NASA ordered the destruction of hundreds of mysterious tape reels and a pair of Apollo-era Nasa computers dating from the height of the Space Race, it has emerged.

The space agency said the items were of no historical value, but this is unlikely to convince conspiracy theorists who will inevitably claim the incident is some sort of cover-up.

4 Nasa's Cassini is diving in the little-known region between Saturn's rings but tapes of a flyby mission near the planet from the 1970s will never be recovered Credit: NASA

Most of the files and computers were unmarked but several appear to be linked to Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 - Nasa's missions to Jupiter and Saturn during the era of the Apollo moon landings.

A scrap dealer discovered the files in the basement of a dead IBM engineer who worked for Nasa during the 60s and 70s.

"Please tell Nasa these items were not stolen," the engineer's heir told the scrap dealer in 2015, according to official files.

"They belonged to IBM Allegheny Center Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

"During the 1968-1972 timeframe, IBM was getting rid of the items so [the engineer, whose name has been redacated] asked if he could have them and was told he could have them."

Nasa workers came to inspect the files and found the majority of the magnetic tapes dated from between 1967 and 1974.

But they told the family that they would have to remove the computers themselves as they "had no use for them", according to FOI documents seen by Ars Technica.

The report reveals how an official ordered that all the tapes be destroyed.

“There is no evidence that suggests this material is historically significant... I recommend disposal through the immediate destruction of all magnetic tapes," they recommended.

4 The files relate to missions to Saturn and Jupiter, pictured her with its four largest planet-sized moons in 1979 Credit: Exclusivepix Media

The revelations are certain to get alien hunters excited.

Some may question why the engineer cared so much about the files (which are so heavy they would have needed a crane to winch them out of the basement) if they were of little significance.

Further, one of the two computers were labelled with a contract number of which there is no record in the US government.

4 More recent Nasa photos shows the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa Credit: Getty Images

4 Nasa is currently monitoring Jupiter using a space probe called Juno Credit: PA:Press Association

"CONTRACT NO. NAS5-2154," simply does not appear to exist.

These particular Jupiter and Saturn files from the 70s may be gone.

But there is plenty more data to be explored thanks to recent Nasa missions.

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The space agency is monitoring Jupiter with the help of its plucky space probe Juno, which is currently dipping in between its stormy atmosphere.

A craft called Cassini is also currently diving in-between Saturn's mysterious rings.

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