One FBI report dated June 11, 1984 states:

“At approximately 1:55 a.m., April 20, 1984, an improvised explosive device detonated in the reception area of Building 101, the Officers’ Club, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.”

The same report notes:

“The building was unoccupied at the time, and there were no injuries.”

The investigation was opened under federal jurisdiction due to the use of an explosive device and the possibility of involvement by “terrorist or revolutionary groups.”

Claims of Responsibility

The file documents multiple communications claiming responsibility for the bombing. According to FBI reporting:

“Shortly after the blast, two calls were received; one each at the Washington Post newspaper and the United Press International which claimed responsibility for the bombing.”

One call relayed a recorded message:

“The caller stated that there had been a bombing at the Washington Navy Yard… in support of independence for Puerto Rico… [and]that the FALN was claiming responsibility.”

A separate message referenced a different group:

“The tape recorded message stated something to the effect that the Guerrilla Resistance Movement… bombed the Washington Navy Yard… against United States imperialism in the Caribbean and Central America.”

Mailed Communiqués

The FBI file includes extensive documentation of letters believed to be associated with the group “Red Guerrilla Resistance.” These letters were mailed to various organizations and media outlets and often traced back to the same return address.

An April 30, 1984 interview states:

“She received… pieces of mail, believed to be RED GUERRILLA RESISTANCE communiques, claiming responsibility for the bombing of the WASHINGTON NAVY YARD (WNY) Officers’ Club on April 20, 1984.”

Multiple envelopes were sent to organizations including media outlets and advocacy groups, with a recurring return address:

“840 Barnaby Street, S.E., Apartment #23, Washington, D.C. 20032.”

However, the file notes a key inconsistency:

“There is no apartment #23 at 840 Barnaby Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.”

Additional records show repeated receipt of returned mail bearing the same address, reinforcing its use across multiple communications.

Witness Interviews and Leads

The file contains numerous witness interviews from employees and patrons present at the Officers’ Club prior to the bombing. These include descriptions of unidentified individuals (“Unsubs”) and composite sketches generated during the investigation.

One interview describes a suspicious individual observed the night before the explosion:

“This individual seemed to be deep in thought, gave the appearance of being unfriendly and appeared as though he might be waiting for someone else to arrive.”

Despite these efforts, the investigation encountered significant limitations. A summary states:

“Completed leads to date have met with very limited success and have not identified the perpetrators of the bombing.”

Investigative Scope and Coordination

The case involved coordination between multiple agencies, including:

“The Metropolitan Police Department, United States Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Naval District of Washington Police.”

The FBI also worked jointly with the Naval Investigative Service (NIS), issuing a unified report to avoid duplication of investigative efforts.

Status Reflected in the File

The documents indicate that, at the time of reporting, the case remained unresolved. The identity of those responsible for the bombing was not determined within the materials released, and investigative leads had not produced definitive results.

Redactions are present throughout the file, particularly in names, identifying details, and portions of investigative analysis, limiting full visibility into certain aspects of the case.

The full release can be seen below.

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FBI Released Files [190 Pages, 15.1MB]

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The post Newly Released FBI File Details 1984 Washington Navy Yard Bombing Investigation first appeared on The Black Vault.

In an unprecedented revelation, The Black Vault was the first to report that the Department of Defense (DoD) had destroyed Elizondo’s emails, a move that surprised many and intensified the scrutiny surrounding the government’s handling of this sensitive subject. It also hindered efforts to verify many of Elizondo’s claims, with the use of what would likely reside in these emails. Therefore, this presented a significant barrier to the standard Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process while investigating his claims.

Yet, where one door closed, another opened.

Recognizing that communication is a two-way process, The Black Vault initiated a strategic approach. By targeting FOIA requests on the email archives of DoD personnel who had likely corresponded with Elizondo, it was possible to indirectly recover portions of Elizondo’s email exchanges. This indirect method, albeit unorthodox, proved to be a way to shed light on conversations that would have otherwise remained obscured.

The archive below, which is still being added to due to the fact that numerous FOIA requests are still open, is a collection of emails offering a glimpse into the world of Luis Elizondo and his interactions within the Department of Defense. In addition, it also logs those that may have communicated with Elizondo, but according to the FOIA final response, ‘no records’ were found. That is archived here as the inability to find records can be used to fact check claims in the past made.

Document Archive

Records Released Archive:

Name Withheld [10 Pages, 1MB] – The Black Vault has opted to keep the identity of this particular person anonymous. The name, discovered by The Black Vault, was one that the DoD aimed to not reveal in the FOIA release, and the DoD opted to remove the name in their FOIA case logs that referenced The Black Vault’s request. As a courtesy, and in the interest in privacy, the name is withheld. However, the documents are here for research and reference. This person was likely a subordinate who, as you can see from the emails, did various tasks for Elizondo. Notably, this was the person that got DOPSR’s email address that Elizondo utilized to coordinate a review of the FLIR, Gimbal and GoFast videos for use in an internal DoD database.

Marcel Lettre [3 Pages, 1MB] – Marcel Lettre served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) from December 2015 to January 2017. In this role, he was the principal intelligence advisor to the Secretary of Defense. Lettre’s tenure at the DoD intersected with the time frame during which Luis Elizondo claims he was involved with the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Given the overlapping periods of their service, a request was filed for communications.

McKernan, Brennan [28 Pages, 0.8MB] – Brennan McKernan is a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who served as director of the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the unit responsible for collecting and analyzing military UFO/UAP sightings prior to its replacement by newer offices like AARO. The request, filed by The Black Vault in June of 2021, asked for all communications between McKernan and Elizondo for all dates available.

“No Records” or Other Records Destroyed Archive:

James Clapper [3 Pages, 1MB] – James Clapper served as the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from 2010 to 2017, overseeing the country’s 17 intelligence agencies. Before his tenure as DNI, Clapper held various key positions within the U.S. intelligence community, including the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 1992 to 1995 and the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence from 2007 to 2010. During Clapper’s time in the Department of Defense (DoD), particularly his stint as the Undersecretary, Luis Elizondo was also affiliated with the DoD, so their paths in the sprawling DoD apparatus may have intersected. A FOIA request which had combined a few names did not yield communications between Elizondo and Clapper. However, above, you will see the release relating to Marcel Lettre, which was in the same combined request as this one.

Mark Sanders [3 Pages, 1MB] – It is likely that Mr. Mark Sanders was the Director of the Foreign Material Program at the time Luis Elizondo stated he briefed him on AATIP, as claimed by Elizondo’s IG complaint, as published by the NY Post. Although the name was redacted, a DoD resource indicates Sanders was likely in that position. A request was filed, but it was determined through the processing of the FOIA case that Sanders’ emails were destroyed after he left the DoD in 2017. Therefore, a “no records” determination was given.

Patrick Shanahan – Patrick Shanahan served as the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense from July 2017 until January 2019 and then as the Acting Secretary of Defense from January 2019 to June 2019. Prior to his time in the Pentagon, Shanahan had a distinguished career at Boeing. During his tenure at the Department of Defense (DoD), Luis Elizondo claimed to have headed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) until he resigned from the DoD in 2017. Given their overlapping time at the Pentagon and the significant attention AATIP and related UAP issues have received, it’s plausible that Shanahan and Elizondo may have had some level of interaction or awareness of each other’s work, however, FOIA case 20-F-0049 showed “no records” were found in regards to communications.

The post Archive of Luis Elizondo’s “Deleted” Emails first appeared on The Black Vault.

The case, labeled as 25-00860-F-HQ, stems from a September 22, 2024, FOIA request seeking “all briefings about the James Webb telescope and program, made for Congress,” including both classified and unclassified material related to discoveries made by the observatory. The request was originally denied with a “no records” determination, a conclusion later overturned on appeal.

As previously reported, NASA ultimately acknowledged that responsive records did exist and released a set of briefing slides in August 2025. However, those materials were almost entirely redacted under FOIA Exemption (b)(5), which protects pre-decisional and deliberative communications within government agencies.

Appeal Results in Limited Additional Disclosure

Following a subsequent appeal challenging those redactions, NASA issued a supplemental response on March 27, 2026, stating that “previously withheld information can now be disclosed” and providing an updated version of the records.

The newly released material primarily affects the “Themes” section of the briefing slides, which had previously been fully withheld. The updated version now reveals a series of high-level talking points prepared for NASA officials ahead of a November 16, 2022, House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics hearing.

Those themes include:

“Incredible Value of American and International Asset”
“Early Science Points Toward Vast Potential”
“Congress Can and Should Expect Great Results for Its Investments”
“Habitable Worlds Await Our Discovery”
“Our future plans are dependable routes to amazing results”

These statements provide a broad framing of how NASA intended to present JWST’s early scientific achievements and future promise to lawmakers. However, they remain general in nature and do not disclose any specific findings or detailed scientific conclusions.

Continued Reliance on FOIA Exemption (b)(5)

Despite the partial release, the vast majority of the briefing content remains withheld under FOIA Exemption (b)(5). As explained in NASA’s original response letter, this exemption covers “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters” that would not be available in litigation and includes the deliberative process privilege.

NASA further explained that to qualify under this privilege, records must be both “pre-decisional and deliberative,” meaning they were created prior to an agency decision and reflect internal discussions, recommendations, or evaluations.

In this case, the agency argued that the withheld portions consist of internal preparations for a congressional hearing, including “the development of critical questions, evaluations, and proposals.”

The agency also warned that disclosure could inhibit candid internal discussions, stating that if such communications were released, “NASA and other Executive Branch employees would be much more cautious in their discussions with each other,” potentially impairing decision-making processes.

Redactions Persist in “Questions to Think About”

The supplemental release makes clear that while some material was disclosed, most of the document remains unchanged in its level of redaction. Sections titled “Messages?” and multiple pages of “Questions to Think About” continue to be almost entirely blacked out.

Notably, the updated version reveals only minimal fragments within these sections. In several instances, punctuation marks such as question marks are visible, along with a single discernible word: “When?” embedded within an otherwise redacted line.

Context: Public Hearing, Private Preparations

The records at the center of this case were created in preparation for a public congressional hearing held on November 16, 2022, titled “Unfolding the Universe: Initial Science Results from JWST.”

That hearing featured testimony from NASA officials and academic experts and was openly broadcast, with detailed discussions of JWST’s early scientific results. The released slides were prepared internally by NASA’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs ahead of that public session.

The existence of preparatory materials for such hearings formed the basis of the original appeal, which argued that it was “highly improbable that no materials… were generated or retained” in connection with a congressional briefing of that scale.

NASA ultimately agreed that additional records existed, leading to the initial release and now the supplemental disclosure.

Ongoing Questions and Broader Context

The FOIA request itself was prompted by widespread online speculation in 2024 suggesting that NASA may have provided classified briefings to Congress about JWST discoveries, including unverified claims of unusual or unexplained findings. While no evidence has emerged from the released records to support those claims, the persistence of heavy redactions adds only more mystery to the saga.

The newly disclosed “Themes” emphasize optimism about JWST’s capabilities and future discoveries, including references to “Habitable Worlds” and “vast potential.” However, the continued withholding of detailed talking points and internal questions leaves unanswered what specific issues NASA anticipated from lawmakers, or how it internally framed those discussions.

While the appeal succeeded in forcing additional disclosure, the result offers only a narrow glimpse into NASA’s internal preparation process for JWST briefings which leaves the majority of that process, and the questions it may have addressed, still out of public view.

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Document Archive

 FOIA Case 25-00860-F Supplemental Release Package [7 Pages, 2.9MB]

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The post NASA Partially Lifts Redactions in James Webb Briefing Records Following Appeal first appeared on The Black Vault.

Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories. Hoover is also credited with establishing and expanding a national blacklist, referred to as the FBI Index or Index List, renamed in 2001 as the Terrorist Screening Database which the FBI still compiles and manages.

Document Archive

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Releases

Hoover, J. Edgar – FBI Release #1 – J. Edgar Hoover Files – [573 Pages, 297MB]
Hoover, J. Edgar – FBI Vault Release #1 – J. Edgar Hoover Files – [1,920 Pages, 315MB]
Hoover, J. Edgar – FBI Vault Release #2 – J. Edgar Hoover Appointment and Phone Logs – [3,994 Pages, 1.2GB]
Hoover, J. Edgar – FBI Vault Release #3 – J. Edgar Hoover Official and Confidential (O&C) Files – [1,903 Pages, 59MB]

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Releases

Hoover, J. Edgar – NCIS Release #1 [7 Pages, 0.5MB]

Postal Inspection Service (PIS) Releases

Hoover, J. Edgar – PIS Release #1 [21 Pages, 2.1MB]

The post FBI File Collection on J. Edgar Hoover first appeared on The Black Vault.

The estimate provides a comprehensive analysis of how U.S. intelligence officials viewed nuclear proliferation risks during a critical phase of the Cold War. It evaluates which countries possessed the technical, financial, and industrial capabilities to develop nuclear weapons, as well as the strategic motivations that might drive such decisions. The document identifies a group of nations considered capable of pursuing nuclear weapons programs and assesses their relative timelines and likelihood of success, while emphasizing that political and security considerations would ultimately play a greater role than purely technical limitations.

In outlining the broader implications, the estimate concludes that while the spread of nuclear weapons was becoming increasingly feasible due to the wider availability of materials and expertise, it was unlikely to dramatically shift the global balance of power in the near term. Instead, the primary impact would be political and psychological, introducing new uncertainties into international relations, increasing the complexity of alliance structures, and raising the risk that regional conflicts could escalate. The assessment also highlights concerns about accidental detonations, miscalculations, and the pressures that emerging nuclear capabilities could place on both allies and adversaries.

As a historical intelligence product, the re-released estimate offers insight into how U.S. analysts evaluated one of the most pressing strategic issues of the era. The updated version, with reduced redactions, provides a clearer view into those assessments while preserving the document’s original conclusions about the challenges and consequences of nuclear proliferation.

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MDR Case EOM-2021-00021 Release Package [32 Pages, 4.7MB]

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The post Cold War Nuclear Assessment Re-Released with Fewer Redactions After Five-Year Review first appeared on The Black Vault.

The FOIA request, originally submitted May 30, 2025, sought comprehensive records related to an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) observed by flight PWA192 during its return trip from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Chicago Executive Airport (PWK). The FAA issued a partial denial response under case number FAA-2025-03957, releasing limited material while withholding others under federal exemptions.

The case first came to light through an anonymous tip submitted to The Black Vault. While anonymous sources are typically treated with caution, the details provided were corroborated through FAA documentation and audio recordings released under FOIA.

The most direct official acknowledgment appears in the FAA’s Daily Record of Facility Operation (Form 7230-4), which documents the event as it was recorded in real time by Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOA).

At approximately 0210 UTC, the log states:

This entry establishes several key facts: the object was visually observed, it appeared aircraft-like, it maintained a parallel course, and it was not detected on radar systems available to controllers.

Audio transcripts from Oakland Center sectors provide a more detailed and dynamic description of the object as observed by the flight crew and discussed with controllers.

Initial descriptions suggested a “black circle” or object with possible wing-like features. As the encounter progressed, the characterization shifted. At one point, the object was described as resembling “some sort of fighter,” aligning with the wording later used in the FAA’s official log.

The object reportedly maintained position alongside the aircraft for an extended period of approximately 100 miles while pacing the jet at cruise altitude. This sustained proximity is notable, as it implies controlled flight behavior rather than a transient or incidental sighting.

The encounter concluded with the object rapidly ascending and disappearing from view. This abrupt vertical departure was emphasized in the communications, distinguishing the object’s behavior from conventional aircraft operating profiles.

While the FAA log provides a concise summary, the ATC audio reveals a broader range of uncertainty and evolving interpretation among those involved.

The official entry frames the object as “similar to a fighter,” whereas real-time communications included more ambiguous descriptors, including references to unusual shape and unclear configuration. The progression from an undefined “black” object to something potentially resembling a military aircraft highlights how interpretation shifted during the event.

Flight PWA192 is operated by Priester Aviation and utilizes a Gulfstream G150, a twin-engine business jet designed for mid-range operations.

The G150 typically cruises at altitudes up to 45,000 feet and speeds approaching Mach 0.85. Equipped with modern avionics and collision avoidance systems, it is representative of advanced civilian aviation platforms, making its inability to identify the nearby object—visually or electronically—noteworthy.

The FAA withheld radar data under FOIA Exemption 3, citing Sensitive Security Information (SSI).

According to the response letter, “We are withholding in full 12 En Route Automation Modernization radar files because the SSI cannot be segregated.”

The FAA further noted that certain material was withheld under 10 U.S.C. § 130e, which allows for the protection of “sensitive, but unclassified information” where disclosure could reveal vulnerabilities in Department of Defense infrastructure or operations.

However, the only visible redaction within the released Daily Record of Facility Operation appears minimal and tied to an earlier log entry unrelated to the PWA192 incident, referencing navigational aid outages and coded facility status notes. The section documenting the unidentified aircraft encounter at approximately 0210 UTC remains largely intact and unredacted, suggesting the withheld DoD-related information does not directly pertain to the unidentified object.

The log itself provides additional operational context surrounding the event. Routine oversight checks, system certifications (including ADS-B and CPDLC), and periodic pilot report (PIREP) reviews were conducted throughout the shift, with only minor weather-related entries such as turbulence and thunderstorm tops recorded. Just prior to the encounter, a PIREP check logged no significant anomalies beyond light to moderate turbulence, reinforcing that the airspace environment was otherwise stable at the time of the sighting.

The absence of radar data leaves a significant gap, particularly given the FAA log’s explicit statement that no radar targets were observed in the area.

The encounter occurred northeast of Reno, Nevada, which is an area surrounded by multiple military testing and training facilities.

Nearby installations include:

• Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (California)

• Naval Air Station Fallon (Nevada)

• Tonopah Test Range (Nevada)

• Nellis Air Force Base and the Nevada Test and Training Range

These locations are associated with advanced aviation testing, including classified and stealth aircraft programs. Given this proximity, it remains plausible that the observed object could have been, and maybe is even most likely, a military asset operating under restricted or non-cooperative conditions.

The FAA’s records ultimately categorize the object as unidentified. While the log leans toward an aircraft-like explanation, the lack of radar correlation, the extended pacing behavior, and the rapid vertical departure leave key questions unresolved.

The event also highlights broader aviation safety considerations. Objects operating undetected in controlled airspace, regardless of their origin, present potential risks to civilian aircraft. The inability to identify or track such objects in real time underscores ongoing challenges in airspace awareness and coordination.

The released records provide a rare, document-supported glimpse into such an encounter, capturing both the uncertainty and the operational response as it unfolded.

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Document Archive

FAA-2025-03957 Release Letter and Incident Report [7 Pages, 1MB]

Audio Archive (Unedited – Right Click, Save As)

PWA192_R43_052025_0130-0245.wav – 140MB

PWR192_R29-32_052025_0130-0245.wav – 140MB

The post FAA Records Detail Pilot Encounter with Unidentified Object Pacing Aircraft Over Nevada first appeared on The Black Vault.

A newly released Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provides limited insight into internal communications involving unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), despite a broad request targeting multiple keywords tied to the subject.

The request, submitted on May 23, 2024, sought all emails to, from, or copied to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm containing terms such as “UAP,” “UFO,” “AARO,” and “Grusch,” among others. It also explicitly requested any associated attachments and directed the agency to search both classified and unclassified systems.

According to the DOE’s final response, the search, which was conducted by the Office of the Secretary, identified just two responsive documents. Both were released in part, with significant portions withheld under multiple FOIA exemptions.

During the course of processing, the scope of the request was amended to exclude news bulletins and later limited the search specifically to emails referencing “Luis” Elizondo vs. just “Elizondo”. This narrowing likely contributed to the relatively small number of responsive records, but omitted a lengthy review time of either already publicly available material, or responsive records that include name irrelevant to the topic requested.

The two responsive documents consist of internal DOE emails dated May 22–23, 2024, sent by a staff member to Secretary Granholm in preparation for an oversight hearing.

Both emails reference attached materials that include “UFO and UPA (sic) talking points,” indicating that UAP-related subject matter was included as part of briefing materials prepared for congressional engagement.

One attachment, partially visible in the release, specifically notes that Rep. Tim Burchett, and possibly Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, may raise issues related to “unidentified anomalous phenomena, aka UAPs or UFOs.”

The same document references the July 2023 House Oversight Committee hearing on UAPs and reiterates the Department of Defense’s public position that it has found no verifiable evidence supporting claims of recovered extraterrestrial materials or reverse-engineering programs.

While the presence of UAP-related briefing material is confirmed, the majority of substantive content is withheld which totals more than half the page. The content or context of the information withheld is unknown.

The DOE relied heavily on Exemption (b)(5), which protects “pre-decisional” and “deliberative” communications within agencies. The agency stated that the withheld material consists of internal discussions and recommendations that are part of its decision-making process, and that release “would compromise the deliberative process.”

Despite the original request spanning multiple UAP-related keywords and covering more than three years of potential correspondence, the resulting production consists solely of two emails tied to a single event: preparation for a May 2024 oversight hearing.

No standalone discussions, investigative material, or substantive internal analysis related to UAP topics were released. Additionally, while attachments were included, much of their content remains withheld or unrelated to UAP, focusing instead on energy policy topics such as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The release ultimately confirms that UAP-related references did exist within DOE briefing materials at the Secretary level, but provides little additional detail due to the extensive application of FOIA exemptions.

The Black Vault has filed an appeal to argue the extensive (b)(5) redactions. Those results will be posted, when available.

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HQ-2024-01974-F Release Package [14 Pages, 1.3MB]

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The post FOIA Request on UAP Keywords Produces Minimal Results, Heavy Redactions, from Energy Department first appeared on The Black Vault.

The controversy centered on public remarks made by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in response to political commentary delivered during Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night monologues. Carr publicly criticized aspects of the content, raising concerns about media standards and bias, which in turn prompted debate over whether such criticism from a sitting FCC official could be interpreted as government pressure on protected speech. The exchange drew significant media attention and sparked broader discussion about the FCC’s role, if any, in overseeing or responding to political satire aired by broadcast networks.

The records, totaling nearly 2,000 pages, span communications from mid-2025 through early 2026 and include internal FCC emails, press inquiries, and a substantial number of complaints submitted by members of the public.

Volume of Public Complaints

A significant portion of the release consists of complaints submitted directly to the FCC by viewers reacting to the controversy. These complaints frequently reference concerns about free speech, media bias, and the role of government oversight in late-night television.

Many of the submissions express strong opinions on both sides of the issue. Some argue that government officials should not attempt to influence or criticize political satire, while others contend that certain commentary crossed lines that warranted scrutiny.

In one complaint, a member of the public framed the issue as a constitutional concern, writing that actions by officials represented “a direct violation of First Amendment rights.” In contrast, other submissions supported calls for accountability in media, citing perceived bias or inappropriate content.

The volume and tone of these complaints illustrate the degree to which the issue resonated with the public and prompted direct engagement with the FCC.

Media Inquiries and Press Pressure

The records also show that the FCC received inquiries from major media outlets seeking comment on the situation. Journalists from organizations including Reuters, Politico, and The Hollywood Reporter reached out to FCC officials with questions about the agency’s position, its authority, and Commissioner Carr’s statements.

These inquiries often focused on whether the FCC had jurisdiction over late-night programming, the implications of public criticism from a sitting commissioner, and whether any formal action was under consideration.

Internal email exchanges reflect coordination on how to respond to these inquiries, suggesting that the issue generated notable media attention and required careful messaging from within the agency.

Internal Communications and Talking Points

Internal FCC communications included discussions about how to handle the influx of complaints and media attention. In one exchange, staff referenced the need for “approved talking points” to guide responses to public inquiries and ensure consistency in messaging.

While limited in scope, these internal emails indicate that agency personnel were actively working to manage both public-facing communications and internal coordination during the controversy.

These documents provide a snapshot of how the FCC engaged with a fast-moving and politically sensitive issue involving media figures and First Amendment considerations.

While the records do not present a single unified narrative, they collectively illustrate the intersection of public opinion, media scrutiny, and internal government communication during a high-profile controversy.

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FOIA Release Package [1,922, 11MB]

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The post FCC Records Detail Internal and Public Response to Jimmy Kimmel Controversy first appeared on The Black Vault.

The outcome raises questions not only about the scope of the Navy’s search, but also about the content and context of the briefing itself.

The names of the individuals who participated in the briefings are fully redacted from the released records.

The first request, assigned case number DON-NAVY-2021-007791, sought:

“A copy of all emails, sent to and/or from and/or cc’d and/or bcc’d Brennan P Mckernan (CIV USN DCNO N2N6), which contain the following keywords/phrases: ELIZONDO.”

The second request, DON-NAVY-2022-007539, broadened the scope. It requested:

“A copy of all emails, sent to and/or from and/or cc’d and/or bcc’d Brennan P Mckernan (CIV USN DCNO N2N6) and Luis Elizondo (as a private citizen)…”

(Note: Luis Elizondo’s personal emails addresses have been redacted by The Black Vault to protect his privacy. Although listed in the FOIA, The Black Vault is not publishing them in this article, and has redacted them in red in the FOIA response letter below.)

Both requests instructed the Navy to search across classified and unclassified systems, including SIPRNET, NIPRNET, and JWICS.

In both cases, the Navy responded that “one responsive record was found.”

That single responsive record, which is identical in each release, is an email chain arranging and confirming attendance for a March 23, 2022, presentation at Roosevelt Hall on the National Defense University campus at Fort McNair.

The subject line of the email chain reads:

The fact that the email chain originates from a message labeled “[Non-DoD Source]” is significant because it establishes that the initial outreach for the AATIP/AOIMSG presentation did not begin from within an official Department of Defense email system. Instead, it was forwarded into DoD channels from an external account, indicating coordination between government personnel and at least one non-DoD entity.

Although the sender’s identity and email address are fully redacted under Exemption (b)(6), the record’s responsiveness to both FOIA requests strongly suggests that the redacted header fields contained names central to the scope of the searches. The combination of a non-DoD originator, redacted recipient lines, and subsequent TS-SCI-level scheduling inside a SCIF at Roosevelt Hall demonstrates that external actors were engaged in arranging or participating in classified briefings involving AATIP and AOIMSG. While the redactions prevent identification of the individuals involved, the structure of the chain confirms that communications spanning government and non-government systems were directly connected to the secure sessions. Even though the scope of the original requests may offer a likely hint on who this was, it can not definitively be proven.

The event was scheduled for March 23, 2022, and structured into three sessions:

The classified sessions were explicitly described as TS-SCI (Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information) level briefings:

The unclassified session would run approximately 50–55 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A.

The invitation email stated that:

Brennan P. McKernan’s name, who was reported to be the director of the Pentagon’s UAP task force by Politico, does not appear anywhere in the released emails. Yet, both FOIA requests were explicitly scoped to emails “sent to and/or from and/or cc’d and/or bcc’d” him.

The fact that the email chain was deemed responsive strongly suggests that his name appears in a header field, which includes the To, From, Cc, or Bcc lines, and was redacted under FOIA Exemption (b)(6), which protects personal privacy.

Similarly, because the first request required the presence of the keyword “ELIZONDO,” and the second explicitly sought emails involving both McKernan and Luis Elizondo as a private citizen, the record’s responsiveness indicates that the term “Elizondo” appears within the email metadata or body. It is most plausibly located in a recipient or sender field, given the structure of the chain.

All personally identifying details, including email addresses, were redacted under (b)(6).

Although the released version does not visibly display Elizondo’s name in the body text, the document met the scope of both requests. That fact alone demonstrates that communications involving him likely were circulating in connection with this AATIP/AOIMSG briefing at the TS-SCI level. These documents do not prove he was in attendance, or played a role, in those briefings, but do indicate a mention, at the very least.

The Department of Defense has long maintained that AATIP had limited scope and was not a broad-based UAP investigative program, though later admitted it researched a wide variety of information channels, “from a wide variety of sources, including reports of UAPs”. At times, officials have stated that Luis Elizondo had “no assigned responsibilities” within AATIP, which has yet to be walked back or changed since they first issued the statement.

Yet this March 2022 briefing, years after AATIP’s reported 2012 end and Elizondo’s resignation from the DoD in 2017, was explicitly framed as an “AATIP/AOISMG Presentation.”

AOIMSG, established in 2021 as a successor UAP effort, was tasked with synchronizing the Department’s approach to airborne object identification. The presentation appears to have linked AATIP’s legacy activities with AOIMSG’s ongoing mission, discussing congressional reports and the “Tic-Tac” incidents, while emphasizing “adversary overmatch.”

The reference to “Tic-Tac” incidents, plural, is also notable. Public discourse has largely centered on a single 2004 USS Nimitz encounter. The email language suggests that multiple such events were discussed in the briefing itself. (Note: The Black Vault reported on a released NRO document involving a “tic-tac” incident in 2023, after this 2022 briefing. There is no other “tic-tac” incidents that are known to have been reported by any outlet beyond the Nimitz encounter at the time of the briefing, so it is unclear if it being plural was a typo, or a reference to other related “tic tac” incidents beyond the Nimitz encounter that were being discussed at the briefing.)

The use of a SCIF at the TS-SCI level for two of the three sessions clearly emphasises the classified nature of at least part of the material presented. The location, Roosevelt Hall at the National War College on the Fort McNair campus, places the event within a senior-level military academic and policy environment. However, without the recipient list which would lend hints to at least some of those who attended, it’s near impossible to determine.

None of this definitively and ultimately disproves the Department’s prior characterizations of AATIP or Elizondo’s role. However, it complicates them. A former program described as limited in scope was presented alongside its successor office in a 2022 briefing that included congressional staffers and required TS-SCI clearances.

Whether additional records exist in other offices or components about this briefing, or others, remains an open question. The releases demonstrate that communications tying together AATIP, AOIMSG, and classified briefings involving redacted participants did occur, and were documented.

They also show that even years after AATIP’s reported closure, its name continued to appear in formal presentations delivered in secure facilities to government and/or military personnel.

A request has been filed for information relating to this briefing specifically. Those results, if any, will be posted when available.

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The post AATIP Resurfaces in 2022 TS-SCI Briefing, According to Navy FOIA Release first appeared on The Black Vault.

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 November 2024, the Navy’s initial denial authority determined that 78 responsive photographs existed but withheld them in full under FOIA Exemption (b)(1), citing classification under Executive Order 13526 and the UAP Classification Guide.

Appeal Denied in Full

In its appeal response, the Office of the Judge Advocate General confirmed that all 78 photographs remain classified.

“The IDA confirmed that as of today, these records are still classified in accordance with Executive Order 13526,” the letter states.

The decision further concludes that “given the nature of the requested documents, segregation was not possible,” meaning that no portion of the photographs could be released in redacted form.

The Navy emphasized that when information is properly classified under FOIA Exemption (b)(1), there is effectively no discretion to release it. Citing federal regulations, the letter states: “If potentially responsive information qualifies as exemption (b)(1) information, there is ‘no discretion’ regarding its release.”

The appeal authority added that it must defer to the Original Classification Authority (OCA), explaining: “I am satisfied that the OCA’s classification of the records responsive to your request satisfies the requirements under FOIA exemption (b)(1)… Therefore, as the DON appellate authority for FOIA appeals, I have no authority to tell the OCA otherwise.”

Accordingly, the appeal was denied.

Executive Order at the Center of Secrecy

The legal foundation for the continued withholding is Executive Order 13526, which governs the classification of national security information. The Navy’s letter reiterates that under FOIA Exemption (b)(1), agencies must withhold information that is “properly and currently classified in the interest of national defense or foreign policy, as specifically authorized under the criteria established by Executive Order.”

Executive Order 13526 permits classification of information concerning “military plans, weapons systems, or operations,” and once deemed properly classified, courts traditionally grant agencies broad deference.

The irony is difficult to overlook. The same executive authority that enables a president to order declassification is also the mechanism currently cited to block release of UAP imagery. While public rhetoric has increasingly emphasized transparency, the binding legal structure of Executive Order-based classification continues to prevail inside the FOIA process.

Public Calls for UAP Transparency

The appeal submitted in November 2025 argued that there is substantial public interest in the photographs, particularly in light of recent Congressional scrutiny over alleged UAP overclassification. It cited testimony from the November 13, 2024, congressional hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth,” where witnesses raised concerns about excessive secrecy surrounding UAP-related material.

For now, the photographs remain classified, and the tension between calls for transparency and entrenched classification authority remains unresolved, despite the words of a sitting U.S. President and calls from Congress for the release of records.

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The post Despite Trump’s Call to Release UAP Files, Navy Denies Appeal for 78 Classified UAP Photographs first appeared on The Black Vault.

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 previously released publicly in December 2014 following publication of the SSCI’s executive summary on CIA detention and interrogation practices.

A comparison of the two releases shows that the substantive content remains largely unchanged, with extensive redactions carried forward to this new release. Within the report, the CIA disputes claims that it systematically misled Congress or the Executive Branch, while acknowledging that some past representations were inaccurate.

“We cannot vouch for every individual statement that was made over the years of the program, and we acknowledge that some of those statements were wrong.”

Although there are very few new tidbits of information released, the newly released version does make more explicit reference to internal oversight structures, including the Covert Action Review Group (CARG). While CARG’s existence is now known even prior to this document and is not newly revealed, its role is more clearly articulated in this document, particularly in the section outlining lessons learned and recommended reforms.

The CIA states that the Executive Director, acting as head of CARG, should oversee expanded reviews of sensitive covert action programs, and that CARG would consider whether new covert actions warranted special scrutiny at their inception.

“At the inception of a new covert action program, the CARG would consider and recommend to DCIA whether a special review is warranted.”

The Agency describes such reviews as particularly applicable to operations that carry high potential diplomatic or national security consequences if disclosed or if they fail.

The most notable aspect of the release is not what it reveals, but how long it took to formally release material that had already entered the public domain more than a decade earlier. The CIA’s response letter closing the case is dated April 2, 2025, reasserting classification and withholding determinations for a document first approved for public release in 2014.

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F-2013-02345 Release [142 Pages, 24MB]

The post CIA Reprocesses Detention Program Record Under FOIA More Than a Decade After Public Disclosure first appeared on The Black Vault.

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.

In its final response dated January 26, 2026, the Office of the Secretary of War/Joint Staff stated that no search would be conducted at all. According to the letter, “a search was not conducted as they confirmed the subject matter itself does not exist, and an extensive email search on the custodian would not yield responsive records.”

The rationale offered by the Department of War hinges entirely on the premise that because the alleged Special Access Program does not exist, records discussing it cannot exist either. That position stands out as unusual within FOIA practice, where agencies are generally expected to conduct searches for records responsive to the wording of a request, regardless of whether the subject matter later proves to be inaccurate, unsubstantiated, or false.

Allegations, Denials, and Congressional Attention

The phrase “Immaculate Constellation” entered the public record in late 2024 following the submission of a document by Congresswoman Nancy Mace, during the “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth” hearing held on November 13, 2024. The document was later revealed to have been authored by Matthew Brown, who was subsequently profiled in a NewsNation investigation examining claims that his whistleblower allegations regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena were ignored by government agencies.

Journalist Michael Shellenberger, who testified at the UAP hearing in November 2024, also submitted extensive testimony about Immaculate Constellation and the UAP topic in general.

In parallel, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a one-page, unclassified document under FOIA case DF-2025-00021, explicitly addressing the allegation. That document summarized press reporting on the purported unacknowledged SAP and included an unequivocal denial from the Department of Defense.

“The Department of Defense has no record, present or historical, of any type of SAP called ‘IMMACULATE CONSTELLATION’,” DoD spokesperson Sue Gough stated in the document.

The ODNI record itself exists precisely because the allegation was circulating publicly and required internal documentation and assessment. The document also noted that the press had reported the issue would be raised during open hearings with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in November 2024.

Government Denial of Existence Does Not Eliminate FOIA Obligations

A central issue raised by FOIA case 25-F-3827 is not whether the alleged “Immaculate Constellation” program exists, but whether the government may decline to process a FOIA request based solely on its own assertion that the subject matter is fictitious.

In its response, the Department of War asserted that because the alleged Special Access Program “does not exist,” an email search would not yield responsive records and therefore was not conducted. That reasoning conflates the government’s position on the validity of an allegation with its separate obligation under FOIA to search for records responsive to the language of a request.

FOIA does not require a requester to prove that an allegation is true, nor does it allow agencies to decline a search simply because they believe a claim to be false. Federal agencies routinely create and retain records discussing inaccurate reports, rumors, hoaxes, or media-driven allegations, even when those allegations are ultimately rejected. Those records may include internal emails responding to press coverage, coordinating official denials, briefing senior leadership, or assessing whether an allegation requires follow-up. The potential falsity of an underlying claim does not negate the existence of records discussing the claim itself, nor does it relieve an agency of its obligation to search for them.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s one-page release on “Immaculate Constellation” illustrates this distinction. While the document explicitly denied the existence of the alleged SAP, it nonetheless documented internal awareness of the allegation, summarized press reporting, and recorded official responses. The existence of that record demonstrates that even when a program is denied, responsive records discussing the allegation itself can and do exist.

That distinction is directly implicated in the Department of War’s handling of case 25-F-3827. The request did not seek confirmation that “Immaculate Constellation” is real. It sought emails containing a specific phrase, which is language that had already entered official government documentation, congressional submissions, press reporting, and interagency discourse. Declining to conduct a search on the grounds that the subject matter is alleged to be nonexistent sidesteps the core procedural requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

Contrasting FOIA Responses Across Agencies

The Department of War’s refusal to conduct a search also contrasts sharply with how other agencies have handled similar requests.

In December 2024, The Black Vault received a response from the National Security Agency to a FOIA request seeking records related to the “alleged USAP ‘Immaculate Constellation.’” Rather than asserting that no search was necessary, the NSA issued a Glomar response, stating it could neither confirm nor deny the existence of responsive records.

“For reasons described below, we are not able to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of these records,” the NSA wrote, adding that “the fact of the existence or non-existence of the materials you request is a currently and properly classified matter.”

The NSA further noted that this was its “standard response to all requests where we reasonably believe that the request seeks intelligence records or records revealing intelligence related activity involving UFOs/UAP.”

While Glomar responses are themselves controversial, they nonetheless reflect acknowledgment of FOIA’s requirement to address the request through established exemption frameworks. The Department of War’s approach, by contrast, bypassed the search process entirely based on an assertion about subject matter non-existence.

Why the Distinction Matters

The core issue raised by FOIA case 25-F-3827 is not whether “Immaculate Constellation” is real. It is whether an agency may refuse to search records simply because it believes an allegation is false.

FOIA does not permit agencies to pre-judge the outcome of a search and decline to conduct it on that basis alone. Records discussing false claims, responding to media narratives, or coordinating official denials are still records. Some may be classified, some exempt, and some releasable, but the search itself is a foundational requirement.

By asserting that “an extensive email search on the custodian would not yield responsive records,” without conducting that search, the Department of War effectively substituted an assumption for a records determination. That approach risks undermining the transparency mechanisms FOIA is designed to enforce, particularly in areas involving secrecy, special access programs, and public controversy.

The response letter does leave the door open for further action, inviting additional “event or file-related information” that might justify a search. Yet the existence of ODNI records, NSA correspondence, congressional submissions, and widespread press coverage already demonstrates that “Immaculate Constellation” was discussed at senior levels of government, regardless of its factual basis, thus has paved the way for The Black Vault to file an appeal on their initial decision to not honor the request.

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The post Pentagon Refuses to Search for ‘Immaculate Constellation’ Emails first appeared on The Black Vault.

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) Director Tim Phillips.

According to the invitation email, the briefing was described as an “embargoed invited-media roundtable” focused on “AARO’s Historical Record Report Volume 1 (HRRV1), the initial volume of the congressionally directed historical record report on U.S. government UAP-related programs”.

The report itself was required by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which directed the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to produce a comprehensive historical review of U.S. government involvement with unidentified anomalous phenomena dating back decades. The March 6, 2024, briefing was held two days before the public release of the unclassified version of the report.

The invitation imposed strict conditions. It was marked:

“OFF THE RECORD / FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY / NOT FOR DAYBOOKS”

While the roundtable itself was described as “on-record and off-camera,” participation was contingent upon agreeing to an embargo until the Department of Defense announced the public release of the report on March 8. Invitees were instructed:

“To receive an embargoed copy of HRRV1 and be allowed into the roundtable, please respond with an email that states: ‘I agree to the embargo.’”

Only one representative per outlet was permitted to attend, and the invitation was explicitly “not transferable” without prior approval from the Pentagon press office.

Who Was Invited and Who Was Not

The FOIA-released email reveals by name a small group of journalists and outlets that were granted access. Among those listed in the invitation or BCC fields were representatives from The New York Times, CNN, Politico, Task & Purpose, and The Washington Post, including Kayla Guo, Jeff Schogol, David Martin, Oren Liebermann, Lara Seligman, and Dan Lamothe.

Several of these names were already known publicly due to their participation in the briefing itself. In March 2024, The Black Vault published the full transcript of the roundtable, in which some reporters identified themselves by name and outlet when asking questions. That transcript provided partial insight into who had access, but not a complete accounting of all invitees.

The newly released invitation fills in additional details, but also raises new questions.

At least two individuals listed in the BCC field of the email were redacted by the Department of Defense under FOIA Exemption (b)(6), which protects against what the agency described as “a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of individuals”.

The redactions obscure whether those recipients were additional journalists, staff members from major outlets, or other media-affiliated personnel who were included quietly on the distribution list. The possibility that these names were possibly other military or government personnel rather than media invitees also can’t be ruled out.

The presence of redacted BCC recipients underscores that the publicly known list of participants, which was from the derived previously from the transcript, was incomplete. It remains unknown which outlets, if any, were represented by those redacted names, or whether additional media voices were given access without being publicly identifiable.

Unlike more typical Pentagon press engagements, which often allow larger pools of credentialed media to listen in remotely or submit written questions, this roundtable was tightly controlled. Attendance was limited, listening access was restricted, and participation was conditional on advance agreement to an embargo.

The email emphasized that the event was “an invited-media roundtable only,” reinforcing that access was selectively granted rather than broadly available.

This stands in contrast to many background or senior-level briefings, where dozens of outlets may be allowed to listen in even if only a subset are called upon to ask questions. In this case, even passive access was limited to those specifically chosen by the Department of Defense.

Transparency Concerns Around UAP Disclosure

The subject of the briefing, which highlighted the government’s historical accounting of UAP programs, has been the focus of sustained public, congressional, and media interest. The NDAA mandate reflected bipartisan concern over secrecy, oversight gaps, and inconsistent public disclosures related to unidentified objects and alleged legacy programs.

Against that backdrop, the decision to brief only a small group of journalists, under embargo, before public release has drawn scrutiny. While embargoed briefings are a common practice across government agencies, the narrow scope of this invitation, combined with the classified history and ongoing public debate surrounding UAP transparency, has amplified questions about information control and selective access.

The FOIA response letter confirms that the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs located only this single responsive document, and that no additional invitation records were released beyond the email itself.

Taken together with the previously published transcript, the FOIA-released invitation provides a clearer, albeit still incomplete, picture of how the Department of Defense managed media access to the release of Volume 1 of their UAP report.

It confirms that only a handful of outlets were selected, that participation required adherence to strict conditions, and that at least some invitees remain unidentified due to privacy redactions. As debates over UAP transparency continue, the records illustrate how access to information about the government’s historical review was carefully controlled even as the report itself was framed as a step toward openness.

The documents released in FOIA case 24-F-0895 are now part of the public record, offering a rare look behind the scenes at how the Pentagon curated press engagement on a topic Congress has explicitly directed it to clarify for the American public.

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 24-F-0895 Release Package [3 Pages, 0.5MB]

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The post Closed-Door 2024 UAP Briefing: FOIA Discloses Select Media Invitees first appeared on The Black Vault.

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 through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Black Vault in March 2019, was not finalized until January 22, 2026, nearly seven years later. The responsive record is a single-page attachment titled “Projects that are Classified HSR, FY 2018 DOE Report,” which was released in full, and expands the public knowledge about HSRs that was first derived from a previously released document to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in 2017.

Why These Lists Exist

The requirement to compile and publish lists of classified HSR projects stems from DOE Notice 443.1, issued as part of broader reforms following revelations in the 1990s about Cold War-era human radiation experiments. Those experiments, some conducted without informed consent, prompted public outrage, congressional scrutiny, and the establishment of a presidential advisory committee to examine the government’s historical record.

In response, the Department of Energy formalized stricter oversight of human subjects research, including classified work. DOE Notice 443.1 requires that classified HSR projects be tracked and reported, even if substantive details remain protected. The intent is to ensure accountability, ethical review, and senior-level awareness of research involving human participants.

DOE Notice 443.1 was later superseded by DOE Order 443.1C, which remains in force today and preserves the requirement to track and oversee classified human subjects research. Those protections were further reinforced in 2020 when DOE codified its human subjects framework in federal regulation under 10 C.F.R. Part 745.

The Earlier Public Disclosure

In August 2018, the Federation of American Scientists published an article titled “Classified Human Subjects Research Continues at DOE,” written by Steven Aftergood. That reporting was based on a DOE FOIA release covering FY 2017 and revealed ten classified HSR projects with opaque code names such as “Tristan,” “Idaho Bailiff,” and “Moose Drool.”

The FY 2017 list, released under FOIA case HQ-2018-00158-F, showed that classified human subjects research was ongoing and formally acknowledged within DOE oversight channels. At the time, it offered one of the rare public glimpses into this tightly controlled area of research.

The New FOIA Release: FY 2018

The newly released document obtained by The Black Vault represents the subsequent fiscal year: FY 2018. According to the DOE’s final response letter, the request sought “the most recent list, as issued under DOE Notice 443.1, of the list of Human Subjects Research (HSR) projects that are classified in whole or in part.” The search was conducted by both the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence and the Office of Science.

The FY 2018 list shows that the number of classified HSR projects increased from ten in FY 2017 to eleven open projects in FY 2018. Several projects carried over from the earlier list, while new entries appeared.

Projects listed as classified in whole during FY 2018 include:

• Tristan (99 participants)
• Helios (40 participants)
• Phanes (10 participants)
• Government Only Test2 (60 participants)
• Fusing Data (Big Data project)

Projects classified in part include titles such as Little Workers, Idaho Bailiff, Geovisor, SPECIAL2, Hidden Valley2, K-Program 1, Woodstock/Active Data, Blue Dragon, and Icarus, some involving large-scale or undefined “Big Data” participation counts.

Notably, several projects such as Tristan, Helios, Little Workers, Idaho Bailiff, Geovisor, and the VAC Challenge studies, appear on both the FY 2017 and FY 2018 lists, indicating continuing efforts rather than one-off, short-term, program studies.

What Is Known—and What Is Not

DOE maintains a publicly accessible Human Subjects Research Database that catalogs unclassified HSR projects conducted or funded by the department. That database provides project summaries, oversight information, and institutional review board status for unclassified research.

However, searches of that database do not reveal entries matching the code names listed in the classified HSR tables. While this is expected for projects classified in whole, it is notable that even the unclassified titles provided in the classified reports do not appear elsewhere in DOE’s public-facing research records.

As a result, the public is left with only high-level descriptors: project titles, participant counts, risk levels (all listed as “Minimal Risk”), and review dates. No descriptions of methodologies, objectives, or sponsoring programs are included.

While the newly released list does not provide operational details, it serves as a marker that classified research involving human participants persists within the Department of Energy. The repetition and growth of project names across fiscal years suggest structured, ongoing programs rather than isolated experiments.

For now, these lists remain one of the few official acknowledgments of the classified nature to some of these programs available to the public.

The Black Vault, as of today, filed a new request for the most recent list created by the subsequent directives mentioned earlier. Those records, when available, will be posted on The Black Vault.

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FOIA Case HQ-2019-00666 [3 Pages, 0.7MB]

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The post From Blue Dragon to Woodstock: DOE’s Classified Human Subjects Research Revealed After 7 Year Wait first appeared on The Black Vault.

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Abramson, Harold Alexander – [20 Pages, 9.9 MB] – Harold Alexander Abramson (November 27, 1899 – September 1980) was an American physician (allergist and pediatrician) noted as an early advocate of therapeutic LSD. He played a significant role in CIA’s MKULTRA program to investigate the military applications of LSD.

Bacher, Robert – FBI Release to Russ Kick –  [355 Pages, 146MB] Bacher, Robert – FBI Release –  [90 Pages, 10.2MB]  – Robert Fox Bacher (August 31, 1905 – November 18, 2004) was an American nuclear physicist and one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project. Born in Loudonville, Ohio, Bacher obtained his undergraduate degree and doctorate from the University of Michigan, writing his 1930 doctoral thesis under the supervision of Samuel Goudsmit on the Zeeman effect of the hyperfine structure of atomic levels. After graduate work at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he accepted a job at Columbia University. In 1935 he accepted an offer from Hans Bethe to work with him at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, It was there that Bacher collaborated with Bethe on his book Nuclear Physics. A: Stationary States of Nuclei (1936), the first of three books that would become known as the “Bethe Bible”. In December 1940, Bacher joined the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, although he did not immediately cease his research at Cornell into the neutron cross section of cadmium. The Radiation Laboratory was organized into two sections, one for incoming radar signals, and one for outgoing radar signals. Bacher was appointed to handle the incoming signals section. Here he gained valuable experience in administration, coordinating not just the efforts of his scientists, but also those of General Electric and RCA. In 1942, Bacher was approached by Robert Oppenheimer to join the Manhattan Project at its new laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was at Bacher’s insistence that Los Alamos became a civilian rather than a military laboratory. At Los Alamos, Bacher headed the project’s P (Physics) Division, and later its G (Gadget) Division. Bacher worked closely with Oppenheimer, and the two men discussed the project’s progress on a daily basis. Note: These records were provided by the family of anthologist and transparency activist Russ Kick, from his papers, facilitated by the generous assistance of Dr. Susan Maret. This is not a complete collection set of his papers, but rather, a selection of items sent to The Black Vault for digital preservation.

Becker, Troy – FBI Release #1 – [321 Pages, 139MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #2 – [371 Pages, 243MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #3 – [299 Pages, 17.2MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #4 – [237 Pages, 10.6MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #5 – [118 Pages, 4.5MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #6 – [412 Pages, 17MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #7 – [264 Pages, 12.3MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #8 – [168 Pages, 9.6MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #9 – [114 Pages, 45MB] Becker, Troy – FBI Release #10 – [181 Pages, 30MB] – Becker, Troy – FBI Release #11 – [66 Pages, 10MB] – Dr. Troy Eugene Becker (1916-2004) was a chemist who learned about a process to recover gold from ore.  But the federal authorities were unhappy that he claimed to be able to recover gold from ore that had no apparent gold in it, and as a result prosecuted him for fraud.  The scientific framework of the time did not allow for chemical transmutation of elements, despite the fact that such chemical transmutation had been studied by scientists throughout the world, with the results published widely in the scientific literature in the 1920s.  This work is discussed in the 2016 book Lost History by Steven B. Krivit, and the remarkable historical research in Part II of the excellent book Adept Alchemy by Robert Nelson, available online here. Becker believed that he was aggregating and recovering so-called atomic particle gold, but it appears that he may have instead stumbled into a transmutation process related to low energy nuclear reactions (LENR) that altered the mix of elements in the ore. Theorist Lewis Larsen has received patents for processes of this sort and has written extensively on the subject. After World War II, a Czechoslovakian geologist, Dr. Walter Lussage (died 1977), who worked at the University of Washington, taught Jack Keller how to capture gold using electrolysis, what he referred to as a selective precipitation process using electromagnetic resonance techniques.  Later there was experimentation with extracting platinum group metals. In turn, Lussage and Keller taught several others about the processes:  chemists Dr. Troy Becker and Dr. T. Miller, and physicist Dr. Janice M. Miller.  Victor Denny commissioned a project to recover microfine gold associated with geological deposits in Washington State.  Also involved with the group was Joseph E. Champion, who has written about this activity in his book 20th Century Alchemy. By the time the federal government brought charges of fraud, Lussage and Keller had died, as had the Millers, and Becker was the only survivor among the researchers.  Becker was unable to explain how they had taken minerals that showed no gold, silver and platinum group metals, and from that mineral extract those elements.  Expert witnesses testified that Becker must have salted the furnace with (added) those metals to the furnace for the purpose of conducting fraud.  But Becker had most likely uncovered a useful form of chemical transmutation.  The court opinion from his case is posted here. The 2016 book Hacking the Atom, by Steven B. Krivit, contains an extensive discussion of aspects of Joseph Champion’s controversial entanglement with Professor John Bockris and Texas A&M University.  Bockris faced tremendous professional criticism from his research into transmutation.

Bohr, Niels – FBI Release #1 – [396 Pages, 19.83MB] Bohr, Niels – FBI Release #2 – [6 Pages, 1.4MB] – Niels Henrik David Bohr (7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research. Bohr developed the Bohr model of the atom, in which he proposed that energy levels of electrons are discrete and that the electrons revolve in stable orbits around the atomic nucleus but can jump from one energy level (or orbit) to another. Although the Bohr model has been supplanted by other models, its underlying principles remain valid. He conceived the principle of complementarity: that items could be separately analyzed in terms of contradictory properties, like behaving as a wave or a stream of particles. The notion of complementarity dominated Bohr’s thinking in both science and philosophy.

Bostick, Winston – [63 Pages, 30MB] – Winston H. Bostick (March 5, 1916 – January 19, 1991) was an American physicist who discovered plasmoids, plasma focus, and plasma vortex phenomena. He simulated cosmical astrophysics with laboratory plasma experiments, and showed that Hubble expansion can be produced with repulsive mutual induction between neighboring galaxies acting as homopolar generators. His work on plasmas was claimed to be evidence for finite-sized elementary particles and the composition of strings, but this is not accepted by mainstream science.

Breslow, Lester – [396 Pages, 19.83 MB] – Lester Breslow (March 17, 1915, in Bismarck, ND, USA – April 9, 2012, in Los Angeles) was an American physician who promoted public health. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, which is also where he received his MD and MPH. Dr. Breslow served in the United States Army during World War II, and when he returned took a position with the California State Department of Public Health. While in medical school he was studying to be a psychiatrist, and as a junior he worked for a summer in the Fergus Falls Minnesota State Hospital for the Insane. His experience there left him discouraged once he realized that in that time, there was not much they could do for those patients except keep them out of harm’s way. When he returned to medical school for his senior year he told a friend on his, also a faculty member, about his feelings and was introduced to a new professor of public health, Gaylord Anderson. Anderson was the one that got Breslow set on a career in epidemiology. Dr. Breslow was considered an exemplary doctor as well as a genuinely good person. In an obituary written by one of his former “protégées” it says, “I was one of Lester’s preventative medicine residents 15 years ago…Having had an opportunity to observe him engage with ‘paupers’ and ‘kings,’ I can attest to his treatment of all with respect and appreciation for their humanity, abilities, and contributions. I can also attest to his refusal to accept anything less than the best, from others (like me!) and particularly, from himself.”

Brown, Thomas Townsend – [4 Pages, 0.8MB] – Thomas Townsend Brown (March 18, 1905 – October 27, 1985) was an American inventor whose research into odd electrical effects led him to believe he had discovered a connection between strong electric fields and gravity, a type of antigravity effect. For most of his life he attempted to develop devices based on his ideas, trying to promote them for use by industry and the military. He came up with the name “Biefeld–Brown effect” for the phenomenon he had discovered and called the field of study electrogravitics. According to the FBI, the files relating to Brown are either lost or destroyed or both.

Bush, Vannevar – [ 241 Pages, 78.1 MB ] – Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, whose most important contribution was as head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) during World War II, through which almost all wartime military R&D was carried out, including initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project. He is also known in engineering for his work on analog computers, for founding Raytheon, and for the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of the World Wide Web.  Bush was also an alleged member of the Majestic-12 (MJ-12) group.  Please note: As admitted by the FBI, an entire file on Bush was destroyed. According to the FBI: “One record (161-BS-1452) which may be responsive to your FOIA request was destroyed in April of 1998.”

Cameron, Donald Ewen – [21 Pages, 8.3MB ] – Donald Ewen Cameron (24 December 1901 – 8 September 1967) — known as D. Ewen Cameron or Ewen Cameron — was a Scottish-born psychiatrist who served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1952–1953), Canadian Psychiatric Association (1958-1959), American Psychopathological Association (1963), Society of Biological Psychiatry (1965) and World Psychiatric Association (1961-1966). In spite of his high professional reputation, he has been criticized for administering electroshock therapy and experimental drugs to patients without their informed consent. Some of this work took place in the context of the Project MKUltra mind control program.

Condon, Edward Uhler [ File #1 (312MB) | File #2 (0.1MB) | File #3 (0.1MB) | File #4 (177MB) ]- [ 1,777 Pages ] – Edward Uhler Condon (March 2, 1902 – March 26, 1974) was a distinguished American nuclear physicist, a pioneer in quantum mechanics, and a participant in the development of radar and nuclear weapons during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. The Franck–Condon principle and the Slater–Condon rules are named after him.  Condon became widely known in 1968 as principal author of the Condon Report, an official review funded by the United States Air Force that concluded that unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have prosaic explanations. The lunar crater Condon is named for him.  Please note: The FBI stated there MAY be additional records pertaining to Condon. I requested the remaining material, and if any exists, will post it when available. Press the “subscribe” button for this page to be notified when it’s updated.

Cortright, Edgar – [15 Pages, 0.6MB] – Edgar Maurice Cortright (July 29, 1923 – May 4, 2014) was a scientist and engineer, and senior official at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. His most prominent positions during his career were Director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, and Chairman of the Apollo 13 Review Board which investigated the explosion that occurred during the Apollo 13 spaceflight in 1970.

Crary, Albert – [7 Pages, 3.8MB] – Albert Paddock Crary (July 25, 1911 – October 29, 1987), was a pioneer polar geophysicist and glaciologist.  He was the first person to have stepped foot on both the North and South Poles, having made it to the North Pole on May 3, 1952 (with Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict) and then to the South Pole on February 12, 1961, as the leader of a team of eight.  The South Pole expedition set out from McMurdo Station on December 10, 1960, using three Snowcats with trailers. Crary was the seventh expedition leader to arrive at the South Pole by surface transportation (the six others before him were—in sequence—Amundsen, Scott, Hillary, Fuchs, a Russian expedition in 1959/60 from Vostok base, and Antero Havola).  He was widely admired for his intellect, wit, skills and as a great administrator for polar research expeditions.

Craven, John P. – FBI Release #1 – [16 Pages, 1MB] Craven, John P. – FBI Release #2 – [5 Pages, 1.1MB] – John Piña Craven (October 30, 1924 – February 12, 2015) was an American scientist who was known for his involvement with Bayesian search theory and the recovery of lost objects at sea. He was Chief Scientist of the Special Projects Office of the United States Navy.

Davidson, Leon – FBI Cross References – [13 Pages, 4MB] – Leon Davidson (October 18, 1922 – January 1, 2007) was a chemical engineer and scientist, one of the team that developed the atomic bomb.

Eaton, Suzanne – FBI Release #1 – [20 Pages, 5.5MB] – Suzanne Eaton (December 23, 1959 – July 2, 2019) was an American scientist and professor of molecular biology at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.

Einstein, Albert – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 | File #5 | File #6 | File #7 | File #8 | File #9| File #10 | File #11 | File #12 | File #13 | File #14 ] – An investigation was conducted by the FBI regarding the famous physicist because of his affiliation with the Communist Party. Einstein was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between 1937-1954. He also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations.

Erdos, Paul FBI Release #1 – [233 Pages, 13.2 MB]  Erdos, Paul FBI Release #2 – [39 Pages, 15.3 MB]  Erdos, Paul DOD Release #1 – [7 Pages, 1.5 MB] Paul Erdős (26 March 1913 – 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians of the 20th century, but also known for his social practice of mathematics (more than 500 collaborators) and eccentric lifestyle (Time magazine called him The Oddball’s Oddball). Erdős pursued problems in combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, classical analysis, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory. According to the FBI in release #2 – files were destroyed on Paul Erdos. The State Department withheld 12 pages related to Erdos, claiming all were regarding VISA papers, and exempt from disclosure.

Estabrooks, George Hoben – FBI Release #1 – [498 Pages, 278.7MB]  Estabrooks, George Hoben – FBI Release #2 – [40 Pages, 19.1MB] – George Hoben Estabrooks (December 16, 1895 – December 30, 1973) was a Canadian-American psychologist who would die in the County of Madison, New York which was the home county for Colgate University. George Estabrooks was a Harvard University graduate, a Rhodes Scholar, chairman of the Department of Psychology at Colgate University and an authority on hypnosis during World War II. He is known for hypnoprogramming U.S. government agents during World War II.

Everett, Hugh – [26 Pages, 13.3MB] – Hugh Everett III (November 11, 1930 – July 19, 1982) was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his “relative state” formulation. In contrast to the then-dominant Copenhagen interpretation, the MWI posits that the Schrödinger equation never collapses and that all possibilities of a quantum superposition are objectively real.

Ewing, Dr. Maurice  – [15 Pages, 5.4MB] – William Maurice “Doc” Ewing (May 12, 1906 – May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer.  Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission (including the SOFAR channel), deep sea coring of the ocean bottom, theory and observation of earthquake surface waves, fluidity of the Earth’s core, generation and propagation of microseisms, submarine explosion seismology, marine gravity surveys, bathymetry and sedimentation, natural radioactivity of ocean waters and sediments, study of abyssal plains and submarine canyons.  (Note: By letter dated 16 March 2018 from the FBI, it was revealed that any additional documentation on Dr. Ewing was destroyed on 12/23/2004.)

Fermi, Enrico – [4 Pages, 1.7MB] – Enrico Fermi (29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian physicist, who created the world’s first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the “architect of the nuclear age” and the “architect of the atomic bomb”.   He was one of the few physicists to excel both theoretically and experimentally. Fermi held several patents related to the use of nuclear power, and was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and the discovery of transuranic elements. He made significant contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. Fermi does have an FBI File, in which I received confirmation that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) declassified the majority of it – but I am unable to pay the fees for copies. If you are interested in sponsoring the file, CONTACT ME.

Fishbein, Dr. Morris – FBI Release #1 – [104 Pages, 6.9MB]  Fishbein, Dr. Morris – FBI Release #2 – [5 Pages, 3.6MB] – Morris Fishbein M.D. (July 22, 1889 – September 27, 1976) was a physician who became the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from 1924 to 1950. In 1961 he became the founding Editor of Medical World News, a magazine for doctors. In 1970 he endowed the Morris Fishbein Center. He was also notable for exposing quacks, notably the goat-gland surgeon John R. Brinkley, and campaigning for regulation of medical devices.

Garfield, Eugene – [286 Pages, 16MB] – Eugene Eli Garfield (September 16, 1925 – February 26, 2017) was an American linguist and businessman, one of the founders of bibliometrics and scientometrics. He helped to create Current Contents, Science Citation Index (SCI), Journal Citation Reports, and Index Chemicus, among others, and founded the magazine The Scientist.

Glushkov, Victor – FBI Release #1 – [114 Pages, 54MB] Glushkov, Victor – FBI Release #2 – [6 Pages, 1.8MB] – Victor Glushkov, born on August 24, 1923, in Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union, was a pioneering computer scientist and mathematician known for his significant contributions to cybernetics and computer science in the Soviet Union. Glushkov’s work was groundbreaking in the field of theoretical computer science, and he is particularly renowned for his efforts in automata theory and the development of early Soviet computers. He envisioned a network of computers to manage the Soviet economy, a concept that predated the Internet, reflecting his forward-thinking approach to information technology. As the founder and director of the Institute of Cybernetics in Kyiv, Glushkov played a key role in the development of Soviet computing technology and contributed to the establishment of cybernetics as a scientific discipline. His legacy is marked by his influential theories and practical advancements in computer science, which have had a lasting impact on the field globally. Victor Glushkov passed away on January 30, 1982, leaving behind a profound legacy in the world of computing and cybernetics.

Gofman, John – [80 Pages, 4.6MB] – John William Gofman (September 21, 1918 – August 15, 2007) was an American scientist and advocate. He was Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California at Berkeley.

Goldwasser, Ned – FBI Release – [219 Pages, 41.3MB] Goldwasser, Ned – DOE Release – [10 Pages, 2.5MB] – Ned Goldwasser (born Edwin L. Goldwasser, March 9, 1919 — December 14, 2016) was an American physicist and Co-Founder of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the field of particle physics. He was a Professor of Physics Emeritus and former Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois, as well as the first Deputy Director of Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory. His interests were photons, cosmic rays, charged particles and elementary particles. He was Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Physical Society.

Grove, Andrew S. – [142 Pages, 54MB] – Andrew Stephen “Andy” Grove (born András István Gróf, Hungarian: Gróf András István; 2 September 1936 – 21 March 2016) was a Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer, author and a science pioneer in the semiconductor industry. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 and moved to the United States where he finished his education. He was one of the founders and the CEO of Intel Corporation, helping transform the company into the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors.

Haefner, Richard Charles– [71 Pages, 4MB] – Dr. Richard Charles Haefner was a talented but deeply troubled geologist, remembered as much for his contributions to geology and petrology as for his violent and unpredictable nature. After earning a BS from Franklin and Marshall College in 1965, an MS in 1969, and a PhD in 1972 from Penn State University, Haefner was appointed head of the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History and a prestigious teaching position at USC in 1975. However, his career was derailed that same year by allegations of pedophilia and child molestation, leading to his arrest and disgrace. Despite a hung jury and expunged trial records, these allegations continued to haunt him, preventing him from securing any professional positions thereafter. The controversy surrounding Haefner was chronicled in the 2018 book “Justice Perverted: The Molestation Mistrial of Richard Charles Haefner.” Additionally, he has been implicated as the probable killer of Betsy Ruth Aardsma, a former girlfriend. Haefner died in 2002 from a congenital heart defect, with his final resting place and the whereabouts of his ashes remaining uncertain.

Heimlich, Henry – [10 Pages, 2.5MB] – Henry Judah Heimlich (February 3, 1920 – December 17, 2016) was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher. He is widely credited as the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, a technique of abdominal thrusts for stopping choking, described in Emergency Medicine in 1974. He also invented the Micro Trach portable oxygen system for ambulatory patients and the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve, or “flutter valve,” which drains blood and air out of the chest cavity.

Hiskey, Clarence Francis – FBI Release #1 – [1,221 Pages, 731MB] Note: LARGE File Download Hiskey, Clarence Francis – FBI Release #2 – [16 Pages, 1.5MB] – Clarence Francis Hiskey was a renowned American chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project, the research program that led to the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II. His work focused on the separation and analysis of Uranium isotopes, a key element in the production of the bomb. Despite his contributions to the project, Hiskey’s political ideologies led to suspicion; he was accused of being a communist in the late 1940s during the Red Scare. Hiskey moved to Canada and became a key figure in the development of Canada’s nuclear energy program, his career marked by his profound impact on nuclear science and the ensuing political complications.

Khalifa, Rashad – FBI Release #1 – [23 Pages, 11.9MB]  Khalifa, Rashad – FBI Release #2 – [293 Pages, 136MB]  Khalifa, Rashad – FBI Release #3 – [344 Pages, 155MB]  Khalifa, Rashad – FBI Release #4 – [25 Pages, 1.5MB] – Rashad Khalifa (1935–1990) was an Egyptian-American biochemist renowned for his controversial work in the realm of religious studies rather than his contributions to biochemistry. Born in Egypt, Khalifa moved to the United States in the 1950s, where he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry. However, he gained international attention for his assertion that the Quran contained a mathematical code based on the number 19, a claim that led him to reject certain verses of the scripture. Establishing a religious community in Tucson, Arizona, that followed his teachings, he proclaimed himself as a messenger of God, a claim that generated significant backlash from mainstream Islamic scholars and communities. His controversial stance made him a polarizing figure, culminating in his assassination in 1990, believed to have been motivated by his religious teachings.

Kohn, Walter – [175 Pages, 75.6MB] – Walter Kohn (March 9, 1923 – April 19, 2016) was an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist and theoretical chemist. He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials. In particular, Kohn played the leading role in the development of density functional theory, which made it possible to calculate quantum mechanical electronic structure by equations involving the electronic density (rather than the many-body wavefunction). This computational simplification led to more accurate calculations on complex systems as well as many new insights, and it has become an essential tool for materials science, condensed-phase physics, and the chemical physics of atoms and molecules.

Leary, Timothy – FBI Release #1 – [78 Pages, 44.0MB]  Leary, Timothy – FBI Release #2 – [234 Pages, 109MB]  Leary, Timothy – NARA Releases – [84 Pages, 7.2MB] – Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and writer known for advocating the exploration of the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs under controlled conditions. Leary conducted experiments under the Harvard Psilocybin Project during American legality of LSD and psilocybin, resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. Leary’s colleague, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), was fired from Harvard University on May 27, 1963 for giving psilocybin to an undergraduate student. Leary was planning to leave Harvard when his teaching contract expired in June, the following month. He was fired, for “failure to keep classroom appointments”, with his pay docked on April 30.

Lilly, John Cunningham – [26 Pages, 8.0 MB ] – John Cunningham Lilly (January 6, 1915 – September 30, 2001) was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer and inventor. He was a researcher of the nature of consciousness using mainly isolation tanks, dolphin communication, and psychedelic drugs, sometimes in combination.

Mallove, Eugene – FBI Release #1 – [18 Pages, 7.5MB ] Mallove, Eugene – FBI Release #2 – [208 Pages, 20MB ] – Eugene Franklin Mallove (June 9, 1947 – May 14, 2004) was an American scientist, science writer, editor, and publisher of Infinite Energy magazine, and founder of the nonprofit organization New Energy Foundation. He was a proponent of cold fusion, and a supporter of its research and related exploratory alternative energy topics, several of which are sometimes characterised as “fringe science”.

Mead, Margaret – FBI Release #1 – [238 Pages, 115.9MB]  Mead, Margaret – FBI Release #2 – [102 Pages, 11MB]  Mead, Margaret – FBI Release #3 – [93 Pages, 9.7MB] – Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and 1970s.  She earned her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College in New York City and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. Mead was a respected and often controversial academic who popularized the insights of anthropology in modern American and Western culture.  Her reports detailing the attitudes towards sex in South Pacific and Southeast Asian traditional cultures influenced the 1960s sexual revolution. She was a proponent of broadening sexual mores within a context of traditional Western religious life.

Millikan, Robert – [6 Pages, 0.8 MB] – Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for the measurement of the elementary electronic charge and for his work on the photoelectric effect. Millikan graduated from Oberlin College in 1891 and obtained his doctorate at Columbia University in 1895. In 1896 he became an assistant at the University of Chicago, where he became a full professor in 1910. In 1909 Millikan began a series of experiments to determine the electric charge carried by a single electron. He began by measuring the course of charged water droplets in an electric field. The results suggested that the charge on the droplets is a multiple of the elementary electric charge, but the experiment was not accurate enough to be convincing. He obtained more precise results in 1910 with his famous oil-drop experiment in which he replaced water (which tended to evaporate too quickly) with oil.  In 1914 Millikan took up with similar skill the experimental verification of the equation introduced by Albert Einstein in 1905 to describe the photoelectric effect. He used this same research to obtain an accurate value of Planck’s constant. In 1921 Millikan left the University of Chicago to become director of the Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California. There he undertook a major study of the radiation that the physicist Victor Hess had detected coming from outer space. Millikan proved that this radiation is indeed of extraterrestrial origin, and he named it “cosmic rays.” As chairman of the Executive Council of Caltech (the school’s governing body at the time) from 1921 until his retirement in 1945, Millikan helped to turn the school into one of the leading research institutions in the United States. He also served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1921 to 1953.

Moon, Robert James – Cross References – [40 Pages, 27.9MB] – Robert James Moon (February 14, 1911 – November 1, 1989) was an American physicist, chemist and engineer. An important figure in 20th century nuclear science, he was involved in America’s wartime Manhattan Project. He pioneered work on the fundamental structure of the atomic nucleus based on platonic solids.

Murray, Bruce [151 Pages, 6.65MB] – Bruce Churchill Murray (November 30, 1931 – August 29, 2013) was an American planetary scientist. He was a director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and co-founder of The Planetary Society.

Murray, Henry [14 Pages, 5.9MB] – Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University. He was Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic in the School of Arts and Sciences after 1930. Murray developed a theory of personality called personology, based on “need” and “press”. Murray was also a co-developer, with Christiana Morgan, of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which he referred to as “the second best-seller that Harvard ever published, second only to the Harvard Handbook of Music.”

Ochsner Sr., Dr. Alton – [ 31 Pages, 20.81MB ]  File #2 – [ 55 Pages, 4.31 MB ]  File #3 – [ 4 Pages, 0.2 MB ] – Alton Ochsner, Sr. (May 4, 1896 – September 24, 1981), was a surgeon and medical researcher who worked at Tulane University and other New Orleans hospitals before he established his own world-renowned The Ochsner Clinic, now known as Ochsner Foundation Hospital. Among its many services are heart transplants.

Olson, Dr. Frank – [10 Pages, 2.9MB] – Frank Rudolph Olson (July 17, 1910 – November 28, 1953) was an American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who worked at Camp Detrick (now Fort Detrick) in Maryland. In rural Maryland, he was covertly dosed with LSD by his CIA supervisor and, nine days later, plunged to his death from the window of a New York City hotel room. Some — including the U.S. government — term his death a suicide, while others allege murder.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert – [ 1,251 Pages, 75.31MB ] – Julius Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is among the persons who are often called the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons. The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, in the Trinity test in New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Parsons, John aka Parsons, Marvel Whiteside – [174 Pages, 87.7MB] – John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952), better known as Jack Parsons, was an American rocket engineer and rocket propulsion researcher, chemist, and Thelemite occultist. Associated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine using a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.

Reich, Wilhelm – [5 Pages, 0.8MB] – Wilhelm Reich (24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian psychoanalyst. Author of several influential books – most notably Character Analysis (1933), The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933) and The Sexual Revolution (1936) – Reich became known as one of the most radical practitioners of psychiatry. His file is very small, and consists of an autopsy analysis request after his death, after it was feared he was poisoned.

Reik, Theodor – Cross References – [12 Pages, 5MB] – Theodor Reik (12 May 1888, Vienna, Austria – 31 December 1969, New York) was a psychoanalyst who trained as one of Freud’s first students in Vienna, Austria, and was a pioneer of lay analysis in the United States.

Robertson, Howard P. – [180 Pages, 7.5MB] – Howard Percy “Bob” Robertson (January 27, 1903 – August 26, 1961) was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University. Note: It was discovered that additional records to Robertson were destroyed. On top of that, additional records are located at the National Archives, which I will post when the FOIA request comes in.

Rubin, Vera – [103 Pages, 51MB] – Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (July 23, 1928 – December 25, 2016) was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates.  She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galactic rotation curves. This phenomenon became known as the galaxy rotation problem, and was evidence of the existence of dark matter. Although initially met with skepticism, Rubin’s results were confirmed over subsequent decades. Her legacy was described by The New York Times as “ushering in a Copernican-scale change” in cosmological theory.

Sagan, Carl – [39 Pages, 5MB] – Dr. Carl Sagan on November 15, 1983, received a letter addressed to him at the Space Science Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. The letter spun stories of possible terrorist happenings. The communiqué was signed “M. Springfield.” A pretext call was made to M. Springfield who was located in the telephone directory. The call revealed that M. Springfield died in 1972, and his widow now resides at the address. She had no knowledge of the letter sent to Dr. Sagan.

Schwarz, Fred – [757 Pages, 53.4MB ] – Doctor Frederick Charles Schwarz (15 January 1913 – 24 January 2009) was an Australian physician and political activist who founded the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC). He made a number of speaking tours in the USA in the 1950s, and in 1960 moved his base of operations to California.  He was the author of the international bestseller, You Can Trust The Communists (to be Communists) (Prentice Hall, 1960). Dr Schwarz worked with his wife, Lillian Schwarz, from abroad and, in his later years, at their home in Camden, near Sydney, in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Seaborg, Glenn – [432 Pages, 258MB] – Glenn Theodore Seaborg (April 19, 1912 – February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work in this area also led to his development of the actinide concept and the arrangement of the actinide series in the periodic table of the elements.  Note: By letter dated June 12, 2018, the FBI stated that additional records that were possibly on Glenn Seaborg were destroyed.  This now represents the complete file held on Seaborg by the FBI.

Shapiro, Zalman – [33 Pages, 4MB] – Zalman Shapiro (1920-2016) was an American chemist and inventor known for his significant contributions to the development of nuclear technology. Born in Canton, Ohio, he earned a doctorate in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. Shapiro is best remembered for his pioneering work at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, where he played a crucial role in the development of the nuclear fuel for the world’s first commercial nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. Additionally, he held numerous patents and founded Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC), which specialized in the production of nuclear materials. Shapiro’s work not only advanced nuclear engineering but also left a lasting impact on the field of energy and national defense.

Shockley, William Bradford – [96 Pages, 51.4MB ] – William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. Shockley was the manager of a research group that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists invented the point-contact transistor in 1947 and were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics. Shockley’s attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s and 1960s led to California’s “Silicon Valley” becoming a hotbed of electronics innovation. In his later life, Shockley was a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University and became a proponent of eugenics.

Singer, Margaret – FBI Release #1- [98 Pages, 47.1MB]  Singer, Margaret – Executive Office for United States Attorneys Release #1- [5 Pages, 1MB]Margaret Thaler Singer (July 29, 1921 – November 23, 2003) was a clinical psychologist and researcher with her colleague Lyman Wynne of family communication.  She was a prominent figure in the study of undue influence in social and religious contexts. Singer’s main areas of research included schizophrenia, family therapy, brainwashing and coercive persuasion. In the 1960s she began to study the nature of social and religious group influence and mind control, and sat as a board member of the American Family Foundation and as an advisory board member of the Cult Awareness Network. She was the co-author of the book Cults in Our Midst.

Smith, Phillip Meek (Release #1) – [ 29 Pages, 27.9MB ]  Smith, Phillip Meek (Release #2) – [ 9 Pages, 0.9MB ] – Dr. Smith was Director of the National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering from 1981 to mid-1994. Previously, he was an Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for Natural Resources, Energy and Science from 1975 to 1981 and branch chief for science at the Office of Management and Budget from 1972 to 1973. Earlier he directed large-scale international research programs in the geophysical sciences at the National Science Foundation. In the 1950s, Smith conducted research in Antarctica and explored then uncharted regions of the continent.

Spock, Benjamin – [513 Pages, 35MB] – Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and liberal political activist whose book Baby and Child Care (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication in 1946 and 50 million by the time of Spock’s death in 1998. The book’s premise to mothers was that they “know more than you think you do.” Spock’s parenting advice and recommendations revolutionized parental upbringing in the United States, and he is considered to be amongst the most famous and influential Americans of the 20th century.

Teller, Edward (FBI Release #1) – [63 Pages, 11.57MB]  Teller, Edward (FBI Release #2) – [84 Pages, 42.3MB] – This release was received in November of 2016. It comprised of the remaining material from the following agencies: USCIS, CIA, AFOSI, DOS and DOE.  Teller, Edward (CIA Release) – [8 Pages, 0.7MB] – This was some material forwarded to the CIA from the FBI for declassification. It was released in September of 2015.  Teller, Edward (AFOSI Release) – [4 Pages, 0.6MB] Edward Teller (January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-born American theoretical physicist who, although he claimed he did not care for the title, is known as “the father of the hydrogen bomb”.  When I first requested Teller’s file, I was told it would be more than 3,500 pages, and incur fees of more than $100. After a few months, I received part of his file, and then more pages were forwarded to multiple agencies.  I am a bit confused how this FOIA request turned out, but as I receive the pages, I will add them accordingly.

Tesla, Nikola – FBI Release #1 – [290 Pages, 53.52MB]  Tesla, Nikola – FBI Release #2 – [354 Pages, 24.5MB] – September 2016 Release – I had previously received a stack of Tesla files, as archived below. This release, with the impression it was a “new” release, is largely duplicate with what I had received previously (link below). However, there are approximately 65+ pages of ‘new’ material at least. I did not go line by line and page by page – however, I will continue to archive both releases here for research.  Tesla, Nikola – FBI Release #3 – [68 Pages, 39.8MB] – April 2018 Release – Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.  Tesla gained experience in telephony and electrical engineering before emigrating to the United States in 1884 to work for Thomas Edison. He soon struck out on his own with financial backers, setting up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical devices. His patented AC induction motor and transformer were licensed by George Westinghouse, who also hired Tesla as a consultant to help develop a power system using alternating current. Tesla is also known for his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs which included patented devices and theoretical work used in the invention of radio communication, for his X-ray experiments, and for his ill-fated attempt at intercontinental wireless transmission in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.

Trump, John G. – [16 Pages, 2.2MB] – John George Trump (August 21, 1907 – February 21, 1985) was an American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist. He was a recipient of U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s National Medal of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Trump was noted for developing rotational radiation therapy. Together with Robert J. Van de Graaff, he developed one of the first million-volt X-ray generators. He was also the uncle of President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.  These documents consist of the entire FOIA case file, and processing notes, to the request I did wherein it was told to me files relating to John G. Trump were destroyed.

von Braun, Wernher – [331 Pages, 36.1MB] – Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German, later American, aerospace engineer and space architect credited with inventing the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany and the Saturn V for the United States. He was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, where he was a member of the Nazi Party and the SS. Following World War II, he was moved to the United States, along with about 1,500 other scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip, where he developed the rockets that launched the United States’ first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings. In his twenties and early thirties, von Braun worked in Germany’s rocket development program, where he helped design and develop the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. Following the war, von Braun worked for the United States Army on an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) program before his group was assimilated into NASA. Under NASA, he served as director of the newly formed Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. In 1975, he received the National Medal of Science. He continued insisting on the human mission to Mars throughout his life.

von Neumann, John – [110 Pages, 7MB] – John von Neumann (December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. Von Neumann was generally regarded as the foremost mathematician of his time and said to be “the last representative of the great mathematicians”; he integrated pure and applied sciences.

Wheeler, John Archibald – [331 Pages, 96.3MB] – John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911 – April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission. Together with Gregory Breit, Wheeler developed the concept of Breit–Wheeler process. He is best known for linking the term “black hole” to objects with gravitational collapse already predicted early in the 20th century, for coining the terms “quantum foam”, “neutron moderator”, “wormhole” and “it from bit”, and for hypothesizing the “one-electron universe”.

The post FBI Files: Scientists and Medical Professionals first appeared on The Black Vault.

A heavily redacted Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) release made public on January 7, 2026, reveals a UAP-related whistleblower reprisal investigation centered on the revocation of classified access that was closed in February 2025. The records do not identify the complainant by name, but the chronology and subject matter overlap with publicly documented whistleblower filings that have been associated with former intelligence official David Grusch. The documents do not confirm that connection, but with the dates and information publicly available, the connection seems highly likely.

(Note: Grusch has repeatedly ignored past attempts by The Black Vault to contact him both via his attorney and close associates, so no additional attempts were made for this story. He is always welcome to contact The Black Vault to respond to a number of open questions.)

This document release was in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Black Vault in April 2025 seeking DoD/IG complaints and reprisal investigations involving whistleblowers who reported UAP-related programs or technologies.

What the DoD IG Investigated

The DoD OIG report describes a reprisal complaint alleging that officials revoked the complainant’s eligibility for access to classified information and refused access to compartmented programs because of UAP-related reporting to the Inspector General.

The Executive Summary states:

“We conducted this investigation in response to a reprisal complaint alleging that officials at the [REDACTED] revoked [REDACTED] (the Complainant) eligibility for access to classified information and refused to grant him access to [REDACTED] compartmented programs. The complaint alleged that this was done in reprisal for reporting Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)-related matters to the DoD Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG).”

The DoD OIG found the complainant “made four protected disclosures,” including one “to the DoD OIG,” with additional recipients redacted.

The Adverse Actions at the Center of the Complaint

The released report ties the reprisal allegation to specific clearance-related actions handled through the Consolidated Adjudications Facility (CAF), including the initial proposal to revoke access and the final revocation.

The report documents an August 29, 2022, notice:

“On August 29, 2022, the [REDACTED] CAF provided the Complainant an LOI and an SOR notifying him that it intended to revoke his eligibility for access to classified information… The notice also removed the Complainant’s access to classified systems and facilities and required him to relinquish his access badges and be placed on paid administrative leave pending the adjudication process.”

It further records the final revocation:

“On December 12, 2022, [REDACTED] signed the final letter of revocation, and on December 13, 2022, emailed the letter to the Complainant notifying him that the CAF revoked his eligibility for access to classified information.”

While the report confirms the existence of UAP-related protected disclosures, the substance of those disclosures is largely obscured by redactions.

The Bottom Line: “Not a Contributing Factor” and “No Recommendations”

The DoD OIG concluded that the protected disclosures were not a contributing factor to the initial intent to revoke and that the final decision would have been the same even if the disclosures had not occurred.

The report states:

“Therefore, we concluded that the Complainant’s protected disclosures were not a contributing factor in the CAF’s initial intent to revoke the Complainant’s eligibility for access to classified information.”

It adds that even after CAF personnel later learned the complainant was claiming whistleblower status, the outcome would not have changed:

“However, clear and convincing evidence established that [REDACTED] would have taken the same action absent the Complainant’s protected disclosures.”

What the Inspector General found was a contributing factor were substantiated findings of misconduct, which the report describes as independent of any whistleblower activity and sufficient, on their own, to justify adverse action. After those findings were developed, the investigation states that CAF was formally notified and conducted its own assessment. According to the report, “on receiving [REDACTED] findings, [REDACTED] reviewed the derogatory information, as well as the Complainant’s history, and felt a revocation was warranted in accordance with DoDM 5200.02.” The report further explains that this determination “was based on a pattern of misconduct,” and referencing a “pattern of behavior issues” underscoring that the decision was not tied to a single event or disclosure, but to cumulative conduct evaluated under established adjudicative standards.

The Inspector General also addressed whether the complainant was treated differently because of his whistleblower status and found no evidence to support that claim. In a section titled Disparate Treatment of the Complainant, the report states plainly, “We found no indication that [REDACTED] CAF personnel treated the Complainant disparately during their review and adjudication.” Testimony from CAF personnel and a review of comparable cases, the report continues, “indicated that nothing was unusual about the Complainant’s case or that he was treated disparately from any other [REDACTED] employee who was not a whistleblower.”

The investigation adds that “On receiving [REDACTED] findings, [REDACTED] reviewed the derogatory information, as well as the Complainants history, and felt a revocation was warranted in accordance with DoDM 5200.02.” It goes on to state that, “This was based on a pattern of misconduct, including the Complainants [REDACTED].”

While much of the underlying conduct and history remains obscured by redactions, the report repeatedly signals that additional, sensitive factors informed the outcome. Large portions of the analysis referring to the complainant’s conduct and history are withheld under privacy and national security exemptions, indicating that information materially relevant to the adjudication could not be publicly released without identifying the individual. Based on the totality of the evidence reviewed, including those redacted elements, the Inspector General concluded the disclosures themselves did not drive the decision, and the complaint was ultimately not substantiated.

Internal Messages Show Confusion Over the Whistleblower Claim and Optics Concerns

One of the more revealing windows into the case appears in redacted internal messages summarized in the findings. Those communications show CAF personnel questioning what, exactly, constituted whistleblowing in the first place, suggesting a disconnect between the clearance adjudication process and the reprisal allegation being asserted.

The report recounts an exchange dated September 29, 2022, including the following:

“On what grounds does [the Complainant]have for a whistleblower case. He didn’t blow any whistle or bring to light any info. What’s his grounds?”

A reply followed:

“I have no idea I have no information about any of that.”

Then came the line that underscores the uncertainty:

“[W]here is whistle blowing?!!! … [I]s there more out there we just don’t know about[?]”

Later communications reflect hesitation about timing and “optics,” including instructions to delay sending the revocation letter:

“[W]e haven’t gotten the OK … to do that[.] … [H]e’s claiming whistleblower status … and [REDACTED] doesn’t want the optics to be terrible[.]”

The report also notes a “stand down” directive tied to concerns about how the action could be perceived.

Those passages do not change the DoD OIG’s final conclusion, but they do document uncertainty and communication gaps inside the process at the time key steps were unfolding.

Return to Work and Restoration of Clearance

While the DoD Inspector General ultimately rejected the reprisal allegation, the report documents that the complainant’s security clearance was later restored through a formal appeals process and that he returned to work. According to the findings, after CAF revoked the complainant’s eligibility for access to classified information, he appealed the decision to the Personnel Security Appeals Board (PSAB). The report states: “On January 9, 2023, after the CAF revoked his clearance, the Complainant appeared before a Personnel Security Appeals Board (PSAB) and presented his appeal to the revocation.” The following day, the outcome changed. As the report records, “the PSAB overturned the original determination to revoke his eligibility for access to SCI, and that his TS/SCI was reinstated this date.”

The investigation further explains that the board’s decision was based on mitigation presented by the complainant rather than any whistleblower considerations. According to the report, during the PSAB hearing the complainant “provided compelling information on each of the other factors outlined in the SOR, which the board felt mitigated the security concerns.” As a result, “the board… voted unanimously to restore the Complainant’s security clearance.” The report also notes that appeals boards overturn revocations with some regularity, with one official estimating that reversals occur “one third of the time,” and stating that there was “nothing unusual about the Complainant’s case.”

Following the restoration of his clearance, the report documents the complainant’s return to duty. Under a section titled The Complainant’s Return to Work, investigators write that “after the Complainant returned to work with his restored security clearance,” officials resubmitted him for compartmented accesses in February 2023. The report states that while those submissions did not result in immediate access, supervisors attempted to reintegrate him into his position. One official told investigators that after the complainant returned to work in January 2023, he “tried to integrate the Complainant back into meaningful work.” The report also notes that the complainant was later formally debriefed on his security clearance status on March 22, 2023.

Taken together, the DoD OIG record shows that although the reprisal complaint was not substantiated and the clearance revocation was deemed justified at the time, the complainant ultimately regained his clearance through the established appeals process and returned to work. The report treats these events as procedurally separate from the whistleblower reprisal analysis, reinforcing the Inspector General’s conclusion that the protected disclosures themselves were not the driving factor behind the original adverse action.

Heavy Redactions and What the FOIA Exemptions Mean

The DoD OIG letter accompanying the release states that “an additional 44 pages are exempt from release in their entirety” and that the withheld material was determined in coordination with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Among the exemptions cited:

The DoD OIG invoked FOIA Exemption (b)(3) for information “exempted from release by statute,” citing 50 U.S.C. § 3024(i)(1) for intelligence “sources and methods,” 50 U.S.C. § 3024(m) for ODNI personnel identifying information, and 5 U.S.C. § 407 for “the confidentiality of employee complaints to the Inspector General.”

The release also relied on (b)(5) for deliberative process material, (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C) for personal privacy, (b)(7)(D) for confidential sources, and (b)(7)(E) for sensitive law enforcement information that could risk circumvention of the law.

The combined effect of these exemptions is substantial: identities, offices, and much of the UAP-related content are removed, limiting independent verification of the complainant’s narrative beyond the broad framework described by the DoD OIG.

The Grusch Question: What Can Be Proven From Public Sources and This Report

The released DoD OIG report confirms a UAP-related reprisal allegation tied to clearance access, investigated under a whistleblower reprisal framework, involving protected disclosures to the DoD OIG and subsequent adverse security clearance actions in 2022.

Public records and reporting associated with David Grusch describe a notably similar structure, but the available evidence does not conclusively establish that this DoD OIG case is his, mainly due to the name being redacted.

Despite that, there is supporting evidence suggesting this case directly relates to Grusch.

An unclassified procedural filing to the Intelligence Community Inspector General  associated with Grusch is dated May 25, 2022, and reflects a “DISCLOSURE OF URGENT CONCERN(S); COMPLAINT OF REPRISAL,” signed under penalty of perjury by “DAVID C. GRUSCH.”

The same filing states that Grusch “confidentially provided UAP-related classified information to the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG)” and describes alleged retaliation and “numerous adverse security clearance actions” after those protected disclosures.

A 2023 report by The Debrief stated the Intelligence Community Inspector General found Grusch’s complaint “credible and urgent” in July 2022.

In sworn congressional context, a hearing document published on Congress.gov reflects Grusch describing reprisals and reporting the matter to an inspector general before filing a whistleblower complaint. Congress.gov

The Black Vault has also previously documented the May 25, 2022, date of the procedural filing and its general allegation of “adverse security clearance actions.”

The FOIA request that this case tied to, as filed by The Black Vault, did not specifically ask for, nor even mention, Grusch in any way. The exact wording of the request was:

“I respectfully request a copy of the following records: all Inspector General complaints, reprisal investigations, threat assessments, or disciplinary communications created from January 1, 2021, to present referencing whistleblowers within the Department of Defense or Intelligence Community who reported UAP-related programs or technologies. This includes, but is not limited to, complaints referencing retaliation for disclosures made to Congress or the media.”

In the responsive records, only one case came up, which indicates given the timeline above, this is most likely Grusch’s case he has made reference to in the past.

But beyond all that, what is arguably the most convincing evidence, though still not definitive proof, is the comparison of the redacted report just released by the DoD OIG, and the previously released, unclassified and un-redacted, “Disclosure of Urgent Concern(s) Complaint of Reprisal” submitted to the Intelligence Community Inspector General. The signature block comparison is below, which indicates it was likely the same law firm that drafted both documents, with a similar signature block structure, length, phrasing choices, and use of fonts.

The released DoD OIG records strongly indicate a UAP-related whistleblower reprisal dispute involving clearance access and protected disclosures. The public timeline and subject matter overlap with publicly available filings and testimony associated with David Grusch. However, the documents released by DoD OIG do not provide enough verifiable information to prove the complainant is Grusch, and the identity cannot be confirmed from this release alone.

Why This Release Still Matters

Even with heavy redactions, the report provides a rare, document-based look at how a UAP-related reprisal allegation moved through an internal national security adjudication and investigative pipeline. It also documents internal confusion about the whistleblower allegation and explicit concern about “optics” while clearance actions were pending.

The DoD OIG’s final position is unambiguous: the complaint was not sustained, and the clearance revocation would have occurred regardless of the protected disclosures.

###

Document Archive

FOIA Case DODOIG-2025-000932 [66 Pages, 8MB]

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The post DoD IG Releases Final UAP Whistleblower Reprisal Report first appeared on The Black Vault.

The primary document released is titled “Morning News of Note – 11 March 2018”, an unclassified briefing product forwarded to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and distributed within senior Department of Defense channels. The email itself is marked UNCLASSIFIED and appears to be part of a routine, standardized news aggregation prepared by OSD Public Affairs Research and Analysis.

The briefing is structured as a curated digest of major national security, defense, and geopolitical news, broken down into sections such as Top Stories, Defense Department, Air Force, Veterans, Asia/Pacific, and other regional or issue-based categories. The content is drawn almost entirely from mainstream media outlets including Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Military.com, and regional newspapers.

The document reflects what senior defense leadership was exposed to in near-real time, rather than internal assessments or classified reporting. Its value lies in showing what issues were prioritized for awareness, not how those issues were internally analyzed.

One of the more notable features of the document is a dedicated “Tweets of Note” section. This section compiles verbatim social media posts from President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, cabinet officials, and members of Congress.

Among the highlighted tweets are President Trump’s statements on:

• Diplomatic engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
• Trade tensions involving China, the European Union, steel, and aluminum tariffs
• Missile testing claims related to North Korea
• Communications with foreign leaders including China’s President Xi Jinping and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

These tweets are reproduced directly, complete with timestamps and Twitter handles, underscoring that presidential social media statements were treated as official signals warranting inclusion in senior-level defense briefings.

Within the Air Force section, the document includes reporting on operational and readiness issues, including articles detailing:

• An “unprecedented spike” in cockpit oxygen and hypoxia-like incidents affecting T-6A trainer aircraft
• Maintenance concerns related to On-Board Oxygen Generating Systems (OBOGS)
• Congressional testimony and internal reviews addressing pilot safety and aircraft readiness

These selections reflect ongoing concerns at the time about aviation safety and training pipeline disruptions, issues directly relevant to Air Force leadership.

While the FOIA request targeted UAP-related keywords, the release does not include internal correspondence or direct discussions by General Wilson regarding UAPs. However, the broader compilation does include media commentary touching on unidentified aerial phenomena.

Notably, the document includes a Washington Post opinion piece by Christopher Mellon titled “The Pentagon isn’t taking UFOs seriously enough.” The article references Navy encounters with unidentified aircraft, declassified videos, and calls for a more coordinated intelligence response. Its inclusion demonstrates that UAP-related coverage in mainstream media was being tracked and surfaced to senior defense officials as early as March 2018, even if no internal commentary accompanied it.

Although the contents are largely composed of publicly available reporting, the document provides insight into:

• The information environment presented to senior military leadership
• The role of media monitoring in shaping situational awareness at the highest levels
• The normalization of presidential tweets as briefing material alongside traditional news reporting
• The presence of UAP-related media coverage within official defense digests, even absent classified analysis

In that sense, the release serves as a small but illustrative window into how external narratives—ranging from global conflict and aircraft safety to UFO reporting and presidential social media—were compiled and elevated within the Department of Defense.

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Document Archive

Document: Morning News of Note – 11 March 2018 (UNCLASSIFIED) [71 Pages, 15MB]
FOIA Case: 24-F-0835
Source: Office of the Secretary of Defense / OSD Public Affairs Research and Analysis

This page functions primarily as an archival reference, documenting the scope and nature of material surfaced to senior Air Force and Department of Defense leadership during this period.

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The post Department of Defense Morning News of Note – 11 March 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault.

In June 2009, then–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to the Department of Defense requesting heightened protection for what he described as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). The four-page letter, addressed to then–Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III, argued that portions of the program warranted Restricted Special Access Program (SAP) status due to sensitivity involving “unconventional aerospace-related findings,” advanced technologies, and national security implications.

The letter itself is no longer in dispute. After years of denials, confusion, and contradictory statements, the Department of Defense ultimately acknowledged its authenticity, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released the document publicly. What remains unresolved, even after more than six and a half years after a Freedom of Information Act request first sought it, is the Department of Defense’s response to Reid’s request.

A final FOIA response issued by the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff on December 15, 2025, under case number 19-F-0948, again produced only Reid’s original letter, directing The Black Vault to the same DIA-hosted copy previously released years earlier. The response asserted that this constituted a “full grant” of the request and stated that no additional responsive records were found.

That conclusion directly conflicts with prior on-the-record statements from the Pentagon.

A Confirmed Response—But Still Missing

In 2021, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed to The Black Vault that the Department of Defense did, in fact, respond to Senator Reid’s 2009 memo.

“I can confirm that the memo you’re referring to is authentic. DOD received it and responded to Sen. Reid,” Gough stated at the time. She added that her office could not release the response because “the Public Affairs office does not release Congressional correspondence.”

The statement strongly implied that a tangible written response existed and had been located. Yet, when specifically requested under FOIA, and after the scope of the request was amended to remove any ambiguity, the Department of Defense now maintains that no such response can be found.

That amendment was formally submitted in April 2020, explicitly asking that all responses to Senator Reid be included in the search. The Department acknowledged receipt of that amendment and confirmed it was incorporated into the case file.

Despite this, the final determination issued in 2025 claims that no response letter exists within the scope of records searched.

Procedures That Require a Written Answer

The unresolved absence of a response raises procedural questions that extend beyond AATIP itself.

Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 5400.04 governs the provision of information to Congress and requires that inquiries be answered in a “responsive and expeditious” manner, generally within 30 days. Additionally, DoD Manual (DoDM) 5110.04-M outlines the internal handling of congressional correspondence and requires that an initial reply or draft be prepared within 14 calendar days for leadership review.

Taken together, these procedures make clear that a written response to a sitting Senate Majority Leader, especially one requesting Special Access Program consideration, would not be optional or informal. At minimum, a written reply or draft response would normally be generated, staffed, and preserved.

The Department of Defense has not explained how such a response could have been sent, as confirmed by its spokesperson, yet leave no recoverable record across multiple offices years later.

A Program Still in Dispute

The missing response letter adds another layer to the long-running controversy surrounding AATIP itself.

On one side of the debate, Reid’s 2009 letter explicitly refers to AATIP as an existing program, describes work already underway, and requests additional security protections. The attached “Attachment 1” lists AATIP as an unclassified nickname, identifies preliminary funding periods, and names both government and contractor personnel associated with the effort.

On the other side, the Department of Defense has repeatedly stated that AATIP was not an official, standalone program and that Luis Elizondo, often described publicly as its director, “had no assigned responsibilities for AATIP while he was in OUSD(I).” That language was reiterated by Gough even while confirming Reid received a response.

The Department has characterized AATIP references as administrative or informal, while critics argue that such explanations do not reconcile with the detailed content of Reid’s memo or the apparent need for a formal Pentagon reply.

A Pattern of Difficulty

Compounding the issue is the unusual history of locating Reid’s original letter itself. For years, the Department of Defense stated it could not be found. It was later located and released by the DIA. Now, after more than six years of FOIA processing, the Pentagon again claims it cannot locate a closely related record that its own spokesperson has acknowledged exists.

Other correspondence between Senator Reid and the Department of Defense has been located and released without comparable difficulty. Only the response to the 2009 AATIP letter appears to fall into a category of persistent absence.

An Unanswered Question

Whether AATIP existed as a formal program, an informal effort, or something in between remains a matter of ongoing dispute. What is no longer speculative is that Senator Reid requested action, and the Department of Defense has stated it responded.

What remains unanswered is why, under procedures that require written congressional correspondence, no response can now be produced. It also begs the question on why this particular document continues to elude release long after the original request was filed.

Until that question is resolved, the 2009 AATIP letter remains not just a controversial document, but part of an incomplete paper trail at the center of one of the Pentagon’s most debated modern mysteries.

###

19-F-0948 FOIA Release Package [6 Pages, 0.5MB]

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The post Six and a Half Years Later, the DoD’s Reply to Harry Reid’s AATIP Memo Remains Missing first appeared on The Black Vault.

The DoW originally stated that no such memorandum was found, but the appeal has now been granted, and the case remanded for a new search.

An Unverified Claim and a Growing Controversy

In June 2023, the Wall Street Journal published claims that a directive from the Secretary of Defense’s office had been circulated across the military services “ordering the practice to stop immediately.” The article tied the alleged directive to a hazing ritual in which service members were falsely told that they were working on operations involving retrieved non-human craft.

The WSJ did not publish the memo, identify its specific date, or provide sourcing for the claim. Following publication, no document surfaced publicly, and no military component acknowledged knowledge of the directive.

In September 2025, the DoW stated in a formal FOIA response to The Black Vault that it had located no such memorandum. On October 1, when asked again about the WSJ claim, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough stated, “Regarding the alleged memo: I cannot confirm the existence of any department-level memo as described in the article. You may want to ask the Air Force or other military services whether they put out such a memo to their personnel.” In the original email, the word “alleged” appeared underlined for emphasis.

The Air Force did not respond after a request for comment, and the FOIA case seeking information on the alleged “Yankee Blue” ritual is still open.

A FOIA Challenge to the Pentagon’s “No Records” Determination

The Black Vault’s FOIA request filed with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on June 17, 2025, sought a copy of any directive issued in spring 2023 ordering the halt of “Yankee Blue”-related practices or other activities involving fabricated claims of reverse-engineering non-human technology.

OSD searched solely within the Correspondence Management Division (CMD) and reported no responsive records.

A formal appeal was filed on September 17, 2025, arguing that the search was inadequate and not legally sufficient under FOIA. The appeal emphasized that:

• The Wall Street Journal presented the alleged memo as fact, not speculation, and attributed some related details to DoD spokesperson Susan Gough.

• FOIA requires agencies to conduct a search “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents,” as established in Oglesby v. U.S. Dep’t of Army, 920 F.2d 57 (D.C. Cir. 1990).

• Limiting the search to CMD failed to meet that standard because a Secretary-level directive could reasonably reside in multiple offices, including policy directorates or the OSD Executive Secretariat.

• Agencies must pursue logical leads that emerge during the inquiry, under Campbell v. DOJ, 164 F.3d 20 (D.C. Cir. 1998).

• Any such memorandum from 2023 would fall under mandatory federal records retention, and its absence would raise records management concerns.

The appeal requested either a broadened search across all appropriate OSD components or a formal clarification as to whether the directive was ever issued at all.

The Appeal Decision: A Full Remand for New Searches

On December 12, 2025, the Acting Chief of the FOIA Division issued a written decision:

“After carefully considering your appeal, and as a result of discussions between FOID personnel and this office, I am remanding your request to FOID for a search for responsive records.”

The letter states that if any releasable records are found, they will be provided, and that the requester may appeal again should a future adverse determination occur.

The appeal victory does not confirm that the memo exists, will be found, or will be released. The decision establishes only that the prior search was insufficient under FOIA and that a renewed, expanded search is now required.

However, in the broader context, the remand highlights several unresolved inconsistencies:

• The WSJ reported a memo as fact, but has not addressed follow-up reporting by The Black Vault, provided a copy of the memorandum, or clarified sourcing.

• The DoW stated to The Black Vault in two separate channels through their FOIA office and Public Affairs office, that it could not confirm the memo’s existence, emphasizing the word “alleged” in their response from the latter.

• The appeal determination directly contradicts the prior FOIA conclusion that no responsive records existed, ordering a new search despite earlier categorical statements.

The result places the question back with the Pentagon: either locate the memo described by the WSJ, or formally resolve whether it was never issued at all.

###

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The post Pentagon Reopens Search for Alleged “Yankee Blue” Memo After Initial Denial first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

1920 Wall Street Bombing – [2,137 Pages, 152MB] – The Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The blast killed thirty people immediately, and another ten died later of wounds sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds. The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by Galleanists (Italian anarchists), a group responsible for a series of bombings the previous year. The attack was related to postwar social unrest, labor struggles, and anti-capitalist agitation in the United States.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani – [3 Pages, 1.2MB] – Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani GCB GCMG (17 September 1932 – 23 October 2016‎‎) was the Emir of Qatar from 27 February 1972 until he was deposed by his son Hamad bin Khalifa on 27 June 1995.  He was the grandfather of the current Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Abel, Rudolf – FBI Release #1 – [1,812 Pages, 934MB] Abel, Rudolf – FBI Release #2 – [1,794 Pages, 371MB] – Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Russian: Рудольф Иванович Абель), real name Vilyam “Willie” Genrikhovich Fisher (Вильям “Вилли” Генрихович Фишер), (July 11, 1903 – November 15, 1971) was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by FBI agents in 1957. In 1957 the U.S. Federal Court in New York convicted Fisher on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case and sentenced him to 30 years’ imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Georgia. He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. He died in 1971 at the age of 68.

Abrams, Stephen Irwin – FBI Release #1 – [28 Pages, 13.3MB] Abrams, Stephen Irwin – FBI Release #2 – [9 Pages, 1.3MB] – Stephen Irwin Abrams (15 July 1938 in Chicago, Illinois – 21 November 2012) was an American scholar of parapsychology and a cannabis rights activist who was a long-standing resident of the United Kingdom. He is best known for sponsoring and authoring the full page advertisement petitioning for cannabis law reform which appeared in The Times on 24 July 1967.

Accuracy in the Media – [20 Pages, 1.4MB] – Accuracy in Media (AIM) is an American non-profit conservative news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine. AIM supported the Vietnam War and blamed media bias for U.S. loss in the war. During the Reagan administration, AIM criticized reporting about the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador. During the Clinton administration, AIM pushed Vince Foster conspiracy theories. During the George W. Bush administration, AIM accused the media of bias against the Iraq War, defended the Bush administration’s use of torture, and campaigned to stop the United States from signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It described 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama as “the most radical candidate ever to stand at the precipice of acquiring his party’s presidential nomination. It is apparent that he is a member of an international socialist movement.” It also criticized the media’s response to COVID-19.

Albertson, William – [492 Pages, 135MB] – William Albertson, an American communist party leader who in 1964 was the subject of a snitch jacket, an FBI project to forge and plant a fictional report identifying him as an informant for the Bureau. Albertson, William – [4 Pages, 2.37MB] – Records are now destroyed, which may indicate the below release in 2011 may be among what was destroyed. It’s also possible those files are now at NARA, as there is a huge list of numbers that were transferred, as archived here with this letter. The Black Vault did not pursue getting them. Albertson, William – [2,563 Pages, 125.3MB] – (Source: GovernmentAttic.org Release)

Alexander, Donald Crichton – [106 Pages, 125.3 MB] – Donald Crichton Alexander (May 22, 1921 – February 2, 2009) was a tax lawyer and Nixon administration official. Alexander was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue by President Richard Nixon in May 1973, and was replaced in February 1977, early in the Jimmy Carter administration.

Alinsky, Saul FBI Release, June 2016 – [462 Pages, 31.7MB] – I requested additional records from the FBI (based on their statement that additional records could exist.) The final determination is that the material was destroyed.  SEE LETTER HERE) Alinsky, Saul File #100-BA-30057, NARA Release, August 2016 – [32 Pages, 35.7 MB] Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community organizer and writer. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing. He is often noted for his 1971 book Rules for Radicals. In the course of nearly four decades of political organizing, Alinsky received much criticism, but also gained praise from many public figures. His organizing skills were focused on improving the living conditions of poor communities across North America. In the 1950s, he began turning his attention to improving conditions in the African-American ghettos, beginning with Chicago’s and later traveling to other ghettos in California, Michigan, New York City, and a dozen other “trouble spots”. His ideas were adapted in the 1960s by some U.S. college students and other young counterculture-era organizers, who used them as part of their strategies for organizing on campus and beyond. Time magazine wrote in 1970 that “It is not too much to argue that American democracy is being altered by Alinsky’s ideas.” Conservative author William F. Buckley, Jr. said in 1966 that Alinsky was “very close to being an organizational genius”.

Allen, Paul – [160 Pages, 28MB] – Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He was best known for co-founding Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which helped spark the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Microsoft became the world’s largest personal computer software company. Allen was ranked as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes in 2018, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death.

Alpha 66  – [1,347 Pages, 67.5MB] – Alpha 66 is an anti-Castro paramilitary organization that operates in the Southern United States. The group was originally formed by Cuban exiles in the early 1960s and was most active in the late 1970s and 1980s. Although its base of support has greatly eroded due to the end of the Cold War and the thawing of relations between the United States and Cuba, Alpha 66 is still active today and is recognized as a terrorist organization by state governments and research groups alike.

America’s Most Wanted – FBI Release #1 – [355 Pages, 18MB] America’s Most Wanted – FBI Release #2 – [377 Pages, 18MB] – America’s Most Wanted is an American television program that was produced by 20th Television. At the time of its cancellation by the Fox television network in June 2011, it was the longest-running program in the network’s history (25 seasons), a mark since surpassed by The Simpsons. The show started off as a half-hour program on February 7, 1988. In 1990, the show’s format was changed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The show’s format was reverted to 30 minutes in 1995, and then back to 60 minutes in 1996. A short-lived syndicated spinoff titled America’s Most Wanted: Final Justice aired during the 1995-96 season. Note: Although America’s Most Wanted was not the main subject of a file, the FBI released their files that mentioned America’s Most Wanted in connection to their respective files. This batch, is everything they sent.

American Alliance of Museums – [109 Pages, 53.9 MB] – The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community. AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. AAM is the only organization representing the entire scope of museums and professionals and nonpaid staff who work for and with museums. AAM currently represents more than 25,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, 4,000 institutions and 150 corporate members. Individual members span the range of occupations in museums, including directors, curators, registrars, educators, exhibit designers, public relations officers, development officers, security managers, trustees and volunteers.

American Bar Association – [114 Pages, 5.7MB] – The American Bar Association (ABA), founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA’s most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. The ABA has 410,000 members. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA; in 2019, 20% of the nation’s lawyers were members.  The organization’s national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois; it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, D.C.

American Psychiatric Association (APA) – [259 Pages, 148.5MB] – The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. Its some 36,000 members are mainly American but some are international. The association publishes various journals and pamphlets, as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM codifies psychiatric conditions and is used worldwide as a guide for diagnosing disorders.

American Psychological Association (APA) – [14 Pages, 6.2MB] – The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 118,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. The APA has an annual budget of around $115m. There are 54 divisions of the APA—interest groups covering different subspecialties of psychology or topical areas.

Amtorg Trading Corporation – [259 Pages, 146MB] – Amtorg Trading Corporation, also known as Amtorg (short for Amerikanskaia Torgovlia, Russian: Амторг), was the first trade representation of the Soviet Union in the United States, established in New York in 1924 by merging Armand Hammer’s Allied American Corporation (Alamerico) with Products Exchange Corporation (Prodexco) and Arcos-America Inc. (the U.S. branch of All Russian Co-operative Society, ARCOS, in Great Britain).

Asian American Political Alliance – [1,663 Pages, 83.4 MB] – The Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) was a political organization started at University of California, Berkeley in 1968 that aimed to unite all Asian Americans under one identity to push for political and social action. The two main chapters were at UC Berkeley, and San Francisco State College, both of which became heavily involved in the larger Asian American movement throughout the 1960s, including at the Third World Liberation Front strikes at SF State and at UC Berkeley.  The AAPA identified as an anti-imperialistic, Third World political organization that fought for self-determination and liberation for Asian Americans. They expressed solidarity and support for other people of color throughout the US and throughout the world, particularly in colonized or recently decolonized countries. The AAPA’s participation in the Third World Liberation Front strikes at SF State and UC Berkeley resulted in the creation of a School of Ethnic Studies at SF State and an Ethnic Studies department at UC Berkeley. The AAPA was also involved in movements such as the Black Power Movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. Although both main chapters were short-lived and disbanded in 1969, the AAPA played a large role in the Asian American movement and was influential in encouraging other Asian Americans to get involved in political action.   This release covers the FBI investigation of the group and its leaders from 1969 through 1972. The FBI was especially interested in the contact the group or its members had with Chinese communists abroad.

Austin, Louis –  [139 Pages,  86MB] – A devout and visionary Philadelphia entrepreneur who foresaw a prosperous industry in bottling Capon Springs water. The bottling business was abandoned after 1959, when Lou retired, although the water remains available free of charge at fountains and faucets.

Baldrige, Letitia – [34 Pages, 1.53 MB] – Letitia Baldrige (February 9, 1926 – October 29, 2012) was an American etiquette expert and public relations executive who was most famous for serving as Jacqueline Kennedy’s Social Secretary. Known as the “Doyenne of Decorum”, she wrote a newspaper column, ran her own PR firm, and, along with updating Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette, she published 20 books and appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and the cover of Time Magazine.

Banco Ambrosiano [4 Pages, 1.4 MB] – Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank’s failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due (aka P2). Vatican Bank was Banco Ambrosiano’s main shareholder, and the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978 is rumored to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal. Vatican Bank was also accused of funneling covert United States funds to Solidarity and the Contras through Banco Ambrosiano.

Banister, Guy [297 Pages, 32.9 MB]  Banister, Guy – Release #2 [335 Pages, 20.3 MB] – William Guy Banister (March 7, 1901 – June 6, 1964) was an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, and a private investigator. After his death, he gained notoriety from allegations made by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison that he had been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  He was an avid anti-communist, alleged member of the Minutemen, the John Birch Society, Louisiana Committee on Un-American Activities, and alleged publisher of the Louisiana Intelligence Digest. He also supported various anti-Castro groups in the New Orleans area: “Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front”; “Anti-Communist League of the Caribbean”; “Friends of Democratic Cuba”. According to the New Orleans States-Item newspaper, “Guy [Banister] participated in every anti-Communist South and Central American revolution that came along, acting as a key liaison man for the U.S. government-sponsored anti-Communist activities in Latin America.”

Banks, Dennis – FBI Release #1 – [324 Pages, 200MB] Banks, Dennis – FBI VAULT Release #1 – [681 Pages, 31MB] – Dennis Banks (April 12, 1937, in Ojibwe – October 29, 2017) was a Native American activist, teacher, and author. He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 to represent urban Indians.

Barker, Bernard Leon (FBI File) – [352 Pages, 23.57 MB]  Barker, Bernard Leon (Secret Service File) – [ 18 Pages, 0.9 MB ]- Bernard Leon Barker (March 17, 1917 – June 5, 2009) was a Watergate burglar. He had a long career as an undercover operative.

Barlow, Lester – FBI Release #1 – [235 Pages, 46MB] Barlow, Lester – Archived Release #1 (Archived from a third party requester – may be duplicated pages) – [239 Pages, 13.6MB] – Lester Pence Barlow was an American inventor and engineer, known for his significant contributions to military technology during World War I. Born in the late 19th century, Barlow’s innovative spirit led him to develop some of the first aerial bombs and torpedoes, revolutionizing modern warfare. His designs were instrumental in advancing aerial combat capabilities, providing a crucial edge to Allied forces. Barlow’s work not only demonstrated remarkable technical prowess but also highlighted the transformative impact of aerial munitions in 20th-century military strategy. His legacy endures as a testament to the pivotal role of inventive engineering in warfare.

Battelle Memorial Institute – [261 Pages, 23.57MB] – Battelle Memorial Institute (more widely known as simply Battelle) is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code because it is organized for charitable, scientific and education purposes. The institute opened in 1929 but traces its origins to the 1923 will of Ohio industrialist Gordon Battelle which provided for its creation. Originally focusing on contract research and development work in the areas of metals and material science, Battelle is now an international science and technology enterprise that explores emerging areas of science, develops and commercializes technology, and manages laboratories for customers.

Belli, Melvin – [369 Pages, 39.9 MB] – Melvin Mouron Belli (July 29, 1907 – July 9, 1996) was a prominent American lawyer known as “The King of Torts” and by insurance companies as “Melvin Bellicose.” He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Errol Flynn, Chuck Berry, Muhammad Ali, The Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha Mitchell, Maureen Connolly, Lana Turner, Tony Curtis, and Mae West. He won over $600 million in judgments during his legal career. He was also the attorney for Jack Ruby, who shot Lee Harvey Oswald for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Baikowitz, Dr. Bernardo Benes – [115 Pages, 20MB] – Dr. Bernardo Benes Baikowitz (27 December 1934 in Matanzas, Cuba – 14 January 2019 in Miami, Florida) was a prominent Jewish Cuban lawyer, banker, journalist and civic leader, who was responsible for freeing 3,600 Cuban political prisoners in 1978.

Bates, Sanford– [254 Pages, 24MB] – Sanford Bates (1884–1972) was an American lawyer, public official, and pioneering corrections administrator best known as the first director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. Before his federal service, he practiced law in Massachusetts and served in the state legislature, gaining a reputation for progressive views on criminal justice. Appointed in 1930, Bates shaped the early philosophy and structure of the federal prison system, emphasizing professional administration, standardized procedures, rehabilitation, and humane treatment. After leaving the Bureau in 1937, he continued to influence corrections nationally as the head of the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies and through leadership roles in the American Prison Association. His career left a lasting legacy on modern correctional management and reform.

Berkshire Hathaway (Cross References) – [96 Pages, 3.8MB] – Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by Oliver Chace in 1839 as a textile manufacturing company, it was eventually taken over by Warren Buffett in the mid-1960s, transforming it into a diversified powerhouse with investments in a vast range of sectors including insurance, utilities, rail transportation, and consumer goods, among others. Renowned for its consistent performance and Buffett’s unique investment philosophy, Berkshire Hathaway stands as one of the most respected and valuable companies in the world.

Blaichman, Frank (Cross References) –  [10 Pages, 1.3MB] – Frank Blaichman (December 11, 1922 – December 27, 2018), also known as Ephraim Blaichman, occasionally spelled Frank Bleichman, and in Polish Franek or Franciszek Blajchman, was a Holocaust survivor who was a Polish-Jewish leader of an armed organization during World War II.

Bras, Juan Mari – [19 Pages, 14MB] – Juan Mari Brás (December 2, 1927 – September 10, 2010) was an advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States who founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP). On October 25, 2006, he became the first person to receive a Puerto Rican citizenship c ertificate from the Puerto Rico State Department. These documents were obtained, after a FOIA appeal.

Bridges, Harry – [199 Pages, 151MB] – Harry Renton Bridges (1901-1990) was a prominent Australian-born American labor leader who played a crucial role in the labor movement on the West Coast of the United States. Emigrating to the U.S. in 1920, Bridges became a leading figure in the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), known for his advocacy of workers’ rights and his efforts to unionize dockworkers. He led the pivotal 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike, which resulted in significant gains for workers and established the ILWU as a powerful force in labor relations. Despite facing numerous legal battles, including accusations of being a communist, Bridges remained a steadfast and influential advocate for labor rights until his death, leaving a lasting legacy in the American labor movement.

British Broadcasting Company (BBC) – [15 Pages, 1MB] – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, and it is the world’s oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 22,000 staff in total, more than 16,000 of whom are in public sector broadcasting.  The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed-contract staff are included.

Browning, James Louis – [192 Pages, 78MB ] – James Louis Browning, Jr. (December 8, 1932 – January 12, 2016) was a California jurist. He served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of California from 1969 to 1977 and later as a municipal, then state judge. He was the lead prosecutor in the sensational case that sent newspaper heiress Patty Hearst to prison in 1976. Many documents on Mr. Browning were destroyed, as indicated by the FOIA response letter.

Burgman, Herbert John – [239 Pages, 54.5MB ] – Herbert John Burgman (1894–1953) was an American broadcaster and journalist who became notorious for his role as a propagandist during World War II. Born in Hokah, Minnesota, Burgman served in the U.S. Army during World War I and subsequently found work in Berlin as a clerk at the American Embassy. He remained in Germany after the Nazis rose to power and became involved with German radio broadcasting. During World War II, he became known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi broadcasts under the pseudonym “Joe Scanlon,” attempting to demoralize Allied troops with disinformation. After the war, he was arrested, tried for treason in the U.S., and sentenced to imprisonment in 1949. He died in prison a few years later.

Burning Man – [19 Pages, 6.7 MB] – Burning Man is an annual gathering that takes place at Black Rock City—a temporary community erected in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by 10 main principles, including “radical” inclusion, self-reliance and self-expression, as well as community cooperation, gifting and decommodification, and leaving no trace. First held in 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function organized by Larry Harvey and a group of friends, it has since been held annually, spanning from the last Sunday in August to the first Monday in September (the U.S. Labor Day); for example, Burning Man 2015 took place August 30 – September 7, 2015.

Bull, Gerald – FBI Release #1 – [69 Pages, 30MB]  Bull, Gerald – FBI Release #2 – [7 Pages, 1MB]Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon “supergun” for the Iraqi government. Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels, Belgium in March 1990.

Burning of the ROTC Building at Kent State University, 1970 – [68 Pages, 27.6MB] – The burning of the ROTC building at Kent State University occurred on May 2, 1970, amid a backdrop of intense national protests against the Vietnam War. Students at the university had been increasingly vocal in their opposition to the war, and tensions reached a boiling point when President Nixon announced the expansion of the war into Cambodia. The ROTC building, symbolizing military presence on campus, was set ablaze by protesters, leading to significant unrest. This event was a precursor to the tragic shootings on May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students, resulting in four deaths and nine injuries, marking a pivotal moment in the anti-war movement and American history.

Bush, Barbara– FBI Vault Release #1 – [61 Pages, 4.5MB] Bush, Barbara– FBI Release #1 – [6 Pages, 2.64MB] – Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993 as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously was the second lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Among her six children are George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another.

Busic, Zvonko – FBI Release #1 – [110 Pages, 45.5MB]  Busic, Zvonko – FBI Release #2 – [96 Pages, 40MB]  Busic, Zvonko – FBI Release #3 – [70 Pages, 4.5MB]  Busic, Zvonko – DOJ/OIP Release #1 – [4 Pages, 0.5MB] – Zvonko Bušić (23 January 1946 – 1 September 2013) was a Croatian emigrant, responsible for hijacking TWA Flight 355 in September 1976. He was subsequently convicted of air piracy and spent 32 years in prison in the United States before being released on parole and deported in July 2008. On 10 September 1976, Zvonko and his wife, Julienne, along with Petar Matanić and Frane Pešut, hijacked a commercial Trans World Airlines plane, Boeing 727, Flight 355, heading from New York to Chicago.  The mastermind of the hijacking, Zvonko Bušić, delivered a note to the captain in which he informed him that the airplane was hijacked, that the group had five gelignite bombs on board, and that another bomb was planted in a locker across from The Commodore Hotel in New York with further instructions.   NOTE: There are an additional 7,300 pages on Busic that have yet to be released. If anyone would like to sponsor this file – please CONTACT ME.

Byers, Louis T. – FBI Release #1 – [6 Pages, 1MB]  Byers, Louis T. – FBI Release #2 – [326 Pages, 187MB] –  Louis Temple Byers (July 4, 1931 – October 22, 1981) was an early official of the Willis Carto backed National Youth Alliance. Byers was the NYA leader from 1969 through 1971 until Dr. William Pierce assumed control of the organization. Byers was once a paid coordinator for the John Birch Society in Pittsburgh.  Byers founded the Francis Parker Yockey Society. In 1968, Byers was a Pennsylvania organizer for the Gov. George C. Wallace campaign when he ran for president on the American Independent Party ticket. In October 1981 Louis T. Byers died of cancer.

Byrd, David Harold – FBI Release #1- [18 Pages, 1MB] Byrd, David Harold – FBI Release #2- [14 Pages, 1MB] – David Harold “Dry Hole” Byrd (24 April 1900 – 14 September 1986) was a noted Texan producer of petroleum, and a co-founder of the Civil Air Patrol. Byrd’s cousin, polar explorer Richard E. Byrd, named Antarctica’s Harold Byrd Mountains for him.

Cahill, Thomas J. – [116 Pages, 66.8MB ] – Thomas J. Cahill was the chief of police of San Francisco, California from 1958 to 1970 and still has the distinction of having the longest tenure as chief of police in San Francisco history, serving under three mayors (George Christopher, John F. Shelley, and Joseph Alioto) through decades that saw tremendous social changes and upheavals. People called him Tom. He was born June 8, 1910, on Montana Street on the North Side of Chicago. His family returned to County Kilkenny, Ireland, when he was a child, and Cahill returned to San Francisco in 1930.

Cain, Herman– [114 Pages, 21MB] – Herman Cain was an American businessman, writer, and political figure, born on December 13, 1945, in Memphis, Tennessee, and passed away on July 30, 2020. He rose to prominence as a successful businessman, most notably serving as the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, a role in which he notably turned the company’s fortunes around. Cain also served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch. He gained political attention during his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, where he was known for his “9-9-9” tax reform plan, which proposed replacing the current tax system with a 9% business transaction tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% federal sales tax. Cain’s life was a blend of corporate success and political aspiration, making him a notable figure in American business and politics.

Calvi, Roberto – [34 Pages, 16.3MB ] – Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker dubbed “God’s Banker” (Italian: Banchiere di Dio) by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy’s biggest political scandals. His death in London in June 1982 is a source of enduring controversy and was ruled a murder after two coroner’s inquests and an independent investigation. In Rome, in June 2007, five people were acquitted of the murder.

Cameron, Edwin – FBI Release #1 – [55 Pages, 6MB] Cameron, Edwin – FBI Release #2 – [9 Pages, 1.2MB] – Edwin Cameron was the NSA’s top analyst on foreign rocketry and missile activities, with an additional specialization in Soviet-era space activities.

Cameron, Lyle – [129 Pages, 6.5MB ] – Lyle Cameron was a well know skydiver, and published a magazine on the topic.

Caruso, Pietro – FBI Release #1 – [4 Pages, 1.0MB]  Caruso, Pietro – FBI Release #2 – [3 Pages, 0.7MB]Pietro Caruso (born 10 November 1899 in Maddaloni – died 22 September 1944 in Rome) was an Italian Fascist and head of the Italian police during the final part of World War II. Together with Herbert Kappler, the German Gestapo chief in Rome, Caruso organised the massacre in Fosse Ardeatine on 24 March 1944 as revenge for an attack the day before by Italian partisans on a column of German soldiers in Rome. 335 people, many of them belonging to a Communist military resistance group, were shot during the massacre.

Church of Scientology – [1,519 Pages, 749MB] – (Note: Very large file. Recommend right clicking and downloading to your hard drive) Developed by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being.  Scientology addresses the spirit—not the body or mind—and believes that Man is far more than a product of his environment, or his genes.

Citzens’ Council – FBI Release #1 – [829 Pages, 192MB] Citzens’ Council – FBI Release #2 – [22 Pages, 12.9MB] Citzens’ Council – FBI Release #3 – [20 Pages, 7MB] – The Citizens’ Councils (also referred to as White Citizens’ Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, extreme right organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South. The first was formed on July 11, 1954. After 1956, it was known as the Citizens’ Councils of America. With about 60,000 members across the United States, mostly in the South, the groups were founded primarily to oppose racial integration of schools following the US Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. They also opposed voter registration efforts in the South, where most blacks had been disenfranchised since the turn of the 20th century, and integration of public facilities during the 1950s and 1960s. Members used intimidation tactics including economic boycotts, firing people from jobs, propaganda, and committing violence against citizens and civil-rights activists.

Cochran, Jr., Johnnie – [99 Pages, 39MB] – Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. (October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. Cochran represented Sean Combs during his trial on gun and bribery charges, as well as Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Todd Bridges, football player Jim Brown, Snoop Dogg, former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, 1992 Los Angeles riot beating victim Reginald Oliver Denny, and inmate and activist Geronimo Pratt. He represented athlete Marion Jones when she faced charges of doping during her high school track career. Cochran was known for his skill in the courtroom and his prominence as an early advocate for victims of police brutality.

Cohn, Roy– [748 Pages, 100MB] – Roy Marcus Cohn (February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer best known for being Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, for assisting with McCarthy’s investigations of suspected communists, as a top political fixer, and for being Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. The Black Vault’s FOIA Case number for reference (no letter is attached to this since it was released electronically) is 1432506-000.

Crouch, Paul Franklin – [ 76 Pages, 33.5 MB ] – Paul Franklin Crouch (March 30, 1934 – November 30, 2013) was an American Christian broadcaster. Crouch, along with his wife Jan, and televangelist Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network in 1973 (TBN).

Cryptome.org – [125 Pages, 38.5 MB] – Cryptome is a 501(c)(3) private foundation created in 1996 by John Young and Deborah Natsios and sponsored by Natsios-Young Architects. The site collects information about freedom of expression, privacy, cryptography, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, government secrecy.

Cult of the Dead Cow – [73 Pages, 10MB] – Cult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas.

Darrow, Clarence – [ File #1 ] – Clarence Darrow was a lawyer from the 1900’s to 1930’s. There have been many books on him, an estimated number of fifty. He was the best orator of his time and was coveted at all kinds of debates.Once he had moved from Ohio, he quickly became the most successful lawyer in Chicago, and grew to be the most famous lawyer in all of history. This is Miscellaneous material and correspondence regarding the famous attorney.

Dean, Arthur Hobson – [113 Pages, 55MB] – Arthur Hobson Dean (1898–1987) was a New York City lawyer and diplomat who was viewed as one of the leading corporate lawyers of his day, as well having served as a key adviser to numerous U.S. presidents. Dean was chairman and senior partner of Sullivan & Cromwell, where he worked closely with John Foster Dulles. He was the chief U.S. negotiator at Panmunjeom where he helped negotiate the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended the Korean War, and also helped draft and negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. Dean was a member (and later served on the Board of Directors) of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society and served as a delegate to the United Nations. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group and participated in 14 conferences between 1957 and 1975.

Deatherage, George– FBI Release #1 – [2,294 Pages, 1.5GB] Please note: This is a extremely large file of 1.5 gigabyte — it is recommended you right click and download the file to your desktop Deatherage, George– FBI Release #2 – [100 Pages, 67MB] – George Edward Deatherage (November 15, 1893 – March 31, 1965) was an American political activist and a promoter of nationalism. A native of Minnesota and an engineer by training, he authored several books on construction.

Delaney, Edward Leo – [260 Pages, 156.9 MB] – Edward Leo Delaney (December 12, 1885 – July 1, 1972) was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. He was indicted on charges of treason in 1943, but after the war the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

DePugh, Robert Boliver – [1,485 Pages, 799.7MB] – Robert Boliver “Bob” DePugh (15 April 1923 – 30 June 2009) was an American anti-Communist activist who founded the Minutemen militant anti-Communist organization in 1961.

Douglas, Donald Willis – [8 Pages, 5.2MB] – Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (April 6, 1892 – February 1, 1981) was an American aircraft industrialist and engineer. An aviation pioneer, he designed and built the Douglas Cloudster. Though it failed in its intended purpose—being the first to fly non-stop across the United States—it became the first airplane with a payload greater than its own weight.

Dummar, Melvin – [15 Pages, 4.4MB] – Melvin Earl Dummar (August 28, 1944 – December 9, 2018) was a Utah man who gained attention when he claimed to have saved reclusive business tycoon Howard Hughes in the Nevada desert in 1967, and to have been awarded part of Hughes’ vast estate. Dummar’s claims resulted in a series of court battles that all ended in rulings against Dummar. A Las Vegas jury determined in 1978 that the will, leaving Dummar $156 million, was a forgery. Dummar’s story was later adapted into Jonathan Demme’s film Melvin and Howard in 1980, in which he was portrayed by actor Paul Le Mat. A 2005 reinvestigation of the circumstances surrounding the so-called Dummar Will yielded new evidence not previously known.

Duncan, Donald – [242 Pages, 109.2 MB] – Master Sergeant Donald Walter “Don” Duncan (March 18, 1930 – March 25, 2009) was a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who served during the Vietnam War, helping to establish the guerrilla infiltration force Project DELTA there. Following his return to the United States, Duncan became outspoken in his opposition to the conflict and became one of the leading public figures in opposition to the war. Duncan is best remembered as the military editor of the radical monthly magazine, Ramparts, during the Vietnam conflict and for his testimony to the 1967 Russell Tribunal detailing American war crimes in Vietnam.

Eisenhower, Milton S.– [20 Pages, 1.2MB] – Milton Stover Eisenhower (September 15, 1899 – May 2, 1985) was an American educational administrator. He served as president of three major American universities: Kansas State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Johns Hopkins University. He was the younger brother of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – [9 Pages, 4.44 MB] – The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. We work to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows.

Elmhurst, Ernest F. – [445 Pages, 34MB] – Ernest Frederick Elmhurst, originally named Hermann Fleischkopf, was born on July 27, 1891, and passed away on March 1, 1967. He is most known for his book “The World Hoax” published in 1939. Elmhurst’s activities often placed him in controversial situations, notably his participation as an American delegate in the Pan-Aryan Anti-Jewish Union conference in Erfurt, Germany, in August 1937, sponsored by World Service. He also faced legal challenges, including his role as a defendant in the Great Sedition Trial of 1944. During this time, he worked as a head waiter at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington but was dismissed following the intervention of political gossip columnist Walter Winchell on his national radio show. Additionally, in October 1945, Elmhurst was arrested in New York City, along with others, on charges of unlawful assembly and selling pamphlets on Jewish ritual murder, resulting in a six-month sentence in a work house. Elmhurst also ventured into East Germany secretly in 1952 and 1956 to observe conditions in the communist country​​​​​​​​.

Epstein, Hedy – [9 Pages, 245.7MB] – Hedy Epstein (August 15, 1924 – May 26, 2016) was a German-born Jewish-American political activist known for her support of the Palestinian cause through the International Solidarity Movement. Born in Freiburg to a Jewish family, she was rescued from Nazi Germany by the Kindertransport in 1939. She immigrated to the United States in 1948, and lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for many years.

Equifax – [41 Pages, 14.8MB] – Equifax Inc. is a data analytics and technology company that assists organizations and individuals in making informed business and personal decisions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs over 10,000 employees worldwide.

FBI Undercover Operations and Guidelines – [ File #1 ] – Although not a historical figure file, it does should the history of the FBI and the domestic surveillance programs. I felt it would be a fit here.

Feeney, Leonard  – [233 Pages, 131MB]  Feeney, Leonard Cross References  – [15 Pages, 7MB]Father Leonard Edward Feeney (February 18, 1897 – January 30, 1978) was an American Jesuit priest, poet, lyricist, and essayist. He articulated and defended a strict interpretation of the Roman Catholic doctrine, extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (“outside the Church there is no salvation”). He took the position that baptism of blood and baptism of desire are unavailing and that therefore no non-Catholics will be saved. Fighting against what he perceived to be the liberalization of Catholic doctrine, he came under ecclesiastical censure. He was described as Boston’s homegrown version of Father Charles Coughlin for his antisemitism.

Felt, Mark  – [233 Pages, 131MB] – William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt was an FBI special agent who eventually rose to the position of Associate Director, the Bureau’s second-highest-ranking post. Felt worked in several FBI field offices prior to his promotion to the Bureau’s headquarters. In 1980 he was convicted of having violated the civil rights of people thought to be associated with members of the Weather Underground, by ordering FBI agents to break into their homes and search the premises as part of an attempt to prevent bombings. He was ordered to pay a fine, but was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan during his appeal. In 2005, at age 91, Felt revealed that during his tenure as associate director of the FBI he had been the notorious anonymous source known as “Deep Throat” who provided The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein with critical information about the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Though Felt’s identity as Deep Throat was suspected, including by Nixon himself it had generally remained a secret for 30 years. Felt finally acknowledged that he was Deep Throat after being persuaded by his daughter to reveal his identity before his death.

Fensterwald, Bernard  – [280 Pages, 160.8MB] – Bernard “Bud” Fensterwald Jr. (August 2, 1921 – April 2, 1991) was an American lawyer who defended James Earl Ray and James W. McCord Jr. Other notable clients included Mitch WerBell, Richard Case Nagell and the widow of John Paisley.

Field, Frederick Vanderbuilt – [283 Pages, 14MB] – Frederick Vanderbilt Field was an American leftist political activist and a great-great-grandson of railroad tycoon Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, disinherited by his wealthy relatives for his radical political views. Field became a specialist on Asia and was a prime staff member and supporter of the Institute of Pacific Relations. He also supported Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party and so many openly Communist organizations that he was accused of being a member of the Communist Party. He was a top target of the American government during the peak of 1950s McCarthyism. Field denied ever having been a party member but admitted in his memoirs, “I suppose I was what the Party called a ‘member at large.'”

Finders Cult – FBI Release #1 – [373 Pages, 196MB]  Finders Cult – FBI Release #2 – [280 Pages, 120MB] – A bizarre and rarely heard about cult that allegedly deals with white slave traffic, sexual exploitation of children, and satanic rituals. It also found its way into many “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories. Not much is known, but here is a pile of hundreds of documents released on the “cult.”

Fischer, Robert “Bobby” Release #1 – [ 14 Pages, 6.6 MB ]  Fischer, Robert “Bobby” Release #2 – [ 10 Pages, 1.8 MB ] – Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster, the eleventh World Chess Champion. Many consider him the greatest chess player of all time. In 1972, he captured the World Chess Championship from Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland, publicized as a Cold War confrontation which attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, the game’s international governing body, over one of the conditions for the match. This allowed Soviet GM Anatoly Karpov, who had won the qualifying Candidates’ cycle, to become the new world champion by default under FIDE rules. There may be additional records, which I have requested. I will add them here, if they become available.

Fitzgerald, A. Ernest – [15 Pages, 160.8MB] – Arthur Ernest “Ernie” Fitzgerald (July 31, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American engineer, a member of the Senior Executive Service in the United States Air Force, and a prominent U.S. government whistleblower.

Ford, Henry – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 | File #5 ] – These records consist of seven files involving Henry Ford on various subjects, such as his being the victim of an extortion attempt, kidnapping plots, jury tampering, and a State Department investigation.

FTX– [11 Pages, 3MB] – FTX, founded in 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, rapidly emerged as one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. It distinguished itself with a comprehensive range of products including derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens. FTX was designed to cater to both retail and institutional traders, offering innovative features such as a centralized collateral pool and a tiered liquidation model, aimed at reducing clawback risks associated with leveraged trading. The platform quickly gained a reputation for its user-friendly interface, deep liquidity, and a robust, agile infrastructure that could handle high trading volumes and complex trading strategies. FTX’s growth trajectory and influence in the cryptocurrency market were significant, as it ventured into realms like tokenized stocks and prediction markets, further solidifying its position as a versatile and influential player in the digital asset space.

Fully Informed Jury Association– [193 Pages, 11.5MB] – The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA), founded in 1989, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about jurors’ rights, powers, and responsibilities within the American legal system. FIJA promotes the idea that jurors serve not only as finders of fact but also as a final check on government power, emphasizing the historical concept of jury nullification—the ability of jurors to acquit defendants if they believe a law is unjust or improperly applied. Through educational campaigns, publications, and grassroots outreach, the organization seeks to empower citizens to make independent, conscientious decisions in the jury box. FIJA remains a prominent voice in discussions about civic duty, legal reform, and the balance between law and justice.

Fusion Energy Foundation – FBI Release #1 – [205 Pages, 25MB] Fusion Energy Foundation – FBI Release #2 – [64 Pages, 5.5MB] – The Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF) was a U.S.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1974 that promoted research and public support for nuclear fusion as a long-term solution to global energy needs. It published Fusion magazine, organized conferences, and sought to influence policymakers by advocating increased federal funding for fusion research and related high-technology development. Although it portrayed itself as a scientific and educational group, the FEF was closely associated with Lyndon LaRouche’s political network, a connection that ultimately drew controversy and criticism. The foundation was dissolved in the mid-1980s, but it remains a notable example of the intersection between science advocacy and political movements during the Cold War era.

Fusion GPS – [11 Pages, 3MB] – Fusion GPS is a commercial research and strategic intelligence firm based in Washington, D.C. The company conducts open-source investigations and provides research and strategic advice for businesses, law firms and investors, as well as for political inquiries, such as opposition research. The “GPS” initialism is derived from “Global research, Political analysis, Strategic insight”.

Garment, Leonard – [ 338 Pages, 15.26 MB ] – Leonard Garment (May 11, 1924 – July 13, 2013) was an American attorney, public servant, and arts advocate. He served U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the White House in various positions from 1969 to 1976, including Counselor to the President, acting Special Counsel to Nixon for the last two years of his presidency, and U.S. Ambassador to the Third Committee at the United Nations.

Garrison, Jim – [ 160 Pages, 10.13 MB ] – Earling Carothers “Jim” Garrison (November 20, 1921 – October 21, 1992) – who changed his first name to Jim in the early 1960s – was the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, from 1962 to 1973. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for his investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He was played by Kevin Costner in Oliver Stone’s JFK.Requesting additional records on Garrison, other than the above, the FBI informed me that records may have BEEN DESTROYED.  In addition, others may exist at the National Archives. I am awaiting a response.

General Mills, Inc. – FBI Release #1 – [121 Pages, 70MB]  General Mills, Inc. – FBI Release #2 – [423 Pages, 20MB]  General Mills, Inc. – FBI Release #3 – [260 Pages, 150MB]  General Mills, Inc. – FBI Release #4 – [25 Pages, 3.5MB] – General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. It is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known North American brands, including Gold Medal flour, Annie’s Homegrown, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totino’s, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Cheerios, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and Lucky Charms. Its brand portfolio includes more than 89 other leading U.S. brands and numerous category leaders around the world.

Giacchetto, Dana – FBI Release #1 – [583 Pages, 74.7MB] Giacchetto, Dana – FBI Release #2 – [96 Pages, 3.6MB] Giacchetto, Dana – US Marsha’s Release #1 [5 Pages, 4MB] – Dana Giacchetto rose to prominence as an investment adviser and social fixture in Manhattan during the nineties. Some of his clients included Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Matt Damon, and so on. His career went on a downward spiral when he was arrested for misappropriating between $5 million and $10 million of clients’ funds.In 2000, Dana Giacchetto was sentenced to 57 months in prison for securities fraud after stealing between $5 and $10 million from clients at his company Cassandra Group. Giachetto had stolen money from accounts of non-celebrity clients to finance a high-flying lifestyle and give extraordinary returns or mask losses to star clients. He was released in 2003. Giacchetto, notorious both before and after his infamy for partying hard, was discovered by his roommate in his Upper East Side apartment following a bender that included a drunken scuffle with security guards at a Lower East Side club on Friday night. He was pronounced dead early Sunday, a New York Police Dept. official confirmed. Giacchetto was 53.

Gillars, Mildred – [669 Pages, 321.6MB] – Mildred Elizabeth Gillars (November 29, 1900 – June 25, 1988), nicknamed “Axis Sally” along with Rita Zucca, was an American broadcaster employed by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to disseminate propaganda during World War II. She was convicted of treason by the United States in 1949 following her capture in post-war Berlin.

Graham, Billy– [477 Pages, 295.3MB] – William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist, a prominent evangelical Christian figure, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well-known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him “among the most influential Christian leaders” of the 20th century.

Gay, Oscar S.– [27 Pages, 2.95MB] – Oscar S. Gray is a distinguished legal scholar known for his expertise in the field of tort law. As a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, he has made significant contributions to the understanding and development of tort law principles. Gray is renowned for his co-authorship of the seminal casebook “Harper, James and Gray on Torts,” which is widely used in law schools across the United States. His work has been influential in shaping the way tort law is taught and understood by legal professionals. With a career spanning several decades, Gray has earned a reputation as a leading authority in the field, and his contributions continue to impact the study and practice of tort law.

Greenberg, Jack– [58 Pages, 26MB] – Jack Greenberg (December 22, 1924 – October 12, 2016) was an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall. He was involved in numerous crucial cases, including Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools.  In all, he argued 40 civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was Alphonse Fletcher Jr. Professor of Law Emeritus at Columbia Law School, and had previously served as dean of Columbia College and vice dean of Columbia Law School. He died on October 12, 2016.

Guccione, Robert “Bob” (Cross References) – [123 Pages, 20.4MB] Guccione, Robert “Bob” (FBI Release #2) – [6 Pages, 20.4MB] – Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione (December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American photographer and the founder of the adult magazine Penthouse in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner’s Playboy, but with more extreme erotic content, a special style of soft-focus photography, and in-depth reporting of government corruption scandals. By 1982 Guccione was listed in the Forbes 400 wealth list, and owned one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan. However, he made some extravagant investments that failed, and the growth of free online pornography in the 1990s greatly diminished his market. In 2003, Guccione’s publishers filed for bankruptcy and he resigned as chairman.

Hahn, David Charles “The Radioactive Boy Scout” – [20 Pages, 7.9MB] – David Charles Hahn (October 30, 1976 – September 27, 2016), sometimes called the Radioactive Boy Scout or the Nuclear Boy Scout, was an American man who in 1994, at age 17, attempted to build a homemade breeder reactor. A scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Hahn conducted his experiments in secret in a backyard shed at his mother’s house in Commerce Township, Michigan. While his reactor never reached critical mass, Hahn attracted the attention of local police when he was stopped on another matter and they found material in his vehicle that troubled them, and he warned that it was radioactive. His mother’s property was cleaned up by the Environmental Protection Agency ten months later as a Superfund cleanup site. Hahn attained Eagle Scout rank shortly after his lab was dismantled. While the incident was not widely publicized initially, it became better known following a 1998 Harper’s article by journalist Ken Silverstein. Hahn was also the subject of Silverstein’s 2004 book, The Radioactive Boy Scout.

Hammer, Armand – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 | File #5 | File #6 | File #7 | File #8 | File #9 | File #10 | File #11 | File #12 ] – Noted entrepreneur and art collector Armand Hammer had extensive import-export dealings with the SovietUnion and personally negotiated with Premier Lenin during the 1920’s. He later went into the oil business and became head of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Hart, Pearl M. – [ 34 Pages, 1.76 MB ] – Pearl M. Hart (1890–1975) was a Chicago attorney notable for her work defending oppressed minority groups. Hart was the first woman in Chicago to be appointed Public Defender in the Morals Court. Most notably, she represented children, women, immigrants, lesbians, and gay men, often without fee or for a nominal fee. She attended The John Marshall Law School and was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1914.

Highlander Folk School – [1,376 Pages, 64.50 MB] – The Highlander Folk School was originally established in Grundy County, Tennessee. When Highlander was founded in 1932, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. Workers in all parts of the country were met with major resistance by employers when they tried to organize labor unions, especially in the South. Against that backdrop, Horton, West and Dombrowski created the Highlander School “to provide an educational center in the South for the training of rural and industrial leaders, and for the conservation and enrichment of the indigenous cultural values of the mountains.” Horton was influenced by observing rural adult education schools in Denmark started in the 19th century by Danish Lutheran Bishop N. F. S. Grundtvig.  During the 1930s and 1940s, the school’s main focus was labor education and the training of labor organizers. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

Hillel International– [288 Pages, 120MB] – Hillel International, founded in 1923 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. Named after the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, it aims to enrich the lives of Jewish students and support their Jewish identity and leadership development. Hillel operates on more than 550 college campuses across North America and globally, providing educational, cultural, and social programs. The organization fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment, encouraging students to explore and celebrate Jewish traditions and values. Through its various initiatives and activities, Hillel International plays a pivotal role in strengthening Jewish community life and ensuring the continuity of Jewish culture and heritage among young adults.

Hiss, Alger (Non Searchable PDF) – [15,823 Pages, 950MB] (Note: Very large file. Recommend right clicking and downloading to your hard drive) Hiss, Alger (Searchable PDF .ZIP file) – [15,823 Pages, 7.5GB] (Note: Very large file. Recommend right clicking and downloading to your hard drive) Hiss, Alger (Searchable PDF Directory Browse) – [15,823 Pages, Various Sizes] Hiss, Alger (FBI “Vault” Release) – [271 Pages, 16.9MB] – Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of being a Soviet Union spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Before he was tried and convicted, he was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department official and as a U.N. official. In later life he worked as a lecturer and author.

History of the FBI (30 mb) – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 | File #5 | File #6 | File #7 | File #8 ] – Although not a historical figure file, it does should the history of the FBI and the domestic surveillance programs. I felt it would be a fit here.

Hitler, Adolf – [742 Pages, 39.9 MB] Hitler, Adolf – [3 Pages, 0.8MB] – After requesting additional records, I was informed that the remaining files pertaining to Adolf Hitler were destroyed on March 7, 1973.Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) was leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party and Chancellor of Germany from 1933-1945; he led that country into World War II in 1939. The documents in this file range from 1933 to 1947, but primarily fall either in 1933 or between 1945 and 1947. In 1933, the FBI investigated an assassination threat made against Hitler. In the aftermath of Germany’s surrender in 1945, western Allied forces suspected that Hitler had committed suicide but did not immediately find evidence of his death. At the time, it was feared that Hitler may have escaped in the closing days of the war, and searches were made to determine if he was still alive. FBI Files indicate that the Bureau investigated some of the rumors of Hitler’s survival.

Holtec International – [8 Pages, 4.2MB] – Holtec International is a supplier of equipment and systems for the energy industry founded in Mount Laurel, New Jersey and based in Jupiter, Florida, United States. It specializes in the design and manufacture of parts for nuclear reactors. The company sells equipment to manage spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors. In July 2014, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority awarded Holtec International a $260 million tax incentive to expand operations at the Port of Camden. Those breaks have come under scrutiny. Holtec makes storage casks used for spent nuclear fuel. It intends to send spent fuel to a site in New Mexico, but has met with resistance. Holtec is scheduled to purchase Indian Point Energy Center from Entergy and decommission it starting in 2021.

Hook, Sidney – [152 Pages, 107.3MB] – Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of the Pragmatist school known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing Communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism and Marxism–Leninism. A pragmatic social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Communism. After World War II, he argued that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and Leninists like Democratic centralists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments.

Hoover Institution (HQ1-5) – [ 355 Pages, 39.96 MB ] – The Hoover Institution is a conservative American public policy think tank located at Stanford University in California. Its official name is the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. It began as a library founded in 1919 by Republican Herbert Hoover, Stanford’s self-proclaimed first student, before he became President of the United States. The library, known as the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, houses multiple archives related to Hoover, World War I, World War II, and other world history. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

Hoover, J. Edgar–  John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972), better known as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. He was appointed as the fifth director of the Bureau of Investigation — the FBI’s predecessor — in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at the age of 77. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.

Horsley, Neal [57 Pages, 20.6 MB] – Otis O’Neal Horsley, Jr. (April 15, 1944 – April 13, 2015) was a militant anti-abortion activist and Christian Reconstructionist known for producing a website called the Nuremberg Files, which provided the home addresses of abortion providers in the United States.

Hubbard, L. Ron  – FBI Release #1 – [1,225 Pages, 75 MB]  Hubbard, L. Ron  – VA Release #1 (Large file – right click and “save as…” [472 Pages, 695MB] – Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard and often referred to by his initials, LRH, was an American author and the founder of the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first expounded in book form in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation.

Hubbard, Mary Sue – [339 Pages, 172.8MB] – Mary Sue Hubbard (June 17, 1931 – November 25, 2002) was the third wife of L. Ron Hubbard, from 1952 until his death in 1986. She was a leading figure in Scientology for much of her life. The Hubbards had four children; Diana (born 1952), Quentin (born 1954), Suzette (born 1955), and Arthur (born 1958). She became involved in Hubbard’s Dianetics in 1952, while still a student at the University of Texas at Austin, becoming a Dianetics auditor. She soon became involved in a relationship with Hubbard and married him in March 1952. She accompanied her husband to Phoenix, Arizona, where they established the Hubbard Association of Scientologists – the forerunner of the Church of Scientology, which was itself founded in 1953. She was credited with helping to coin the word “Scientology”. She played a leading role in the management of the Church of Scientology, rising to become the head of the Church’s Guardian’s Office (GO). In August 1978, she was indicted by the United States government on charges of conspiracy relating to illegal covert operations mounted by the Guardian’s Office against government agencies. She was convicted in December 1979 and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and the payment of a $10,000 fine. She was forced to resign her post in July 1981 and served a year in prison from January 1983, after exhausting her appeals against her conviction. In the late 1990s, she fell ill with breast cancer and died in 2002.

Huskey, Harry – [29 Pages, 6.5MB] – Harry Douglas Huskey (January 19, 1916 – April 9, 2017) was an American computer design pioneer. Huskey designed and managed the construction of the Standards Western Automatic Computer (SWAC) at the National Bureau of Standards in Los Angeles (1949–1953). He also designed the G15 computer for Bendix Aviation Corporation, which could perhaps be considered as the first “personal” computer in the world. He had one at his home that is now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

ILC Dover / International Latex Corporation – [155 Pages, 86MB] – ILC Dover, LP is a special engineering development and manufacturing company, globally headquartered in Newark, Delaware. ILC Dover specializes in the use of high-performance flexible materials, serving the aerospace, personal protection, and pharmaceutical industries. Best known for making space suits for NASA, ILC Dover outfitted every United States astronaut in the Apollo program, including the twelve that walked on the moon. ILC also designed and manufactured the Space Suit Assembly portion of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), worn by astronauts during performance of extra-vehicular activity (EVA) on Space Shuttle missions and on the International Space Station. Other ILC Dover products include the airbag landing devices for Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions; lighter-than-air vehicles, including airships, aerostats, and zeppelins; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems; and flexible powder-containment solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

In-Q-Tel (IQT) – [11 Pages, 1MB] – In-Q-Tel (IQT) is a strategic venture capital firm established in 1999 to bridge the technological innovation of the private sector with the national security needs of the United States. Operating as a nonprofit organization, IQT invests in early-stage companies to advance cutting-edge technologies that align with the mission objectives of U.S. intelligence and defense agencies, particularly the CIA, which was instrumental in its founding. Its portfolio spans areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology, quantum computing, and data analytics, ensuring that the intelligence community has access to emerging tools to address complex global challenges. By fostering innovation and partnerships with startups, In-Q-Tel accelerates the adoption of critical capabilities while maintaining a focus on advancing national security interests.

Javits, Marian – [29 Pages, 6.5MB] – Marian Ann Borris Javits, sometimes Marion (1925 – February 28, 2017) was an American arts patron. She was married to the politician Jacob K. Javits from 1947 until his death in 1986.

Jobs, Steve  – [191 Pages, 3.91 MB] – Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011) was a founder and leader of Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer Inc.). In 1991, Jobs was considered for an appointed position on the U.S. President’s Export Council. This release consists of the FBI’s 1991 background investigation of Jobs for that position and a 1985 investigation of a bomb threat against Apple.

Johnson, Clarence  Leonard “Kelly” – FBI Release #1 – [56 Pages, 30.5MB]  Johnson, Clarence  Leonard “Kelly” – FBI Release #2 – [9 Pages, 2.6MB]Clarence Leonard “Kelly” Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the United States’ first operational jet fighter, as well as the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 mph, and many other contributions to a large number of aircraft. As a member and first team leader of the Lockheed Skunk Works, Johnson worked for more than four decades and is said to have been an “organizing genius”. He played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft, including several honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy, acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ flight, Aviation Week & Space Technology ranked Johnson 8th on its list of the top 100 “most important, most interesting, and most influential people” in the first century of aerospace. Hall Hibbard, Johnson’s Lockheed boss, referring to Johnson’s Swedish ancestry once remarked to Ben Rich: “That damned Swede can actually see air.”

Juggalos – FBI Release #1 – [123 Pages, 60.1MB]  Juggalos – FBI Release #2 – [33 Pages, 2.2MB]  Additional records are being denied, as of December 19, 2017, due to a law enforcement investigation (FOIA Exemption (b)(7)(e)  – Juggalo gangs are criminal groups using the name and associated imagery from Juggalo culture, dedicated fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records artist.[5][1][2][3][6] As a result, Juggalos have been classified as a criminal street gang by government and law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation,[3] the National Gang Intelligence Center, and the states of Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Juggalo gang sets have been documented by law enforcement in at least 21 states, including those that do not recognize Juggalos as a gang at the state level.

Kaufman, Mary Metlay  – [1,158 Pages, 52.6 MB] – Mary Kaufman began her career as a labor attorney in New York City in the 1930s. In 1947, she served on the prosecution team of the U.S. Military War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. From 1948 to 1960, her practice consisted primarily of defending state and national leaders of the U.S. Communist Party indicted under the Smith Act. She also represented individuals called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the Subversive Activities Control Board. Kaufman was active in the National Lawyers’ Guild from its inception in the 1930s, and became the first Director of the Guild’s Mass Defense Office in New York City in 1968, supervising the defense of hundreds arrested in political actions. From 1972 to 1976, she taught legal studies as a visiting professor at Antioch College in Ohio, and Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. She taught courses in labor law; McCarthyism; Nuremberg and international law; racism and the law; and political trials of the 20th Century.

Keating, Charles – [122 Pages, 61.66MB] – Charles Humphrey Keating, Jr. (December 4, 1923 – March 31, 2014) was an American athlete, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, financier, and activist best known for his role in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s.

Kennan, George – [732 Pages, 55.61 MB] – George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known as “the father of containment” and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. He later wrote standard histories of the relations between Soviet Union and the Western powers. He was also a core member of the group of foreign policy elders known as “The Wise Men”. Additional records on Kennan are considered classifed.

Knott, Walter – [55 Pages, 19.8MB] – Walter Marvin Knott (December 11, 1889 – December 3, 1981) was an American farmer who created the Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park in California, introduced the Boysenberry, and made Knott’s Berry Farm boysenberry preserves. Knott was born in San Bernardino, California, and grew up in Pomona, California. In the 1920s, Knott was a somewhat unsuccessful farmer whose fortunes changed when he nursed several abandoned berry plants back to health. The hybrid boysenberry, named after its creator, Rudolph Boysen, was a cross between a blackberry, red raspberry and loganberry. The huge berries were a hit, and the Knott family sold berries, preserves and pies from a Buena Park, California roadside stand. In 1934, Knott’s wife Cordelia (née Hornaday, January 23, 1890 – April 12, 1974) began serving fried chicken dinners, and within a few years, lines outside the restaurant were often several hours long.

Koch, Frederick Chase – [732 Pages, 89.1MB] – Fred Chase Koch (September 23, 1900 – November 17, 1967) was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded the oil refinery firm that later became Koch Industries, a privately held company which, under the principal ownership and leadership of Koch’s sons, Charles and David, is listed by Forbes, as of 2015, as the second-largest privately held company in the United States.

Koischwitz, Max Otto – [337 Pages, 17.4MB] – Max Otto Koischwitz (February 19, 1902 – August 31, 1944) was a naturalized American of German descent who became notorious for his role in disseminating Nazi propaganda to American audiences during World War II. After an academic career at Hunter College, his shift to pro-Nazi sentiment led him back to Germany, where he teamed up with ‘Axis Sally’ Mildred Gillars to broadcast messages aimed at demoralizing Allied troops. Indicted for treason by the United States in 1943, Koischwitz evaded trial due to his death in Berlin from tuberculosis and heart failure in 1944, with the charges against him subsequently dropped for lack of evidence​.

Konami – [65 Pages, 6.3MB] – Konami is a renowned Japanese entertainment company specializing in video game development and publishing, as well as creating trading card games, arcade machines, and fitness equipment. Founded in 1969 by Kagemasa Kozuki, the company gained global recognition with iconic video game franchises such as Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), and Contra. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Konami has diversified its offerings beyond video games, with ventures in amusement parks, pachinko machines, and fitness clubs. Known for its innovative approach and contributions to gaming culture, Konami remains a significant force in the global entertainment industry.

Koresh, David – [ File #1 | File #2 ] – David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was the American leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990 (Koresh being the Persian name of Cyrus the Great (کوروش, Kurosh). A 1993 raid by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the subsequent siege by the FBI ended with the burning of the Branch Davidian ranch outside of Waco, Texas, in McLennan County. Koresh, 54 other adults, and 28 children were found dead after the fire.

Kuhn, Fritz Julius – FBI Release #1 – [50 Pages, 62MB] Kuhn, Fritz Julius – FBI VAULT Release #1-10 – [1,069 Pages, 4.2MB] German American Bund – FBI Release #1 – [143 Pages, 10.8MB] – Fritz Julius Kuhn was a German-American fascist leader born in Munich, Germany in 1896. He served in the German army during World War I before immigrating to the United States in 1923. Kuhn became the leader of the German American Bund, an organization that promoted Nazism and anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s. Kuhn’s leadership was marked by controversy, including allegations of embezzlement and a widely publicized rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939 that turned violent. He was eventually convicted of embezzlement and deported to Germany in 1945. Kuhn’s life serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of extremist ideologies and the importance of protecting democratic values.

Kullback, Solomon – FBI Release – [188 Pages, 123.9MB] Kullback, Solomon – INSCOM Release – [33 Pages, 6.9MB]Solomon Kullback (April 3, 1907 – August 5, 1994) was an American cryptanalyst and mathematician, who was one of the first three employees hired by William F. Friedman at the US Army’s Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, along with Frank Rowlett and Abraham Sinkov. He went on to a long and distinguished career at SIS and its eventual successor, the National Security Agency (NSA). Kullback was the Chief Scientist at the NSA until his retirement in 1962, whereupon he took a position at the George Washington University.

Lear, William – [14 Pages, 3 MB] – William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the 8-track cartridge, an audio tape system. Throughout his career of 46 years, Lear received over 120 patents.

LeFevre, Robert – [ 90 Pages, 29.88 MB ] – Robert LeFevre (13 October 1911 – 13 May 1986) was an American libertarian businessman, radio personality, and primary theorist of autarchism. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

LEIDOS – [204 Pages, 10.9MB] – Leidos Holdings, Inc. is an American technology, engineering, and defense-services company headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Founded in 1969 by Dr. J. Robert Beyster (originally as Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC), Leidos became a standalone public company in 2013 following a corporate split. Today the firm employs roughly 48,000 people globally and serves government and commercial clients across defense, intelligence, civil government, and health markets by providing scientific research, engineering services, systems integration, cybersecurity, data analytics, biomedical research, and mission-critical IT solutions.  Over its history, Leidos has grown through major acquisitions and expansions — most notably merging with the IT business of Lockheed Martin in 2016 — broadening its scope to become a leading provider of complex technical and mission-driven services.

Levison, Stanley – FBI “VAULT” Release: – [Part 01|Part 02|Part 03|Part 04|Part 05|Part 06|Part 07|Part 8a|Part 8b|Part 9a|Part 9b|Part 10a|Part 10b|Part 11a|Part 11b|Part 12a|Part 12b|Part 13a|Part 13b|Part 13c|Part 14a|Part 14b|Part 14c] – This FBI file consists of security investigations of Stanley Levison from the 1950’s through the early 1970’s. Levison was a key advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.  Levison, Stanley – FBI Release #2 (Not on “VAULT” above) – [73 Pages, 40MB] – Stanley David Levison (May 2, 1912 – September 12, 1979) was an American businessman and lawyer who became a lifelong activist in progressive causes. He is best known as an advisor to, and close friend of Martin Luther King Jr., for whom he helped write speeches, raise funds, and organize events.

Lewis, John L. – [Part 01[1,605 Pages, 81mb]  |Part 02[ 1,088 Pages, 45mb] ] – John L. Lewis, leader of the United Mine Workers of America, along with three other mine officials, was investigated on charges of violating Section 51 of Title 18 of the United States Code. Between 1937 and 1941 they were accused of conspiring to oppress employees from the Mine “B” in Springfield, Illinois from exercising their rights secured to them by the National Labor Relations Act. After a full investigation by the FBI, the Department of Justice decided not to prosecute the case and it was closed in 1943.

Liedtke, John Hugh – [147 Pages, 8MB] – John Hugh Liedtke (February 10, 1922 – March 28, 2003) was an American petroleum executive. Liedtke moved to Midland, Texas, then opened a law practice with his brother, William, in 1949.  With the future President of the United States George H.W. Bush, the two brothers co-founded the Zapata Corporation in 1953.  In the 1960s the Liedtke brothers acquired control of the South Penn Oil Company and merged it with Zapata to form a new company they called Pennzoil. In the 1980s, during his time as CEO of Pennzoil, he led the company to a court victory over Texaco.

Liedtke, William – [90 Pages, 5MB] – William C. “Bill” Liedtke Jr (September 27, 1924 — March 1, 1991) was an American petroleum executive, best known as the co-founder of Pennzoil with his older brother J. Hugh Liedtke.

Lindbergh, Charles – [ Part 1a | Part 1b | Part 2a | Part 2b | Part 2c | Part 3a | Part 3b | Part 4a |Part 4b | Part 4c | Part 5a | Part 5b | Part 6a | Part 6b | Part 7a | Part 7b ] – Many citizens wrote to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover indicating their mistrust of Lindbergh. The populous questioned Lindbergh’s loyalty to the United States. This file consists of letters sent to Director Hoover and newspaper articles written about Mr. Lindbergh.

Maheu, Robert – [129 Pages, 8MB] – Robert Aime Maheu (October 30, 1917 – August 4, 2008) was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI and CIA, and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.

Mandela, Nelson – [ 344 Pages, 15.77MB ] – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa’s first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

Marshall, Thurgood – [1,409 Pages, 47.17MB] – Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court’s 96th justice and its first African American justice. Before becoming a judge, Marshall was a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, a decision that desegregated public schools. He served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit after being appointed by President John F. Kennedy and then served as the Solicitor General after being appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. President Johnson nominated him to the United States Supreme Court in 1967.

Masel, Bennett – [365 Pages, 210MB] – Bennett A. “Ben” Masel (October 17, 1954 – April 30, 2011) was an American writer, publisher, cannabis rights and free speech activist, expert witness for marijuana defendants, and frequent candidate for public office. A skilled chess player, Masel was director of Wisconsin NORML, and organizer of Weedstock and the annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival which has been held in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol every autumn since 1971.

McCorvey, Norma aka Jane Roe of “Roe v. Wade” – [32 Pages, 13.1MB] – Norma Leah McCorvey Nelson; September 22, 1947 – February 18, 2017), better known by the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe”, was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that individual state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional. Later, McCorvey’s views on abortion changed substantially; she became a Roman Catholic activist in the pro-life movement.

McDonnel Aircraft Corporation – [8 Pages, 0.8MB] – The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939 by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II, and manned spacecraft including the Mercury capsule and Gemini capsule. McDonnell Aircraft later merged with the Douglas Aircraft Company to form McDonnell Douglas in 1967.

Mellon, Matthew – [5 Pages, 1MB] – Matthew Taylor Mellon II (January 28, 1964 – April 16, 2018) was an American businessman who was a chairman of the New York Republican State Committee’s finance committee.

Mitrokhin, Vasili Nikitich – [8 Pages, 0.5MB] – Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (Russian: Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, who defected to the United Kingdom in 1992 after providing the British embassy in Riga with a vast collection of his notes purporting to be written copies of KGB files. These became known as the Mitrokhin Archive. The intelligence files given by Mitrokhin to the MI6 exposed an unknown number of Russian agents, including Melita Norwood. He was co-author with Christopher Andrew of The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, a massive account of Soviet intelligence operations based on copies of material from the archive. The second volume, The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB in the World, was published in 2005, soon after Mitrokhin’s death.

Moon, Sun Myung – [891 Pages, 61.76MB] – Sun Myung Moon (25 February 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, businessman, and political activist.  A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification Church (members of which considered him and his wife Hak Ja Han to be their “True Parents”),  and of its widely noted “Blessing” or mass wedding ceremony, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle. He was an ardent anti-communist and advocate for Korean reunification, for which he was recognized by the governments of both South and North Korea. His business interests included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary The Washington Times, and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as various affiliated organizations.

Morros, Boris – FBI Release #1 – [153 Pages, 88.9MB]  Morros, Boris – FBI Release #2 – [243 Pages, 88.9MB] -Boris Morros (1891–1963) was a Russian-born American film producer, music director, and double agent who played a fascinating role during the Cold War. After immigrating to the United States in the 1920s, he became a prominent figure in Hollywood, working with Paramount Pictures and producing films such as The Flying Deuces with Laurel and Hardy. In the 1930s, he was recruited by the Soviet NKVD to assist in espionage efforts, but by the late 1940s, he began cooperating with the FBI as a counterspy. Morros helped expose Soviet spy networks in the U.S. while continuing to pose as a loyal agent for the Soviets. His story was later dramatized in the 1960 film Man on a String, in which he co-wrote the screenplay and shared details of his life undercover.

Myrdal, Karl – Cross References – [25 Pages, 2MB] – Karl Gunnar Myrdal (6 December 1898 – 17 May 1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek for “their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena.” When his wife, Alva Myrdal, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982, they became the fourth ever married couple to have won Nobel Prizes, and the first to win independent of each other (versus a shared Nobel Prize by scientist spouses). He is best known in the United States for his study of race relations, which culminated in his book An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. The study was influential in the 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision Brown v. Board of Education. In Sweden, his work and political influence were important to the establishment of the Folkhemmet and the welfare state. Myrdal and his wife were staunch believers in Social engineering (political science).

National Rifle Association (NRA) HQ1 – [211 Pages, 24.08MB] – The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1871 that promotes firearm competency, safety, and ownership, as well as police training, marksmanship, hunting and self-defense training in the United States. The NRA is also one of the United States’ largest certifying bodies for firearm safety training and proficiency training courses for police departments, recreational hunting, and child firearm safety. The organization publishes several magazines and sponsors marksmanship events featuring shooting skill and sports.This release of documents concerned the FBI’s investigation into the NRA through the 1950s and 1960s, and the public outrage. Very interesting to read the letters submitted to the FBI regarding their probe of the organization. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

Nation of Islam – [321 Pages, 15.2MB] – The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an Islamic religious movement founded in Detroit, United States, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. The Nation of Islam’s stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity.

National Black Network (NBN) – [5 Pages, 1.6MB] – The National Black Network, or NBN, began operation in July 1973 as the first coast-to-coast radio network wholly owned by African Americans.

National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia – [31 Pages, 13.9MB] – The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is concerned with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. According to the group’s web site, its sole purpose is “to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia.” The League’s most prominent symbol is its famous POW/MIA flag.

National States’ Rights Party – [69 Pages, 5.21MB] – The National States’ Rights Party was a far right, white supremacist party that briefly played a minor role in the politics of the United States.

Nordstrom, Inc. – FBI Release #1 – [233 Pages, 9MB]  Nordstrom, Inc. – FBI Release #2 – [139 Pages, 76MB]  Nordstrom, Inc. – FBI Release #3 – [5  Pages, 76MB] – Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, it originated as a shoe store and evolved into a full-line retailer with departments for clothing, footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances. Some stores feature home furnishings and wedding departments, and several have in-house cafes, restaurants, and espresso bars.

North American Friends of Cuba – [168 Pages, 27MB] – During the 1960s, the “North American Friends of Cuba” emerged as a grassroots coalition united by a common interest in supporting the Cuban Revolution’s ideals and advocating for a constructive dialogue between Cuba and North America. Amidst the Cold War tensions and the U.S. embargo against Cuba, the organization worked to challenge the prevailing narratives, aiming to provide a more nuanced view of the Cuban social and political changes. Its members engaged in organizing educational events, circulating publications, and facilitating humanitarian aid, all while promoting the end of the embargo and fostering peaceful relations, at a time when global geopolitics were deeply divided.

Olsen, Kenneth – FBI Release #1 – [337 Pages, 160MB]  Olsen, Kenneth – FBI Release #2 – [311 Pages, 100MB]  Olsen, Kenneth – FBI Release #3 – [6 Pages, 1MB] – Kenneth Harry “Ken” Olsen (February 20, 1926 – February 6, 2011) was an American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 with colleague Harlan Anderson and his brother Stan Olsen. The FBI, in addition to the document releases above, sent a disc of the following photographs:

Otash, Fred – [42 Pages, 25.1MB] – Fred Otash (January 7, 1922 – October 5, 1992) was a Hollywood police officer, private investigator, and author. Fred Otash has been interviewed numerous times in the media, including in 1957 by Mike Wallace, which can be viewed online at the University of Texas.  Otash worked for Hollywood Research Incorporated, which did business with the tabloid magazine Confidential.  He is also known for being hired by Peter Lawford to investigate Marilyn Monroe.  Fred Otash also was involved in the investigation of the “Wrong Door Raid” involving Frank Sinatra. Otash died at the age of 70 on October 5, 1992. Otash suffered from emphysema and high blood pressure. He wrote about his life in his memoir, Investigation Hollywood: Memoirs Of Hollywood’s Top Private Detective. Fred Otash was the youngest of 6 children and is survived by his daughter, Colleen Otash, and his four sisters, Evelyn Abisalih, Grace Steiner, Selma Otash and Lila Merhige, and one brother Mitchel.

Pacepa, Ion Mihai – [9 Pages, 2.86MB] – Ion Mihai Pacepa (28 October 1928 – 14 February 2021) was a Romanian two-star general in the Securitate, the secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania, who defected to the United States in July 1978 following President Jimmy Carter’s approval of his request for political asylum. He was the highest-ranking defector from the former Eastern Bloc, and wrote books and articles on the inner workings of communist intelligence services. His best known work is the book Disinformation. At the time of his defection, Pacepa simultaneously had the rank of advisor to President Nicolae Ceauşescu, acting chief of his foreign intelligence service and a state secretary of Romania’s Ministry of Interior. Subsequently, he worked with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in operations against the former Eastern Bloc. The CIA described his cooperation as “an important and unique contribution to the United States”.

Palfrey, Deborah Jeane – The “D.C. Madame” – [65 Pages, 28.3MB] – Deborah Jeane Palfrey (March 18, 1956 – May 1, 2008) (dubbed the D.C. Madam by the news media) operated Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort agency in Washington, D.C. Although she maintained that the company’s services were legal, she was convicted on April 15, 2008 of racketeering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and money laundering. Slightly over two weeks later, facing a prison sentence of five or six years, she was found hanged. Autopsy results and the final police investigative report concluded that her death was a “suicide”.

Penkovsky, Oleg – FBI Release #1 – [307 Pages, 21MB]  Penkovsky, Oleg – FBI Release #2 – [22 Pages, 1MB] – Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed HERO, was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky was responsible for informing the United Kingdom about the Soviet emplacement of missiles in Cuba, thus providing both the UK and the United States with the precise knowledge necessary to address rapidly developing military tensions with the Soviet Union. He was the highest ranking Soviet official to provide intelligence for the UK up until that time, and is one of several individuals credited with altering the course of the Cold War.

Phelps, Fred Waldron – [232 Pages, 11.1MB] – Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American pastor who headed the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas. Phelps attained notoriety primarily from his vehemently anti-gay activism and his picketing of funerals of homosexuals and soldiers.

Pipes, Richard – [141 Pages, 8.5MB] – Richard Edgar Pipes (July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was an American academic who specialized in Russian history, particularly with respect to the Soviet Union, who espoused a strong anti-communist point of view throughout his career. In 1976, he headed Team B, a team of analysts organized by the Central Intelligence Agency who analyzed the strategic capacities and goals of the Soviet military and political leadership. Pipes was the father of American historian Daniel Pipes.

Planned Parenthood – FBI Release #1 – [109 Pages, 49.7MB]  Planned Parenthood – FBI Quote for Remainder of File – [3 Pages, 1.1MB] The FBI estimates there are more than 200,000 pages still to be released on Planned Parenthood.  The cost for release on CD-ROMs is $6,025.00.Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3)[4] and a member association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). PPFA has its roots in Brooklyn, New York, where Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. in 1916. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, which changed its name to Planned Parenthood in 1942. PPFA is the largest single provider of reproductive health services, including abortion, in the U.S. In their 2014 Annual Report, PPFA reported seeing over 2.5 million patients in over 4 million clinical visits and performing a total of nearly 9.5 million discrete services including 324,000 abortions. Its combined annual revenue is US$1.3 billion, including approximately US$530 million in government funding such as Medicaid reimbursements. Throughout its history, PPFA and its member clinics have experienced support, controversy, protests, and violent attacks.

Popkin, Richard – [16 Pages, 1.2MB] – Richard Henry Popkin (December 27, 1923 – April 14, 2005) was an academic philosopher who specialized in the history of enlightenment philosophy and early modern anti-dogmatism. His 1960 work The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Descartes introduced one previously unrecognized influence on Western thought in the seventeenth century, the Pyrrhonian Scepticism of Sextus Empiricus. Popkin also was an internationally acclaimed scholar on Christian millenarianism and Jewish messianism.

Possony, Stefan – [270 Pages, 185MB] – Stefan Thomas Possony (March 15, 1913 – April 26, 1995) was an Austrian-born US economist and military strategist and a Senior Fellow and director of International Studies at the Hoover Institution. He conceived the US Strategic Defense Initiative.

Priebke, Erich (FBI File Release #1) – [19 Pages, 24.57MB]  Priebke, Erich (FBI File Release #2) – [11 Pages, 0.7MB]  Priebke, Erich (Department of State Release #1)  Priebke, Erich (Department of State Release #2) – [67 Pages, 1.2MB] Erich Priebke (29 July 1913 – 11 October 2013) was a German Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the SS police force (Sipo). In 1996 he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for participating in the massacre at the Ardeatine caves in Rome on 24 March 1944. 335 Italian civilians (among them 75 Italians of Jewish ancestry) were killed in retaliation for a partisan attack that killed 33 German soldiers. Priebke was one of those held responsible for this mass execution. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, he received help from a bishop stationed in Rome and fled to Argentina on a Vatican passport, where he lived for over 50 years.

Process Church of the Final Judgement – FBI Release #1 – [95 Pages, 26.7MB]  Process Church of the Final Judgement – FBI Release #2 – [152 Pages, 8.4MB]  Process Church of the Final Judgement (IRS Release) – [73 Pages, 11.5MB] – The Process Church of the Final Judgment, commonly known as the Process Church, was a religious group established in London in 1966. Its founders were the British couple Mary Ann MacLean and Robert de Grimston and it spread across parts of the United Kingdom and United States during the latter 1960s and 1970s.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) – [123 Pages, 74.2MB] – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, PBS is an independently operated non-profit organization and is the most prominent provider of television programs to public television stations in the United States, distributing series such as NOVA, Sesame Street, PBS NewsHour, Masterpiece, Nature, American Masters, Frontline, and Antiques Roadshow. This FOIA request began with a $300 estimate on fees ($95 for CD-ROM version), which, although I would normally deny, I was graciously given an anonymous agreement that another person wanted the file released, and would pay the fees.  So, I agreed to the fees, and the request was to be processed accordingly.  Yet, strangely, I was informed there were only 118 pages to be released.  Regardless the reason for this mix-up, here is the file in it’s entirety, along with the original quote letter, and final response.

Queen Elizabeth II – [107 Pages, 94MB] – Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of over 70 years is the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female head of state in history.

Radiance Technologies – [30 Pages, 1.54MB] – Radiance Technologies, Inc. is a U.S.-based, employee-owned engineering and defense-services firm founded in 1999 and headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Over the years it has grown from a small startup of a handful of engineers to a company employing roughly 1,000 people across multiple offices in the United States. Radiance provides advanced systems engineering, prototype design and integration, modeling and simulation, directed-energy and hypersonics research, cybersecurity, intelligence analysis, and test-evaluation services — servicing clients across the Department of Defense, U.S. intelligence community, and other government agencies. The company emphasizes end-to-end technical capabilities, spanning hardware and software development, sensor technologies, and mission support, enabling it to tackle complex challenges such as missile systems, space, aviation, and threat-system analysis. Its employee-ownership model underpins a culture of innovation, flexibility, and shared stake in success, distinguishing it among defense contractors.

Radioplane Company – FBI Release #1 – [19 Pages, 1.3MB]  Radioplane Company – FBI Release #2 – [6 Pages, 3MB] – The Radioplane Company was an American aviation company that produced drone aircraft primarily for use as gunnery targets. During World War II, they produced over 9,400 of their Radioplane OQ-3 model, a propeller-powered monoplane, making it the most-used target aircraft in the US. In the post-World War II era they introduced their Radioplane BTT series, which was produced for years and eventually reached almost 60,000 examples. They also produced several radio control and self-guided missiles, the largest being the GAM-67 Crossbow, which didn’t enter service. The company was purchased by Northrop Corporation in 1952, and moved to one of Northrop’s factories in 1962. One of the last projects carried out at the original Radioplane factory in Van Nuys, California, was the construction of the Gemini Paraglider.

Ratzinger, Joseph (Pope Benedict XVI) – [16 Pages, 3MB] – Joseph Ratzinger, born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, Germany, is a distinguished theologian, scholar, and prelate who served as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 under the name Pope Benedict XVI. Known for his intellectual rigor, Ratzinger held various academic and ecclesiastical roles, including serving as Archbishop of Munich and Freising and as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As Pope, he focused on the preservation of traditional Catholic teachings and values, fostering interfaith dialogue, and addressing pressing issues such as the sexual abuse scandal within the Church. Ratzinger made history as the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years, citing his declining health.

Redstone, Sumner – FBI Release #1 – [641 Pages, 400MB]  Redstone, Sumner – FBI Release #2 – [531 Pages, 37.9MB] – Sumner Murray Redstone (né Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom which was dissolved in 2019 (a year before Redstone’s death) and was the majority owner and chairman of the National Amusements theater chain. Through National Amusements, Redstone, up until his death, was, and his family remains, majority voting shareholder of mass media conglomerate ViacomCBS, in turn, the parent company of the Paramount Pictures film studio, the CBS television network, and various cable networks. According to Forbes, as of April 2020, he was worth US$2.6 billion.Note: There are approximately 3,064 pages remaining, costing $100 to receive. CONTACT The Black Vault if you would like to sponsor the file.

Retail Credit Company (Equifax) – [62 Pages, 5MB] – Equifax was founded by Cator and Guy Woolford in Atlanta, Georgia, as Retail Credit Company in 1899. Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and TransUnion (together known as the “Big Three”). Equifax collects and aggregates information on over 800 million individual consumers and more than 88 million businesses worldwide. In addition to credit and demographic data and services to business, Equifax sells credit monitoring and fraud prevention services directly to consumers.

Rockefeller, Laurance – [22 Pages, 3.9MB]  Rockefeller, Laurance – FBI Cross References – [11 Pages, 5.2MB] – Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist and major conservationist. He was a prominent third-generation member of the Rockefeller family, being the fourth child of John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene “Abby” Aldrich. His siblings were Abby, John III, Nelson, Winthrop, and David.

Rockefeller, Margaretta Happy – FBI Release #1 – [653 Pages, 314.4MB]  Rockefeller, Margaretta Happy – FBI Release #2 – [19 Pages, 9.2MB] -Margaretta Large Fitler Murphy “Happy” Rockefeller (June 9, 1926 – May 19, 2015) was a philanthropist and the second wife of the 49th Governor of New York and 41st Vice President of the United States, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908–1979). She was First Lady of New York from her marriage to then-Governor Rockefeller in 1963 until he left office in 1973, and Second Lady of the United States from her husband’s swearing in as Vice President on December 19, 1974 until his term ended on January 20, 1977.

Rosenberg, Anna M.– [ File #1 18.71MB |  | File #2 34.90MB | File #3 30.93MB | File #4 19.03MB  | File #5 14.24MB  | File #6 17.96MB | File #7 23.96MB  | File #8 20.64MB  | File #9 12.08MB | File #10 4.04MB | File #11 7.53MB  | File #12 20.42MB  | File #13 1.00MB ] [1,843 Total Pages ] – Anna Marie Rosenberg, (June 19, 1902 – May 9, 1983), later Anna Rosenberg Hoffman, was a public official and businesswoman. Born in Budapest, Anna Lederer immigrated with her family to the US in 1912. In 1919 she married Julius Rosenberg, a Jewish American member of the upper class (not to be confused with nuclear spy Julius Rosenberg). During World War II, she served in numerous government positions including regional director of the War Manpower Commission from 1942 to 1945. She ran a consulting business, with customers that included large businesses and public figures. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1945, and was a recipient of the Medal for Merit in 1947, along with two other women, Mary Shotwell Ingraham and Elmira Bears Wickenden. In late 1950, she was nominated for assistant Secretary of Defense. Joseph McCarthy and his staff launched an all-out campaign to oppose her nomination, but she was recommended by the Senate Armed Services Committee. In spite of all opposition, in November 1950 she was named assistant Secretary of Defense, a post she held until January 1953.

Russell, Bertrand – [337 Pages, 119.5MB] – Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had “never been any of these things, in any profound sense”. He was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom. Russell mostly was a prominent anti-war activist; he championed anti-imperialism.  Occasionally, he advocated preventive nuclear war, before the opportunity provided by the atomic monopoly is gone, and “welcomed with enthusiasm” world government. He went to prison for his pacifism during World War I.  Later, he campaigned against Adolf Hitler, then criticised Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950 Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought”.

Said, Edward – [171 Pages, 95.6MB] – Edward Wadie Said (November 1935 – 25 September 2003) was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of post-colonial studies. Born in Mandatory Palestine, Said was an American citizen from birth by way of his father Wadir Saïd, a U.S. Army veteran of the First World War (1914–18).  Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. His main influences were Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno.  This is the complete file, as verified with the FBI October 18, 2016.

Sandground, Mark – [56 Pages, 27MB] – Mark Sandground was a well known divorce lawyer.

Saudi Aramco / Saudi Arabian Oil Company  – [543 Pages, 95.6MB] – Saudi Aramco (Arabic: أرامكو السعودية‎ ʾArāmkū s-Saʿūdiyyah), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), is a Saudi Arabian multinational petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue. Saudi Aramco has both the world’s second-largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 270 billion barrels (4.3×1010 m3),[8] and largest daily oil production of all oil producing companies.

Scalia, Antonin – [796 Page, 334MB] – Antonin Gregory Scalia (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the Court’s conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century,[8] and one of the most important justices in the Supreme Court’s history. Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018 by President Donald Trump, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.

Schuller, Robert H. – [1 Page, 0.9MB] – Robert Harold Schuller (September 16, 1926 – April 2, 2015) was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. In his five decades of television, Schuller was principally known for the weekly Hour of Power television program, which he began hosting in 1970 until his retirement in 2010. Schuller began broadcasting the program from the Neutra Sanctuary, with the encouragement of longtime friend Billy Graham after Schuller visited him in 1969. He was also the founder of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, where the Hour of Power program was later broadcast. There is believed to be a file on Robert Schuller, but the FBI claims it was in a facility devastated by a flood, so it is inaccessible. I am continuing to attempt to access the records, and will post updates when they happen.

Sheinbaum, Stanley – FBI Release #1 – [355 Page, 14MB]  Sheinbaum, Stanley – FBI Release #2 – [53 Page, 3MB] – Stanley K. Sheinbaum (June 12, 1920 – September 12, 2016) was an American peace and human rights activist. In 1971, Sheinbaum was asked to help organize the Daniel Ellsberg Pentagon Papers defense team. He helped assemble the team of attorneys and became the main fundraiser and spokesperson, raising nearly one million dollars from over 25,000 contributors.

Silkwood, Karen Gay – [537 Pages, 33.2MB] – Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American chemical technician and labor union activist known for raising concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety of workers in a nuclear facility. Her mysterious death received extensive coverage and was the subject of a victorious lawsuit against chemical company Kerr-McGee. Silkwood was portrayed by Meryl Streep in Mike Nichols’ 1983 Academy Award-nominated film Silkwood. She worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, United States. Silkwood’s job was making plutonium pellets for nuclear reactor fuel rods. This plant experienced theft of plutonium by workers during this era. She joined the union and became an activist on behalf of issues of health and safety at the plant as a member of the union’s negotiating team, the first woman to have that position at Kerr-McGee. In the summer of 1974, she testified to the Atomic Energy Commission about her concerns. For three days in November, she was found to have plutonium contamination on her person and in her home. That month, while driving to meet with David Burnham, a New York Times journalist, and Steve Wodka, an official of her union’s national office, she died in a car crash under unclear circumstances. Note: On June 28, 2016, the FBI informed me that additional records (in addition to the above) were destroyed on July 15, 1992. I was informed these records may have pertained to Karen Silkwood, but they are now destroyed. In addition, other records exist at the National Archives, and total 724 total pages; ~647 pages released in full, 39 pages released in redacted form and 37 pages withheld in full. I am unable to purchase them for 80 cents per page, but if anyone would like to, or you are around College Park, Maryland, you can see these files in person, requesting FBI case file 117-HQ-2702, located in the Motion Picture research room.

Silverstein Properties – FBI “Cross References” –  [30 Pages, 13MB] – Silverstein Properties, Inc. (SPI) is a family held, full-service real estate development, investment and management firm based in New York City. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company specializes in developing, acquiring, and managing office, residential, hotel, retail, and mixed-use properties. The firm is New York City’s fifth-largest commercial landlord.

Simpson, Wallis– [120 Pages, 32.3MB] – Wallis Simpson (born Bessie Wallis Warfield; 19 June 1896 – 24 April 1986), later known as the Duchess of Windsor, was an American socialite whose intended marriage to the British king Edward VIII caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward’s abdication.

Socialist Party – [ File #1 (NYC-3) 23.43MB | File #2 (NYC-4) 28.18MB ] – [ 711 Total Pages ] – Doctor Frederick Charles Schwarz (15 January 1913 – 24 January 2009) was an Australian physician and political activist who founded the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC). He made a number of speaking tours in the USA in the 1950s, and in 1960 moved his base of operations to California.  He was the author of the international bestseller, You Can Trust The Communists (to be Communists) (Prentice Hall, 1960). Dr Schwarz worked with his wife, Lillian Schwarz, from abroad and, in his later years, at their home in Camden, near Sydney, in the Australian state of New South Wales. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

Starr, Kenneth  – FBI Vault Release #1 – [318 Pages, 12MB]  Starr, Kenneth  – FBI Vault Release #2 – [170 Pages, 9MB]  Starr, Kenneth  – FBI Vault Release #3 – [177 Pages, 13.5MB] – Kenneth Starr (1946–2022) was an American lawyer, judge, and educator best known for serving as the independent counsel who led the investigation into President Bill Clinton during the 1990s, which encompassed the Whitewater real estate matter and ultimately the Monica Lewinsky scandal. A graduate of George Washington University and Duke Law School, he clerked for Chief Justice Warren Burger before entering government service. Starr served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and later as Solicitor General under President George H. W. Bush. Beyond government work, he held positions in private practice, academia, and university leadership, including as president and chancellor of Baylor University. His career was marked by significant influence in American law and politics as well as controversy over the scope and impact of his investigations.

Stone, Jeremy J.  – [177 Pages, 13MB] – Jeremy J. Stone (November 23, 1935 – January 1, 2017) was president of the Federation of American Scientists from 1970 to 2000, where he led that organization’s advocacy initiatives in arms control, human rights, and foreign policy. In 2000, he was succeeded as president by Henry Kelly. Stone continued his work at a new organization called Catalytic Diplomacy. Stone was the son of the journalist I. F. Stone.

Sudarkasa, Niara  – [231 Pages, 98MB] – Niara Sudarkasa (1938–2019) was an influential African American anthropologist, scholar, and university president who broke new ground as the first female president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Born Gloria Albertha Marshall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, she developed a passion for African studies, earning a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University. Her extensive research focused on African and African diaspora cultures, particularly in West Africa, and she published widely on the roles of women, family structures, and social organization in African societies. Sudarkasa was a trailblazer in higher education, championing diversity, community engagement, and cross-cultural understanding, while also working to improve educational opportunities for underrepresented students. Her legacy endures through her contributions to anthropology, her pioneering leadership, and her advocacy for Black empowerment and education.

Sullivan & Cromwell Llp  – [119 Pages, 49.5MB] – Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It has gained renown for its business and commercial law practices and its impact on international affairs.  Founded in 1879 by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell, Sullivan & Cromwell has served many of the world’s foremost industrial, commercial and financial enterprises.

Tencent Holdings, Inc. – [135 Pages, 1MB] – Tencent Holdings Ltd., also known as Tencent, is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is also the largest company in the gaming industry in the world based on its investments. It operates the instant messengers Tencent QQ and WeChat, and QQ.com. It also owns Tencent Music.

Theoharis, Athan – [25 Pages, 12.5MB] – Athan George Theoharis (August 3, 1936 – July 3, 2021) was an American historian, professor of history at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As well as his extensive teaching career, he was noteworthy as an expert on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover, and U.S. intelligence agencies, having written and edited many books on these and related subjects.

Thompson, Kenneth P. – [135 Pages, 45.4MB] – Kenneth P. “Ken” Thompson (March 14, 1966 – October 9, 2016) was the District Attorney of Kings County, New York, from 2014 until his death from cancer on October 9, 2016. Thompson began as an attorney in the United States Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., where he served as Special Assistant to former Treasury Department Undersecretary for Enforcement and then Secretary General of Interpol, Ronald K. Noble. In 1995 Thompson accepted a position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney under Zachary W. Carter, in the United States Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. During his tenure, he worked with Loretta Lynch as a member of the federal prosecution team in the 1997 trial of former New York City police officer Justin Volpe, who was accused of sodomizing Abner Louima inside a bathroom at the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn. The watershed police brutality trial, at which Thompson delivered the opening prosecution arguments, resulted in Volpe changing his plea from ‘not guilty’ to ‘guilty’.

Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions – FBI Release #1 – [74 Pages, 2.5MB] Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions – FBI Release #2 – [163 Pages, 100MB] – Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions (Torres) is a global security, cyber security, information technology and software consulting firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. with a global presence in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Torres serves the highest levels of U.S. and foreign governments and commercial enterprises around the world. Our personnel consistently go the extra mile to provide reliable and comprehensive services to our clients regardless of the challenge. As a result, Torres has been named an Industry Leader in Government and Commercial Services by Inc. and Smart CEO magazines eight times since 2008.

True, James– FBI Release #1 – [503 Pages, 328.6MB] True, James– FBI Release #2 – [89  Pages, 5.3MB] – James B. True Jr. (July 1, 1880 – September 1946) was a critic of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). His opposition focused on New Deal programs and used anti-Semitic and isolationist themes. He published a newsletter and headed James True Associates, a personally-financed one-man enterprise.  Note: There are many different files on James True at the National Archives (see cover letter to this FOIA release.)  I did not pursue getting these reviewed for release.

Trump, Fred C. – [8 Pages, 2.2MB] – Frederick Christ “Fred” Trump (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist, and the father of United States Appeals Judge Maryanne Trump Barry as well as businessman and 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Trump’s development company built and managed single-family houses in Queens, barracks and garden apartments for U.S. Navy personnel near major shipyards along the East Coast, and more than 27,000 apartments in New York City. During his business career, Trump was investigated by a U.S. Senate committee (1954) for profiteering from public contracts, was investigated by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (1973) for civil rights violations — and was the subject of numerous critiques by noted folk icon Woody Guthrie. Note: In March of 2016, I requested the file for Fred C. Trump. I was given a denial that no records existed. I then filed a request for cross references to Fred C. Trump in other files, and gave some suggested locations which included: Manny Ciminello; construction contractor, racketeer, tied to S & A Concrete; Paul Castellano; head of Gambino Mob; secret owner of S & A Concrete; Fat Tony Salerno; head of Genovese Mob; secret owner of S & A Concrete; S & A Concrete; Mob-front concrete company, run by Nick Auletta; built Trump Tower and Trump Plaza; Willie Tomasello; Fred Trump’s partner on Beach Haven; Genovese associate; Nicky Scarfo; Atlantic City/Philadelphia Crime Boss; Cleveland Wrecking Co; Cleveland Wrecking Company Wachtel Plumbing Teddy Maritas; head of Carpenters Union; Circle Industries; John Cody;  head of Teamsters Local 282; jailed for racketeering Nick Auletta: President of S & A Concrete, cement company; Joe DePaolo; President of Dic Underhill Co; helped build Trump Village with Fred Trump; Danny Sullivan; partner in SSG, Inc; deal-making arm of Scarfo Mob Kenny Shapiro; scrap-metal dealer, partner SSG; principle financier for Scarfo’s Philadelphia Crime Organization. A few months after this request, the FBI posted this 8 page release. Once I receive their response letter in the mail, I will add that to the file, along with anything else that may have come up.

Trump, John G. – [16 Pages, 2.2MB] – John George Trump (August 21, 1907 – February 21, 1985) was an American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist. He was a recipient of U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s National Medal of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Trump was noted for developing rotational radiation therapy. Together with Robert J. Van de Graaff, he developed one of the first million-volt X-ray generators. He was also the uncle of President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.  These documents consist of the entire FOIA case file, and processing notes, to the request I did wherein it was told to me files relating to John G. Trump were destroyed.

Trump Barry, Maryanne – [406 Pages, 2.2MB] – Maryanne Trump Barry (1937–2023) was an American attorney and federal judge, and the eldest sister of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Born in New York City to Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, she pursued higher education at Mount Holyoke College, Columbia University, and Hofstra University School of Law. Barry began her legal career as an assistant U.S. attorney in 1974. In 1983, she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and later elevated by President Bill Clinton in 1999 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She assumed senior status in 2011 and retired in 2019 amid an investigation into alleged judicial misconduct related to her family’s financial dealings. Barry passed away in New York City on November 13, 2023, at the age of 86.

Trump Organization – [154 Pages, 25.8MB] – The Trump Organization is the collective name for a group of approximately 500 business entities of which Donald Trump, the current U.S. President, is the sole or principal owner. Approximately 250 entities use the Trump name.  Donald Trump’s grandmother Elizabeth Christ Trump and father Fred Trump founded the organization in 1923 as E. Trump & Son, and it was led from 1971 to 2017 by Donald Trump, who renamed the company around 1973. I first requested these files in 2016, but received a “no records” response. I refiled again in late 2018, and received 150+ pages. After investigating why the new records were found, Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro took the FBI to court, and got them to release the records. Interesting that they fully denied records existed prior to this.

University Bible Fellowship – [27 Pages, 4.7MB] – The University Bible Fellowship is an international evangelical non-denominational Christian entity that originated in South Korea in 1961. It was founded through a partnership between a Korean, Samuel Chang-Woo Lee, and Sarah Barry, an American Presbyterian missionary who was sent to South Korea. The international headquarters of UBF is in Chicago. The group members are concentrated in South Korea, but has chapters in 91 countries including American universities and community colleges. The organization’s stated goal is student evangelism. Some outside observers and former members describe the group as cult-like, excessively controlling, spiritually damaging, or abusive.

FBI Files: Unsolved Mysteries TV Show – [1,581 Pages, 62MB] – Unsolved Mysteries is an American mystery documentary television program, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl Malden, and Robert Stack, beginning on NBC on January 20, 1987, becoming a full-fledged series on October 5, 1988, hosted by Stack. After nine seasons on NBC, the series moved to CBS for its 10th season on November 13, 1997. After adding Virginia Madsen as a co-host during season 11 failed to boost slipping ratings, CBS canceled the series after only a two-season, 12-episode run on June 11, 1999. The series was revived by Lifetime in 2000, with season 12 beginning on July 2, 2001. Unsolved Mysteries aired 103 episodes on Lifetime, before ending on September 20, 2002, an end that coincided with Stack’s illness and eventual death.In 2017, the show’s creators expressed interest in reviving the series. On January 18, 2019, Netflix picked up a reboot of the series.

Uranium One – [25 Pages, 7.3MB] – Uranium One is a Russian-Canadian uranium mining company with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. It has operations in Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, South Africa and the United States. In 2010, Rosatom, the Russian state-owned uranium monopoly, through its subsidiary ARMZ, bought a 51.4% controlling interest in the Canadian company. In January 2013 Rosatom purchased the remaining 48.6% of the company, at a value of $1.3 billion. Since 2015 the sale of Uranium One to Rosatom had been characterized by conservative media in the United States as a bribery scandal involving Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation; no evidence of wrongdoing has been found after three years of allegations, an FBI investigation, and the 2017 appointment of a Federal Attorney to evaluate the investigation. Uranium One Related FOIA Requests – [29 Pages,5.8MB] – In September of 2018, I requested a copy of all FOIA requests dealing with Uranium One that were filed with the FBI. In February of 2019, I received a copy of who was going after records.

VARO, Inc. – FBI Release #1 – [139 Pages, 17.7MB] VARO, Inc. – FBI Release #2 – [171 Pages, 8.5MB] VARO, Inc. – Navy #1 – [5 Pages, 1MB] VARO, Inc. – DoJ Denial – [5 Pages, 1MB] – Varo manufactures military night vision viewing systems, high voltage rectifiers and multipliers used in consumer and industrial electronic products, frequency control devices for the U.S. Navy, and marine searchlights.

Venceremos Brigade – [802 Pages, 396MB] – The Venceremos Brigade is a politically motivated international organization founded in 1969 by members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and officials of the Republic of Cuba. It was formed as a coalition of young people attempting to show solidarity with the Cuban Revolution by working side by side with Cuban workers, challenging U.S. policies towards Cuba, including the United States embargo against Cuba. The yearly brigade trips, which as of 2010 have brought more than 9,000 people to Cuba, continue today and are coordinated with the Pastors For Peace Friendship Caravans to Cuba. The 48th Brigade travelled to Cuba in July 2017. According to FOIA case 1496188-001, there are approximately 52,712 more pages available, which will cost $1,585.00 to get. If anyone wants to sponsor this file, please let me know, and I am happy to archive it.

Wackenhut Corporation – FBI Release #1 – [ File #1 51.0MB | File #2 19.09MB | File #3 30.36MB | File #4 20.36MB ] – [ 1,023 Total Pages ]  Wackenhut Corporation – FBI Release #2 – [488 Pages, 168.6MB]  Wackenhut Corporation – FBI Release #3 – [146 Pages, 25.8MB]  Wackenhut Corporation – FBI Release #4 – [190 Pages, 98MB] – The Wackenhut Corporation was founded in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners (all former FBI agents). In 2002 the company was acquired for $570 million by Danish corporation Group 4 Falck (itself then merged to form British company G4S in 2004). In 2010, G4S Wackenhut changed its name to G4S Secure Solutions (USA) to reflect the new business model.

Wade, Henry Manasco – [374 Pages, 358MB] – Henry Menasco Wade (November 11, 1914 – March 1, 2001) was a Texas lawyer who served as District Attorney of Dallas from 1951 to 1987. As such, he participated in two of the most notable U.S. court cases of the 20th century: the prosecution of Jack Ruby for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade. In addition, Wade was District Attorney when Randall Dale Adams, the subject of the documentary film The Thin Blue Line, was convicted in the murder of Robert Wood, a Dallas police officer. He is also the longest-serving district attorney in United States history.

Weisberg, Harold NARA Release #1 – [22 Pages, 2.2MB] – Harold Weisberg (April 8, 1913 – February 21, 2002) served as an Office of Strategic Services officer during World War II, a U.S. Senate staff member and investigative reporter, an investigator for the Senate Committee on Civil Liberties, and a U.S. State Department intelligence analyst who devoted 40 years of his life to researching and writing about the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. He wrote ten self-published and published books and approximately thirty-five unpublished books related to the details for those assassinations, mostly with respect to Kennedy’s assassination. Weisberg was a strong critic of the Warren Commission report and of the methods used in investigating President Kennedy’s murder. In this regard, he was avant-garde, embarking on a course that many other conspiracy theorists would later come to follow. Weisberg is best known for his seminal work, Whitewash, where he wrote: “Following thousands of hours of research in and analysis of the vast, chaotic, deliberately disorganized, padded and largely meaningless 26 volumes of the testimony and exhibits of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and its 900-page Report – millions of words of which are not needed and are merely diversionary – I published the results of my investigation in a book, Whitewash: The Report on the Warren Report. In this book, I establish that the inquiry into the assassination was a whitewash, using as proof only what the Commission avoided, ignored, misrepresented and suppressed of its own evidence.” On February 21, 2002, Weisberg died of cardiovascular disease at his home in Frederick, Maryland.

Weishaupt, Kurt – [39 Pages, 15MB] – Kurt Weishaupt (1913–2004) was a Swiss-born artist, scholar, and innovator, known for his contributions to both the arts and sciences during a century marked by profound cultural and technological change. Born in Zurich, Weishaupt displayed an early aptitude for painting and engineering, a rare combination that shaped his multifaceted career. He became renowned for his avant-garde artwork that blended abstract expressionism with elements of scientific precision, earning him recognition in European art circles during the mid-20th century. Beyond the canvas, he was an inventor and thinker, holding several patents for mechanical designs inspired by his fascination with geometry and motion. Weishaupt’s life reflected a relentless curiosity and dedication to bridging the gap between creativity and functionality, leaving a legacy celebrated by artists and engineers alike.

Welch, Jr. Robert Henry – [5,081 Pages, 299MB] – Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (December 1, 1899 – January 6, 1985) was an American businessman, political activist, and author. He was independently wealthy following his retirement and used that wealth to sponsor anti-Communist causes. He co-founded the conservative group the John Birch Society (JBS) in 1958 and tightly controlled it until his death. He became a highly controversial target of criticism by liberals, as well as some conservatives, including William F. Buckley Jr. Please Note: Additional Records do exist, which total 8,271 more pages, and will cost $255 to receive them on CDs.

West, Rev. Donald L. – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 | File #5 | File #6 | File #7 | File #8| File #9 | File #10 | File #11 | File #12 | File #13 | File #14 |  ] – [ 2,398 Total Pages ] –  No biography available. (Source: Ernie Lazar)

Wheeler, Roger Milton – [1,369 Pages, 56MB ] – Roger Wheeler (February 27, 1926 — May 27, 1981) was an American businessman, the former chairman of Telex Corp. and former owner of World Jai Alai. In 1981, he was murdered at age 55 in his car while preparing to leave Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following his weekly game of golf. He was purportedly murdered for uncovering an embezzlement scheme that was going on at his business, World Jai Alai. After retiring from the FBI, H. Paul Rico took a job as head of security for World Jai Alai. He saw the perfect opportunity to set up his former confidential informants Whitey Bulger and Steve Flemmi in a skimming operation there. The Winter Hill Gang skimmed $10,000 per week from the parking lot operation at World Jai Alai.  Please note: Check out the bookmarks in the PDF file to differentiate between the file numbers and section IDs of this release. There are more files relating to Mr. Wheeler. As of June of 2016, the FBI informed me there were 8,160 potentially responsive pages. To order, it will be $250 to receive on CD-ROMs. If you are interested in sponsoring this file, CONTACT ME.

White Supremacist Groups – [ 78 Pages, 10.94MB ] – White supremacy is the belief of, and/or promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds and that therefore whites should politically, economically and socially dominate non-whites. The term is also used to describe a political ideology that perpetuates and maintains the social, political, historical and/or industrial dominance of whites. Different forms of white supremacy have different conceptions of who is considered white, and different white supremacist identify various groups as their primary enemy.

Whitman, Charles – [ 757 Pages ] 1335599-0 – Preprocessed CD No Charge Letter – 2678411.pdf 432K 1335599-0 – 63-11732 – Section 1 Serial 1 COVER SHEETMediaPage.PDF 100MB 1335599-0 – 63-11732 – Section 2 Serial 47 COVER SHEETMediaPag.PDF 75MB 1335599-0 – 63-11732 – Section 3 Serial 121 COVER SHEETMediaPa.PDF 101MB 1335599-0 – 63-11732-Sub A – Section 1 Serial 1 COVER SHEETMediaPage.PDF 103MB 1335599-0 – Documents – Section 1 Serial COVER SHEETMediaPages.PDF 77MBCharles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was an American engineering student at the University of Texas, former U.S. Marine, and a mass murderer who killed 16 people. In the early morning hours of August 1, 1966, Whitman murdered his wife and mother in their homes. Later that day, he brought a number of guns, including rifles, a shotgun, and handguns, to the campus of the University of Texas at Austin where, over an approximate 90 to 95 minute period, he killed 14 people and wounded 32 others in a mass shooting in and around the Tower. Whitman shot and killed three people inside the university’s tower and eleven others after firing at random from the 28th-floor observation deck of the Main Building. Whitman was shot and killed by Austin police officer Houston McCoy.

Widmaier-Picasso, Maya – [7 Pages, 2MB] – Maya Widmaier-Picasso was a French art expert and the eldest daughter of renowned artist Pablo Picasso and his muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter. Growing up in the heart of the art world, Maya developed a profound understanding of her father’s work and has dedicated much of her life to preserving and promoting his legacy. She has been instrumental in authenticating and curating numerous Picasso exhibitions and has contributed significantly to art historical scholarship. Maya’s deep personal and professional connection to her father’s oeuvre makes her a prominent figure in the art community.

Wolfe, Bertram – FBI “Vault Release” – [ File #1, 21.4MB | File #2 23.09MB | File #3 14.05MB ] [ 546 Total Pages ]  Wolfe, Bertram – [693 Pages, 139.6MB]Bertram David “Bert” Wolfe (1896–1977) was an American scholar and former communist best known for biographical studies of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and Diego Rivera.

Wolfe, Ella Goldberg – [347 Pages, 181.3MB] – Ella Goldberg Wolfe, who helped her husband Bertram (see above) and others found the American Communist Party, died January 8, 2000, in her Palo Alto, California home. By the time she died at age 103, she had lived a dramatic life of political intrigue, travel and scholarship in three centuries. She spent much of the last 20 years organizing her and her husband’s papers at the Hoover Institution Archives.

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – [4,432 Pages, 2.94GB] – Note: This is a very large file. It is recommended you right click and download to your desktop. –  The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working “to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make known the causes of war and work for a permanent peace” and to unite women worldwide who oppose oppression and exploitation. WILPF has national sections in 37 countries. The WILPF is headquartered in Geneva and maintains a United Nations office in New York City.

Wriston, Walter – [84 Pages, 32.3MB] – Walter Bigelow Wriston (August 3, 1919 – January 19, 2005) was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influential commercial banker of his time. During his tenure as CEO, the bank introduced, among other innovations, automated teller machines, interstate banking, the negotiable certificate of deposit, and “pursued the credit card business in a way that no other bank was doing at the time”. With then New York Governor Hugh Carey and investment banker Felix Rohatyn, Wriston helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the mid-1970s by setting up the Financial Control Board and the Municipal Assistance Corporation, and persuading the city’s union pension funds and banks to buy the latter corporation’s bonds.  Note: These records were provided by the family of anthologist and transparency activist Russ Kick, from his papers, facilitated by the generous assistance of Dr. Susan Maret. This is not a complete collection set of his papers, but rather, a selection of items sent to The Black Vault for digital preservation.

Yeager, Chuck – [66 Pages, 4.2MB] – Chuck Yeager (1923-2020) was an iconic American test pilot, Air Force officer, and record-setting aviator, best known for being the first person to break the sound barrier. Born in West Virginia, Yeager enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, where he displayed remarkable flying prowess, becoming an ace fighter pilot. His legendary flight on October 14, 1947, aboard the Bell X-1 rocket plane, surpassed the speed of sound, marking a groundbreaking achievement in aviation history. Over his illustrious career, Yeager’s courageous feats and unmatched skills earned him numerous accolades and solidified his status as one of the most influential pilots of the 20th century.

Youth International Party – FBI Release #1 –  [614 Pages, 32MB] Youth International Party – FBI Release #2 – [455 Pages, 221MB] – The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on December 31, 1967. They employed theatrical gestures to mock the social status quo, such as advancing a pig (“Pigasus the Immortal”) as a candidate for president of the United States in 1968.[3] They have been described as a highly theatrical, anti-authoritarian and anarchist youth movement of “symbolic politics”.

Zapata Oil – [4 Pages, 0.8MB] – Zapata Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1953 by future-U.S. President George H. W. Bush, along with his business partners John Overbey, Hugh Liedtke, Bill Liedtke, and Thomas J. Devine. Overbey was a ‘landman’, skilled in scouting oil fields and obtaining drilling rights cheaply. Bush and Thomas J. Devine were oil-wildcatting associates. Their joint activities culminated in the establishment of Zapata Oil. The initial $1 million investment for Zapata was provided by the Liedtke brothers and their circle of investors, by Bush’s father Prescott Bush and his maternal grandfather George Herbert Walker, and their family’s circle of friends. Hugh Liedtke was named president, Bush was vice president; Overbey soon left.  Note: Records destroyed in April of 1995.

Zworykin, Vladimir – FBI Release #1 – [1,153 Pages, 830MB] Zworykin, Vladimir – FBI Release #2 (Cross References) – [19 Pages, 830MB]Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin (July 29, 1888 – July 29, 1982) was a Russian-born American inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Educated in Russia and in France, he spent most of his life in the United States. Zworykin invented a television transmitting and receiving system employing cathode ray tubes. He played a role in the practical development of television from the early thirties, including charge storage-type tubes, infrared image tubes and the electron microscope.

The post FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups first appeared on The Black Vault.

A newly released set of Defense Department documents reveals how the Pentagon handled former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon’s request to publish a message he said referenced an alleged effort to exploit “recovered off-world technology.” The records also reveal that Mellon’s first attempt to submit the material was returned to him after a DOPSR employee deemed his three-page mailed package a “security threat,” a detail he did not disclose in his public article.

The documents, sent to The Black Vault under FOIA case 24-F-1134, include Mellon’s original submission to the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR), internal emails, coordination records, and the March 1, 2024 approval that cleared him to release the message.

The 17 pages released by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) document DOPSR’s handling of Mellon’s submission from January through March 2024. The records show repeated delays, escalating internal pressure, and direct involvement from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which was tasked with coordinating on the review.

Mellon’s Submission: A Message Alleging Access to a Recovery Program

The FOIA file begins with Mellon’s January 19, 2024, email to DOPSR, in which he submitted the text message screenshot he later published publicly. Mellon wrote that he was seeking confirmation “to confirm it is not classified,” and noted that a submission mailed earlier had been returned “because some employee deemed it a security threat.”

In that letter, Mellon explained that the message was sent to him “some years ago” by a former DoD employee alleging they were “being read into a program involving the exploitation of recovered off-world technology”. Mellon also indicated he had “redacted the name of the alleged ‘gatekeeper’” and emphasized that he respected the confidentiality of the source.

He informed DOPSR that his intent in releasing the material was to show “why I have taken such extraordinary claims seriously,” but also  adding that he did “not have a position on the validity of the allegations” as he hears “credible claims, but also credible denials.”

Internal Confusion, Delays, and Pressure

The released emails show that by late February 2024, DOPSR was struggling to obtain required reviews from AARO and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (I&S). On February 20, a DOPSR official wrote: “These cases need to be completed ASAP. Not only is DOPSR under a lot of pressure from [ redacted ], but [ redacted ] has complained publicly about how long reviews are taking and DOPSR is now receiving emails from ‘concerned citizens’ all around the world (including Norway) about the matter.” It goes on to state that, “Further delay is simply not ok.”

The delays also appear to reflect procedural issues. One email states that DOPSR staff were “attempting to assign down for USI review” because the system “isn’t currently cooperating,” while other messages note that AARO responses were “not there” from CATMS, the DoD’s coordination tracking system.

AARO and I&S Ultimately Approve the Release

Despite the coordination issues, both reviewing authorities ultimately issued “NO OBJECTION” determinations.

The released SD Form 403 shows the official worksheet signed on March 1, 2024. AARO’s confirmation, according to a memorandum for the record included in the FOIA release, states that “AARO response coordinated with his leadership and is for AARO.” I&S also returned a “NO OBJECTION as Received” notice on February 9, 2024.

The approval stamp, dated March 1, 2024, appears on the version later published by Mellon in April 2024, when Mellon published the message and an accompanying explanation. In it, he emphasized that he received the text years earlier from “a senior government official” who he said “had plausible access and was high-ranking,” and whose claim of access to a crash retrieval program was why he believed at least some allegations merited attention.

He also acknowledged that the sender later told him they were denied access to the alleged program and had not seen any recovered craft.

The newly released FOIA documents do not validate or contradict Mellon’s claims or the claims within the Signal messages. Instead, they reveal the internal pathway through which the Pentagon processed and ultimately approved his request to release the material.

While the content of the message Mellon sought to publish had already been public since April 2024, this FOIA release marks the first time the government’s internal handling of his submission has been documented.

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The post Inside the Pentagon’s Review of Christopher Mellon’s Alleged UFO Crash Retrieval Text first appeared on The Black Vault.

A newly released Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has revealed that no records exist for an August 28, 2017, meeting listed on the official calendar of Neill Tipton, then Director for Defense Intelligence, Collection and Special Programs.

The finding stands in contrast to an earlier FOIA-released calendar showing the meeting was scheduled as an UNCLASSIFIED “SAP Coordination Meeting,” with a point-of-contact phone number matching one found on Luis Elizondo’s DD Form 1910 request to release three Navy UFO videos back in 2017.

OSD’s “no records” determination, issued today to The Black Vault under FOIA case 24-F-0839, asserts that a search of OUSD(I&S) systems “could reasonably be expected to produce the requested records if they existed,” but that none were identified when it came to seeking out records relating to the meeting.

The Black Vault immediately appealed the decision, arguing that the agency overlooked evidence already released under FOIA case 20-F-1026, as filed by Lt. Tim McMillan, co-founder of The Debrief, which documented the meeting on Tipton’s official schedule.

That release to McMillan showed:

“SAP Coordination Meeting (UNCLASSIFIED) — Luis, 571-2393.”

The same phone number appears on Elizondo’s DD Form 1910 as his Pentagon office line at the time he submitted UFO videos known today as “FLIR1,” “Gimbal,” and “GoFast.”

The presence of the phone number in both documents, combined with a claim in Elizondo’s DoD IG complaint that he briefed Tipton in the July–October 2017 period, has fueled long-standing questions about whether the meeting took place, what it was about, and now, why OSD says no records exist.

The Tipton calendar released in FOIA case 20-F-1026 spans August 2017 and includes a clear entry at 12:55 p.m. on August 28, 2017, indicating a meeting took place between Tipton, and likely Elizondo himself.

These types of calendar entries are government records typically retained within OUSD(I&S) systems, which generally indicate that related materials exist such as:

• Scheduling emails

• Briefing papers

• Read-ahead materials

• Meeting notes or summaries

• Follow-up taskings

The FOIA appeal filed by The Black Vault argues that federal case law establishes that agencies must search all locations where related records are likely to be found, especially when an existing record points directly to their existence, like this calendar entry does.

OSD stated it could locate no responsive materials, even though this official calendar entry clearly confirms the meeting was at least scheduled at one time. Under normal circumstances, even a cancelled or preliminary meeting would generate minimal administrative records, all of which would be responsive to The Black Vault’s request.

In Elizondo’s May 2021 complaint to the Department of Defense Inspector General, he states that between July and 3 October 2017, senior Pentagon officials directed him and a colleague to brief Neill Tipton on the status of AATIP and to transition responsibilities to him. Elizondo states:

“From July to late September, Mr. [Brennan] McKernan and I had several personal meetings with Mr. Tipton to brief him on the nuances of AATIP.”

“Mr. Tipton agreed to assume the management role of AATIP…”

The complaint frames these meetings as part of a coordinated handoff of AATIP responsibilities, which has become a central element in Elizondo’s public claim that he led the program. But the Pentagon has consistently stated:

“Luis Elizondo had no assigned responsibilities for AATIP.”

The Pentagon’s position has remained unchanged for years, and to date, no document has been released that places Elizondo within any official program titled, or nicknamed, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). The Tipton calendar entry has been one of the few government-generated materials cited as potential evidence of interaction between Elizondo and senior OUSD(I&S) leadership on UAP-related matters, but still does not definitively prove that the meeting was AATIP, or even UAP, related.

But additional context to this meeting may emerge from email exchanges between Tipton and Elizondo, as published in Elizondo’s DoD/IG complaint. These messages, dated August 22–25, 2017, fall just days before the August 28 calendar entry and depict active communication about a planned meeting, efforts to schedule it, and discussions of an unspecified portfolio Elizondo described as “nuanced.”

In a message sent on August 22, 2017, Elizondo informed a Navy counterpart that he had spoken with Tipton “about our collective efforts” and recommended an in-person meeting once staff returned from leave. Tipton was copied and described as “amicable for a discussion” in his role as Acting Director for Defense Intelligence, Technical Collection and Special Programs. This message, which explicitly references coordination among OUSD(I), the Navy, and others, demonstrates that meeting preparations were already underway.

Tipton replied the following morning, August 23, adding a staff member to assist with scheduling. Elizondo responded on August 25, thanking Tipton “as discussed” and asserting that Tipton, as the “principal SES” in his directorate, was the appropriate figure “to help take our effort to a new level.” Elizondo further stated he had been managing another “nuanced effort within the Department for some time,” and that he had already “laid the foundations with SECDEF’s front office” to transfer this portfolio under Tipton’s oversight. He referenced meetings at the “front office,” partners in industry and other agencies, and the need to analyze and exploit material, an apparent reference to ongoing technical or operational work. Tipton replied the same morning: “Thanks Lue. All good – although, at some point I need to know what this actually ‘is’…”

Additional insight comes from a September 11, 2017, email, where Elizondo informed Tipton that “the front office is aware that you are now part of this endeavor and they are happy with the decision,” then proposed meeting the following Wednesday for a one-hour discussion. He also referenced a colleague as “a friend of the program,” noting Tipton would be speaking with him the next day.

Tipton’s reply, positioned directly above Elizondo’s email in the FOIA release and evidently written within the same timeframe, stated: “Thanks Lue. I’m around next week… For specific date/time, just work with [redacted]. I’m not allowed to muck around with my calendar.” He added that he had “a discussion with [redacted]tomorrow,” which suggests he was already engaged on issues connected to the effort Elizondo was attempting to advance.

When read alongside the August emails, the September 11 exchange reflects a notable shift. In late August, Tipton had asked Elizondo, “at some point I need to know what this actually ‘is’…,” indicating uncertainty about the nature of the portfolio. By September, Elizondo was telling Tipton that senior leadership, aka the “front office”, supported his involvement. The progression documented in these emails does not identify AATIP explicitly, but it does show an evolving effort in which Tipton was being brought into a role with responsibilities Elizondo believed were being aligned under him.

Then, in a communication dated September 25, 2017, released via FOIA to The Black Vault, Elizondo sent Tipton a “DRAFT DepSECDEF letter” written “at the unclassified level” so Tipton could “better assume the new responsibilities for AATIP.”

Elizondo wrote that the memo had been drafted “per SECDEF’s Front Office guidance to you and me,” and asked Tipton for edits. Tipton replied on October 3, 2017, saying he would review and provide comments.

The attached draft memorandum, the now-public AATIP memo, is one of the only official DoD documents ever released that refers directly to AATIP. It outlines congressional funding for the program in 2008, describes its focus on “beyond next generation technologies,” and directs all DoD elements to provide reporting on “unexplained or unknown aerial systems” to the Director of Defense Intelligence for Technical Collection and Special Programs, the office Tipton held at the time.

Although the memo remains heavily debated in terms of its status and was clearly written by Elizondo and not the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the emails show that Elizondo was transmitting the draft to Tipton in late September 2017 as part of what he described as a transfer of responsibilities “to you and me” per guidance from senior leadership. Combined with Tipton’s acknowledgment on October 3 that he was “getting spun back up” and would review the document, the records finally demonstrate that AATIP was explicitly referenced in correspondence between the two men during this period.

Elizondo resigned later that same day.

Taken all together, these communications do not establish whether the August 28 meeting took place or what its precise subject was. They do, however, document an active dialogue from late August through early October, involving scheduling, follow-up discussions, and the transmission of a memo directly labeled “Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.” The presence of these records strengthens the central question raised by the FOIA “no records” determination: if emails exist showing coordination between Elizondo and Tipton on a portfolio as directed by senior offices, why does the Department of Defense report that it can locate no material whatsoever associated with a meeting that appears on Tipton’s official calendar between him and Elizondo within that timeframe?

OSD’s letter states that its search would have found records “if they existed.” But the calendar entry, which the authenticity of is not in dispute, suggests they did, at one time, likely did exist. So where are they?

The documentation presents several possibilities about the August 28th meeting:

If the meeting occurred
Then associated records should exist somewhere within OUSD(I&S) or SAP coordination channels.

If the meeting was cancelled
There is still no explanation for why no scheduling emails or cancellation notices were located during the search.

If the meeting occurred but involved no Elizondo-related content
Responsive materials would still be expected under a FOIA request for all records “pertaining to” the event.

If records once existed but were later deleted or misplaced
That issue is not addressed in the FOIA response, and the appeal argues that OSD must examine alternative systems or archives.

This calendar entry remains one of the few official documents linking Elizondo to a senior Pentagon intelligence official during the period when he says he was transitioning AATIP responsibilities. The government’s position, reiterated for years, is that he had no assigned role in AATIP. The calendar entry does not resolve that contradiction, but it does establish that a meeting involving “Luis” at Elizondo’s known office number was officially recorded at a time it is confirmed Elizondo was talking to Tipton about transferring a portfolio.

With OSD’s latest FOIA search producing no related documents, the question becomes not just whether the meeting occurred, but how an official record of a scheduled SAP-related meeting can exist with no underlying materials preserved in any system searched by the Department of Defense.

The Black Vault’s appeal seeks clarity on all this, and requests a new search based on evidence and established case law requiring a proper one be conducted. Until that search is fully completed, the August 28, 2017, “SAP Coordination Meeting” remains a documented but unexplained artifact in one of the most debated chapters of the Elizondo/AATIP saga.

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The post Pentagon Calendar Lists an AATIP-Era Meeting — But All Supporting Records Are Missing first appeared on The Black Vault.

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On November 14, 2025, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced the initial posting of these documents. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard detailed how the President’s order prompted agencies to locate and review both known and previously overlooked materials. The initial release includes reports, maps, telegrams, weather data, communications assessments, and early investigative records from the immediate days after Earhart vanished. Newly declassified NSA files and other intelligence-derived material are also among the documents now available, reflecting both the scope of the original government response and the degree to which the case intersected with intelligence collection during a period of global tension. Gabbard characterized the release as part of a broader effort to increase transparency, remove unnecessary secrecy, and provide the public with direct access to historical government holdings.

The National Archives and Records Administration serves as the central repository for this initiative. Many Earhart-related records had been transferred to NARA over the years through routine processes, while others remained siloed within agencies or bound by classification until the new directive forced a government-wide review. As agencies continue to identify additional material, they are required to send the records to NARA for digitization and public posting. The process is ongoing and records will be added on a rolling basis, meaning the full collection will expand over time.

Earhart’s disappearance has long fascinated historians, investigators, and the public because it occurred at the intersection of pioneering aviation, early long-distance radio communication, and rising geopolitical uncertainty. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished on July 2, 1937, while attempting to reach Howland Island during a globe-circling flight. Despite an extensive naval and Coast Guard search, no confirmed wreckage or remains were ever found. The absence of physical evidence has allowed multiple explanations to persist. Some researchers argue that navigational errors and fuel exhaustion caused the aircraft to ditch into the Pacific. Others suggest Earhart diverted to Nikumaroro Island, where anecdotal accounts and ambiguous artifacts have been periodically cited as possible clues. Additional claims, particularly after World War II, proposed that Earhart may have been captured by Japanese forces, though no definitive evidence has surfaced. Still others have speculated that U.S. or foreign intelligence agencies held data about intercepted signals, search operations, or classified assessments that were never fully acknowledged publicly. The newly released records provide an opportunity to re-examine these claims using primary source material, rather than relying on assumptions or folklore.

The release of previously classified documents also raises questions about why some records were withheld for so long. Many intelligence-era documents, including those involving signals collection, wartime assessments, or sources and methods, were historically classified by default, even when they did not relate to contemporary national security threats. Other files may simply have been overlooked or unprocessed within agency archives until required to be reviewed. The new directive forces a level of disclosure that earlier administrations did not prioritize, allowing researchers to evaluate how much of the historical secrecy was tied to legitimate intelligence concerns, bureaucratic inertia, or gaps in archival processing.

To assist the public in navigating this growing body of material, The Black Vault has created a full-text search engine dedicated to the Amelia Earhart document releases. The tool mirrors the features used in the JFK, RFK, and MLK archives, offering a clean, modern interface that indexes filenames, OCR-converted text, and available metadata. Users can search across the entire collection as it evolves, review individual PDFs, and explore the content using keywords, phrases, and Boolean logic. The search engine will be updated as new sets of documents are added by NARA, ensuring ongoing access to the full digital record.

The release of the Amelia Earhart files represents the first government-backed effort to unify federal records about her disappearance into a single location accessible to the public. While these documents may not resolve the mystery, they offer the most complete and transparent view of what various agencies collected, analyzed, and concluded across decades. Their publication makes it possible for historians, researchers, journalists, and the public to examine the underlying evidence for themselves, without relying solely on secondary interpretations or long-standing speculation. Whether these records ultimately reshape the understanding of Earhart’s fate remains unknown, but they mark a significant step toward illuminating a case that has captivated generations.

The post Amelia Earhart Declassified: New Government Records Released and Indexed by The Black Vault first appeared on The Black Vault.

The update was issued under FAA Notice N 7110.800, effective October 26, 2025, and applies to all Air Traffic Organization (ATO) personnel. The notice modifies two key sections of FAA Order JO 7110.65, the governing document for air traffic control procedures. Specifically, it updates paragraph 1-2-6, “Abbreviations,” and paragraph 9-8-1, “General,” to remove the word UFO and introduce UAP in its place.

(Editor’s Note: As of publication, the FAA’s online version of Order JO 7110.65 does not yet reflect the revisions outlined in Notice N 7110.800. The updated language appears only in the notice itself, pending formal incorporation into the manual.)

FAA’s Revised Directive

The updated manual instructs that controllers must now:

“Inform the operations supervisor/CIC of any reported or observed unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)/unexplained phenomena activity.”

The section also references FAA Order JO 7210.3, paragraph 4-7-4, which addresses formal reporting channels for such incidents. The change, while procedural, reflects a broader institutional recognition of UAPs as a legitimate aviation safety and national security concern.

The FAA explained the reasoning behind the update in the “Background” section of the notice:

“On December 22, 2022, Title 50 United States Code (50 U.S.C.) section 3373, Establishment of All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, created and defined the term unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) which effectively, for governmental purposes, replaced the term unidentified flying object (UFO).”

“As a result, the FAA will require air traffic control (ATC) to notify the National Tactical Security Operations (NTSO) Air Traffic Security Coordinator (ATSC) team on the Domestic Events Network (DEN) of any pilot reports or air traffic personnel observations of UAP activity.”

A Quiet but Notable Shift

While the change primarily involves terminology and reporting clarification, it marks the first time the FAA has explicitly tied UAP procedures to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) framework created under federal law. The acknowledgment of UAPs as “a potential national security concern” represents a subtle but significant shift in how the agency treats such reports.

Kevin Cortes, writing for Americans for Safe Aerospace, described the change as “a quiet but important” development that “places UAP reporting within [the FAA’s]core safety framework,” adding that “when pilots and controllers can document what they have seen without fear or stigma, that information becomes data.”

Graves and ASA have consistently advocated for standardized UAP reporting channels to ensure that safety and national security implications are taken seriously. The organization called the update “a meaningful step forward,” noting that it helps normalize transparent reporting across the aviation community.

Historical Context: The FAA and UFO Reports

The Black Vault has tracked FAA policy on UFO and UAP reporting for more than two decades. Earlier FAA documentation referenced “unidentified flying objects,” with reports sometimes routed through nontraditional channels, which included Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), during the same period the Defense Intelligence Agency operated the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications Program (AAWSAP), in which BAASS was the contractor awarded the program at the time.

In 2019, The Black Vault published an investigation into the FAA’s earlier handling of UFO sightings and the agency’s acknowledgment of maintaining a database containing such reports. That reporting can be reviewed here:

• FAA Denies Tracking UFOs, Publishes Database Containing UFO Sightings
• The Bigelow Aerospace, NIDS and BAASS UFO Connection with the FAA

Those earlier FAA relationships were significant because they marked the only period in which a private aerospace entity, which has been reported by some media outlets as having links to government-funded UFO research, were explicitly named in FAA reporting instructions.

Toward Standardized and Safe Reporting

ASA emphasized that the FAA’s 2025 update should be seen as part of a larger movement toward openness, bolstered by pending legislation. The Safe Airspace for Americans Act, introduced in Congress in September 2025, seeks to establish a standardized, national system for UAP reporting by aviation professionals, protect employees from retaliation, and ensure transparency in the data collection process.

According to ASA, the FAA’s policy change “is not the end goal” but a foundational step toward a “culture of transparency” in U.S. airspace safety.

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The post FAA Updates Controller Manual to Reflect New UAP Reporting Policy first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the report, Army Special Forces soldier Matthew Livelsberger deliberately drove a rented Tesla Cybertruck into the hotel’s porte cochere at approximately 8:40 a.m. and detonated it seconds later. The explosion killed Livelsberger and injured six others. The blast was determined to be a premeditated attack involving a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device capable of mass casualties and structural damage.

Investigators recovered firearms, ammunition, fuel containers, fireworks, and multiple electronic devices from the destroyed vehicle.

The LVMPD’s Digital Forensics Lab later extracted digital evidence including Livelsberger’s chat history, internet searches, encrypted notes, and a manifesto from one of two recovered iPhones. The report states that this material helped confirm the suspect acted alone but contained information that led the Department of Defense to classify the manifesto on January 9, 2025. The classification order ended LVMPD’s local investigation, transferring full control to federal authorities citing national security concerns.

Authorities and media outlets have reported the existence of an alleged manifesto linked to Livelsberger that may shed light on his motivations and state of mind in the days leading up to the explosion. According to information first published by the Shawn Ryan show, Livelsberger sent a lengthy email to a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer claiming to possess knowledge of secret government programs, classified drone technology, and alleged wartime misconduct. In the message, he described what he believed were “gravitic propulsion” aircraft, technology he attributed to both the United States and China, and referenced a “checkmate” scenario in which such craft could hover undetected over strategic targets. The email also included statements about covert military operations in Afghanistan, which Livelsberger claimed had resulted in civilian casualties that were later covered up. He wrote that he had been “followed for over a week” by intelligence agencies and suggested he was being digitally tracked.

The manifesto’s authenticity has not been verified by investigators, and its contents remain a subject of speculation. The Department of Defense has not publicly commented on whether the material it classified on January 9, 2025, matches the document published by Ryan. However, the overlap between the descriptions has fueled widespread discussion about whether the writings seized from Livelsberger’s devices and the email now circulating online are the same. If confirmed, the classification of the manifesto could suggest that elements of Livelsberger’s claims intersected with restricted or sensitive defense information, raising further questions about why the federal government moved swiftly to block public release of the document.

The sequence of events outlined in the report shows that Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck through the peer-to-peer car service Turo on December 28, 2024, after advancing the reservation from December 30. Surveillance footage later confirmed that, just before the explosion, Livelsberger was seen pouring an accelerant into the bed of the vehicle before driving it to the Trump hotel. Investigators verified that the Cybertruck’s internal cameras had been disabled manually prior to detonation.

Army Criminal Investigation Division agents assisted in executing search warrants at Livelsberger’s residences in Colorado and Germany, uncovering personal and service-related records. Interviews with his wife indicated marital and behavioral problems in the days before the incident, including erratic communication and financial isolation. Federal agents determined Livelsberger had purchased firearms, fireworks, and other materials in the days leading up to the attack.

The report documents a highly coordinated response between local, federal, and private-sector partners. Within minutes of the explosion, officers and firefighters evacuated the hotel, contained the fire, and established command posts. Specialized bomb technicians from the Las Vegas Fire Rescue Bomb Squad and the FBI confirmed the presence of fuel containers, fuses, and fireworks remnants. Drone footage and air-monitoring technology were used to assess the scene and ensure safety for investigators. The report cites this integration of drone technology as critical to “ensuring that personnel could advance only when it was deemed safe to do so.”

The LVMPD’s analysis also includes internal recommendations following the event. These include additional training on electric-vehicle battery hazards after several officers reported exposure symptoms from lithium-ion fumes, improved interagency communication protocols, and expanded protective equipment for crime-scene analysts. The report further calls for continued joint training between police and fire personnel to address differences in incident-command expectations during complex emergencies.

The Cybertruck was ultimately wrapped in a tarp and transported under escort to a secure LVMPD facility for examination. Once the Department of Defense intervened, LVMPD was directed to halt further public disclosure. Sheriff Kevin McMahill said that, despite significant media pressure to classify the attack as terrorism, investigators “prioritized a methodical and unbiased investigative approach” and refrained from public speculation until evidence could be verified.

The incident occurred just hours after a separate New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans that killed fourteen and injured fifty-seven. Though investigators found no connection between the two events, the timing amplified national security concerns. The LVMPD report concludes that Livelsberger acted alone but offers no explanation for the Department of Defense’s decision to classify his writings or what specific content warranted federal secrecy.

The release of the after-action report closes LVMPD’s portion of the case but leaves lingering questions about why the military assumed control, what was contained in Livelsberger’s manifesto, and whether any broader implications remain hidden behind classification.

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The post Las Vegas Police Release Full Report on Cybertruck Explosion — and the Federal Intervention That Followed first appeared on The Black Vault.