Carter request and NASA's UFO decision (1977)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
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| Date | 13 December 1977 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic) |
| People | Jimmy Carter, Frank Press, Robert Frosch |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 82 |
| Year | 1977 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1977 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 4 |
In 1977 President Jimmy Carter's science adviser, Frank Press, asked NASA whether it should open a new investigation of UFOs. After months of internal debate, NASA Administrator Robert Frosch declined in December 1977. Testimony later claimed that a NASA safety official wrote that month that a possible UFO fragment had been studied at Los Alamos, a claim that has not been confirmed.[1][2]
The request
In mid-1977 Press, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote to Frosch suggesting that NASA handle UFO correspondence from the public and consider whether it should set up a small research effort. Carter had himself reported seeing a UFO in 1969.[1][2]
NASA's decision
NASA leaders, including Frosch and space science chief Noel Hinners, were reluctant. Internal correspondence shows officials worried about hoaxes, cost and damage to the agency's reputation; one line described a formal study as "fraught with perils". In a reply dated 21 December 1977, Frosch declined to set up a research program or hold a symposium, saying there was no tangible physical evidence for laboratory analysis and no sound scientific procedure for investigating the subject, though NASA would examine any genuine physical evidence from credible sources. Astrophysicist Richard Henry, then at NASA, later wrote that he could not fully explain how the decision had been reached.[1][2][3]
The Los Alamos claim
Testimony on UAP history says a NASA safety official wrote in December 1977 that a possible UFO fragment had been studied at Los Alamos National Laboratory. That memo has not been found in the published NASA records, so the claim cannot be confirmed.[1][3]
People and topics
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- NASA — The U.S. civilian space agency, created in 1958.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — The New Mexico laboratory where the atomic bomb was designed.
- Jimmy Carter — 39th U.S. president, who reported a UFO sighting and asked NASA about UFO research.
- Frank Press — President Carter's science adviser.
- Robert Frosch — NASA administrator who declined to start a UFO program in 1977.
- Freedom of Information Act — The 1966 U.S. law that lets the public request government records.
- The Black Vault — John Greenewald's online archive of government documents.
On the Timeline
- Mario Woods incident at Ellsworth AFB (1977) (November 1977) — An Ellsworth AFB security airman says a UAP answered his spotlight signals.
- Project Windfall claim (1978) — John Keel says the CIA ran Project Windfall, an investigation of UAP contactees.
See every 1977 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- NASA correspondence on UFOs (1977), Department of Defense FOIA Reading Room · esd.whs.mil · archived copy
- David Clarke, "'Fraught with perils'", Substack · drclarke.substack.com · archived copy
- "NASA information sheet on UFOs, 1978", The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- documents.theblackvault.com · documents.theblackvault.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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