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

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The US Government and Unidentified Flying Objects
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NASA Facts fIL£ 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 ofthe United States Government is currently involved
with or responsible for investigations into the possibility ofalien 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 ofthe possibility ofalien 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 ofthe 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 ofprivate 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 offields including all science and
technology aspects ofastronomy and planetary sciences, chemical
evolution, the origin oflife, 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 194 7 to 1969 USAF
investigations studied UFO's under Project Blue Book. The project,
headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was
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