The FBI has released a detailed set of investigative files on the so-called “Jetpack Man” sightings near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The release on October 1, 2025, followed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by The Black Vault first filed August 3, 2021 and resubmitted November 27, 2021 after an initial denial. The Bureau originally withheld all the records under FOIA exemption (b)(7)(A) for ongoing investigations but reversed its position with the second request after nearly four years. When the sightings first made headlines in 2020 and 2021, they were widely portrayed as encounters with a person flying…
Author: John Greenewald
The Department of Defense (DoD) has denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records connected to the review, redaction, and release of a UAP video published by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) earlier this year. The request, filed May 19, 2025, sought internal communications, review logs, classification guidance, legal opinions, and technical documentation tied to the public posting of the video titled “Middle East 2024.” The video, showing more than six minutes of infrared footage from a U.S. military platform, was released in May 2025 and remains unresolved by AARO. The DoD confirmed that responsive documents exist,…
Newly obtained Secret Service records continue to shed light on the numerous biting incidents involving President Biden’s German Shepherds, Major and Commander. Through a sequence of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) releases. First in February 2024, then unexpectedly again in February 2025, and finally through a September 2025 appeal; the Black Vault has now pieced together a fuller picture of the scope and seriousness of these episodes. The process itself is highly unusual. The February 2024 release was framed by the Secret Service as a “final” response to the case. Yet, one year later, the agency issued another “final” release…
The Department of Defense (DoD) has released a set of heavily redacted emails in response to a FOIA request seeking records that would explain why AARO and UAP materials are now being largely withheld under FOIA Exemption (b)(7). This exemption is intended for “law enforcement” records, raising questions about how it applies to AARO, which is not a law enforcement body. The release was supposed to show the internal decision-making behind this new practice. Instead, nearly all substance was withheld, and more than 95%+ of the content is either blacked out or withheld in full. The result is another chapter…
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response has raised new questions about a widely circulated Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article that described a Department of Defense (DoD) effort known as “Yankee Blue.” According to the WSJ, the Pentagon ordered an immediate halt to a practice in which military officers misled subordinates into believing they were working on reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology. But when pressed for the underlying documentation, the Pentagon now says no such memo exists. In September 2025, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) issued a final response to FOIA case 25-F-3514, denying the existence of records related…