Just days after former President Donald Trump publicly stated that he wanted to order the release of UFO and UAP-related files, the U.S. Navy formally denied an appeal seeking the release of 78 photographs designated as “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP). The decision, dated February 24, 2026, upholds a prior full denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by The Black Vault in September 2022 under case number DON-NAVY-2022-012661. The appeal was assigned tracking number 2026-NavyAppeal-000123. The original request sought “all photographs with the designation of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena or ‘UAP’ as archived by the U.S. Navy.” In…
Author: John Greenewald
The Central Intelligence Agency has completed a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Black Vault in August 2013, releasing records in April 2025 under case F-2013-02345, nearly twelve years after the request was submitted. (The Black Vault has a large backlog of documents that have yet to be put online, hence the delay in getting this document published). The records consist of the CIA’s June 27, 2013, response to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) regarding the Committee’s Study of the Agency’s former Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation (RDI) Program. A previous version of this same document was…
A recent Freedom of Information Act response issued by the Department of War raises significant questions about the government’s obligations under FOIA, after officials declined to conduct even a basic email search tied to allegations surrounding the so-called “Immaculate Constellation” program. The request, filed by The Black Vault and assigned case number 25-F-3827, sought a search of emails sent to or from Maj. Gen. Derek J. O’Malley, Director of Special Programs and Director of the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office, for communications containing the phrase “Immaculate Constellation.” The request explicitly asked for both classified and unclassified records.…
Newly released records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show which journalists were privately invited to an embargoed, invite-only Pentagon media roundtable on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) held on March 6, 2024. This event tied to the Department of Defense’s first volume of the congressionally mandated Historical Record Report on U.S. government UAP programs. The responsive document, released under FOIA case number 24-F-0895, consists of the email invitation sent by Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough to a limited list of media recipients, outlining the terms, restrictions, and conditions for participation in the briefing with Acting All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)…
Human Subjects Research, commonly abbreviated as HSR, refers to scientific studies that involve data obtained directly from living individuals. Such research can include physical interventions, behavioral testing, biometric data collection, or the analysis of large datasets derived from human activity. Within the Department of Energy, HSR is governed by a framework of ethical, legal, and oversight requirements designed to protect individual rights while allowing research deemed necessary for national security or scientific advancement. A newly released Department of Energy document sheds fresh light on a subset of this research that remains classified in whole or in part. The release, obtained…