In March 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) published publicly its Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) – Volume I. Buried on page 32 was this passage: The language was clear. Not only did the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) meet with aerospace company officials, but those executives gave formal, on-the-record denials that their firms were involved in alleged crash retrieval or reverse-engineering programs involving “extraterrestrial craft”. Following this admission, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed by The Black Vault seeking the release of those very statements. The request…
Author: John Greenewald
In September 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with NASA seeking records of congressional briefings on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The request asked for both classified and unclassified materials created between 2021 and 2024, including any briefings on discoveries made by the telescope. The request filed by The Black Vault was prompted by a wave of speculation online that suggested NASA had secretly briefed lawmakers on groundbreaking discoveries made by JWST. In mid-September 2024, a YouTube video and subsequent social media posts claimed the telescope had detected a mysterious object moving toward Earth, sparking…
Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black Vault. This comprehensive collection provides a unique lens into the lives and activities of various prominent individuals and groups that have played significant roles in shaping history. These files offer a rare glimpse into the FBI’s surveillance, investigation, and documentation of notable personalities and organizations, revealing the intricate ways they interacted with or were perceived by the U.S. government. From influential political leaders and activists to groundbreaking cultural figures, these documents span a wide spectrum of history and provide an invaluable resource for understanding the…
A new release of Department of Defense (DoD) emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) sheds light on internal debates about the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), its scope, and how its work is presented to the public. The documents, released under case number 24-F-0894, were obtained by The Black Vault following a request for correspondence involving Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough containing the terms “AARO” or “Phillips” between February 1 and March 7, 2024. The request yielded 14 pages of emails, many redacted, that offer a rare glimpse into how the Pentagon handled the rollout of AARO’s congressionally…
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…