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

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