20060483F 001 003 2023
AI Summary
This document is a FOIA response from NASA regarding UFO investigations, stating that no government agency is currently responsible for investigating UFOs due to a lack of evidence supporting the existence of alien life or connections to UFOs. It outlines the history of UFO investigations by the USAF and NASA, including Project Blue Book, and provides contact information for further inquiries.
Key Findings
- No government agency currently investigates UFOs. - Previous investigations by the USAF and NASA found no evidence of alien life or threats to national security. - Project Blue Book concluded with 701 unidentified sightings but was terminated in 1969. - The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project was ended due to budget constraints. - Documentation related to UFO investigations is available at the National Archives.
OCR Text
FOIA Number: 2006-0483-F FOIA MAR This is not a textual record. This is used as an administrative marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff. Collection/Record Group: Clinton Presidential Records Subgroup/Office of Origin: Agency Liaison Series/Staff Member: Subseries: OA/1D Number: Folder ID: Folder Title: [Stephen Greer] Stack: M 7877 Row: Section: Shelf: Position: Reply to Attn of: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters Washington, DC 20546-0001 p Steven M. Greer, M.D. P.O. Box 15401 Asheville, NC 28813 Dear Dr. Greer: FILE July 17, 1996 Thank you for your letter of May 23, 1996, to President Clinton regarding UFO's which was referred to NASA for reply. No Government agency is currently responsible for investigating UFO's because there is no factual evidence that alien life exists on other planets or that UFO's are related to aliens. I am enclosing our fact sheet explaining the history of Government activity in UFO investigation. It includes sources you may contact for further information. I hope the contacts listed on the fact sheet are of use in your investigation of the subject. Sincerely, Laurie Soeder Associate Administrator for Public Affairs Enclosure NASA Facts National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20546 (202) 358-1600 FS- 1996-02-017-HQ For Release February 1996 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 1947 to 1969, the Air Force investigated UFO's; then in 1977, NASA was asked to examine the possibility of resuming UFO investigations_ After studying all of the facts 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 confinned signal before it was stopP,ed. 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. -MORE- REPRODUCED AT GOVT. EXPENSE The project. headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was terminated December 17, 1969. Of the total of 12,618 sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remain "unidentified." The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;" a review of the University of Colorado's report by the National Acaciemy 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 modern scientific lmowledge; 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 …
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- NARA
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