Newly released Department of Defense records reveal the prolonged and often frustrating prepublication review process for the 2021 book Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insider’s Account of the Secret Government UFO Program by James Lacatski, Colm Kelleher, and George Knapp. The documents, obtained by The Black Vault under FOIA case 22-F-0035, detail how the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR) took more than a year to complete its review, despite what appears to be no substantive objections from the reviewing agencies. The records show the manuscript, originally submitted in March 2020, was routed to multiple agencies including the…
Author: John Greenewald
Newly released Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents obtained by The Black Vault under FOIA case 2025-04622 add significant new information to the still-developing story about a series of unauthorized drone incursions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) in December 2024. These records, drawn primarily from the FAA’s SKYWATCH system, supplement the earlier Air Force FOIA release (2025-01757-F) previously covered by The Black Vault, and they introduce a striking new element: the report of a “black cube”-shaped “UAS” observed at around 16,000 feet. SKYWATCH is an FAA operations security platform used to collect and disseminate reports of suspicious or unauthorized aerial…
Background The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the…
The Department of Defense (DOD) has released, in full, the exact text of the “Verbal Legal Advisement” presented to UFO whistleblower David Grusch and likely other witnesses during All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) interviews. The release, under FOIA case 24-F-1138 filed by The Black Vault in April 2024, answers questions raised in previous disclosures and sheds new light on how AARO sought to address concerns about security, legal liability, and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) for witnesses providing classified UAP-related testimony. In 2023 and 2024, AARO made numerous documented attempts to interview David Grusch regarding his claims of government involvement with and…
A released Department of Defense document, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, provides a rare and candid look inside the Soviet leadership’s strategic mindset during the Cold War. The 152-page file compiles firsthand interviews with senior Soviet military officials, policymakers, and Western counterparts, exposing a mix of overestimation, fear, and internal debate that shaped the era’s arms race and nuclear brinkmanship. Conducted primarily in the early 1990s, the interviews were part of a formal study by the Office of Net Assessment, drawing on the testimony of Soviet officers such as Marshal Sergei Akhromeev, General Andriian Danilevich, and Western figures…