NASA Aeronautics and Space Database Search Results: UFOs, 1960-Present

This document is a compilation of records from the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UFOs/UAP) from 1960 to the early 2000s. It includes a series of result set records for various technical papers, journal articles, and conference proceedings that mention UFOs, often in the context of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), satellite communications, or atmospheric phenomena. A significant portion of the document consists of correspondence between the Executive Office of the President (specifically Frank Press, Science Advisor to President Jimmy Carter) and NASA (specifically Administrator Robert A. Frosch) in 1977. This correspondence reveals that the White House requested NASA to become the focal point for UFO inquiries and to consider forming a panel of inquiry to review the status of UFO research. NASA, after internal deliberation involving figures such as Noel Hinners and Richard C. Henry, ultimately declined to establish a formal UFO research program. The agency's official position, as articulated in letters and information sheets, was that it had no tangible or physical evidence to warrant a scientific investigation and that it would continue to handle public inquiries via form letters. The document also includes an invited essay by Richard C. Henry titled 'UFOs and NASA,' which provides an insider's perspective on the internal NASA decision-making process during the Carter administration, detailing the resistance within the agency to taking on the 'hot potato' of UFO research. The compilation concludes with various appendices containing the actual memoranda and letters exchanged during this period, illustrating the bureaucratic handling of the request.