9. GULF BREEZ, FLORADA SEPTEMBER/24/1994 18:50 MILITARY TIME
10. ZACATELCO, TLAXCALA, MEXICO OCTOBER/ 31 /199 1
11. VIBORG, JUTLAND, DENMARK NOVEMBER/17/74 9:00 A.M.
12. COCOYOC, MORELOS, MEXICO NOVEMBER/3/73 9:00 A.M.
13. BELJUM MIDNIGHT
14. MT. KIDTARDIN, MAINE MIDNIGHT 3 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 M.J.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 pitition 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,
                                        (6) (6")~--~ - - - - -



                                 P.S.
I'm including my address, phone number, and P.O. box.


                                                                     APR O7 1998 1
                                                                                 t

--- PAGE 86 ---
Headquarters Action Tracking System (HATS)
                          INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE ACTION
                                ID Number: L/1998-00415

Title: ROTHMAN/Sen Snowe fwds ltr from (o) (5)
U.F.O.'s sightings and abductions
                                                     ------- who's interested in
Recipient:              UHeffernan

Author:                 SNOWE
Organization:           SENATE                            Date Written:            05/13/1998
                                                          Date Received :          05/27/ 1998
                                                          Date Concurred:
                                                          Date Submitted:
                                                          Date Signed:
                                                          Date Closed:
Action Office:          LD/Rothman:P                      >>Current Due Date:      06/17/1998<<
                                                          Origi nal Due Date:
Status:                 Open
Signature Office :      UHeffernan

Info Offices :          UHeffernan , UHeninger, UKerwin


Abstract:
SEN SNOWE FWDS LTR FROM (6f{SJ                    WHO'S INTERESTED IN UFO'S SIGHTINGS AND
ABDUCTIONS.

Comments:




Enclosures:             YES LTR

Related Records:




Keywords : (b) (6)   U.F.O. SIGHTINGS ABDUCTION
File Plan:                                                                  Analyst: BMoore
05/27/1998                                                                              Page 1 of 1