The CIA’s “Family Jewels” is a compilation of documents that expose a series of controversial and often illicit activities conducted by the agency from the 1950s to the 1970s. First released to the public in 2007, this 702-page dossier reveals the depths of the CIA’s covert operations, which included assassination plots, illegal surveillance, and experiments on unwitting subjects. Origins and Release The Family Jewels documents were originally compiled in response to a 1973 request by then-CIA Director James Schlesinger, who wanted to know if there were any agency operations that might be considered illegal or improper. This internal investigation was…
Author: John Greenewald
Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered a new planet that lies between the sizes of Earth and Venus, located only 40 light-years away. This intriguing find, named Gliese 12 b, presents a promising candidate for further study using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. TESS, which observes large sections of the sky for about a month at a time, tracks the brightness of tens of thousands of stars, aiming to capture transits—brief, regular dimmings caused by orbiting planets. This mission’s primary goal is to identify these transits and learn more about the exoplanets that cause them. “We’ve…
On December 21, 1964, Horace Burns, a gunsmith from Harrisonburg, Virginia, reported an extraordinary sighting of a UFO. While driving along Route 250 near Staunton, Virginia, Burns witnessed an object he described as being 80 to 90 feet high and 125 feet in diameter. This object, according to Burns, landed about 100 yards from the highway, emitted a fluorescent light, and was shaped like a beehive. Burns detailed that as the UFO crossed the road ahead of his vehicle, his car’s engine stalled, and it came to an unnatural stop. The UFO allegedly rested in a meadow for 60 to…
A parasite aircraft is a smaller, secondary aircraft that is designed to be carried and launched by a larger host aircraft, known as the mothership. This concept has been explored and utilized in various military and experimental aviation projects. The main purpose of a parasite aircraft is to extend the operational range, capabilities, and versatility of the host aircraft. Below, you will find related documents and programs. B-36 Peacemaker Parasite Aircraft System The B-36 Parasite Aircraft System was an innovative military aviation project developed during the Cold War era, involving the integration of smaller, secondary aircraft (parasites) with a larger…
Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) originally filed in June 2021, The Black Vault has just obtained the official release of an email chain involving Luis Elizondo, the alleged former head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), and Neill Tipton, a defense official who previously worked as the Director of Defense Intelligence, Collection and Special Programs. A portion of these emails was initially published by Popular Mechanics in 2020, then later seen as part of a Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General (IG) complaint submitted by Elizondo in 2021, then later published by the NY Post…