Just weeks ago, The Black Vault secured a partial release of the classified UAP report given to Congress on June 25, 2021. Now, newly released documents from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) shed light on their contributions to that report, and to the UAP research effort underway by numerous corners of the U.S. military, government and intelligence community.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted to the NRO by The Black Vault on July 22, 2021. It was given NRO FOIA Case F-2021-00164, and zeroed in on the email box of the Director of the NRO, Christopher Scolese.
Specifically, it sought the following:
“… a copy of all emails, sent to/from | bcc/cc’d Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Christopher J. Scolese, that contain the phrases and keywords: “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” and/or “Aerial Phenomenon” and/or UAP and/or UFO and/or “Unidentified Flying Objects” and/or UAPs and/or UFOs and/or “UAP Task Force”.
The request sought after all e-mails and any attachments on both the unclassified and classified levels.
The result was a small stack of documents, most of which at the TOP SECRET level. The majority of what was released was an email with the subject, “Status of actions regarding UAPs”, sent June 9, 2021, just weeks before The Black Vault’s FOIA request was filed.
The email was written by Thomas B. Bowman, who was revealed within the released documents as the official NRO “Point of Contact” or POC for efforts tied to the UAP Task Force. This email, originally classified at the Top Secret level, was sent to Director Scolese, but also to Dr. Troy E. Meink, NRO Principal Deputy Director, and Major General Michael A. Guetlein, NRO Deputy Director.
This email broke down numerous pieces of information, and here are some of the highlights.
First, it broke down “three efforts” that Bowman wanted to highlight.
Another portion of the email breaks down the NRO’s input to the classified UAP Task Force’s final report to Congress. It states the following:
Key takeaway, although easily assumed prior to this release, solidifies the involvement of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for GEOINT and the National Security Agency (NSA) for SIGINT, collected for the UAP research effort. The involvement of both agencies indicate that American spy satellites and intercepted communications all play a role in unraveling the UAP mystery.
Although a large portion of the email stays at the TOP SECRET and SECRET levels, and is heavily redacted as a result; another section that was not hidden does reveal small details on the DoD/IG UAP project, and the NRO’s future involvement.
Following this email were ten pages denied in toto, primarily withheld for national security reasons under exemption (b)(1). These pages may be the detail of that “data call” or something else entirely. It is only speculation on what is withheld.
The result of this request has spawned numerous cases filed by The Black Vault today, to build off this case. The results of those cases, when available, will be posted promptly.
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The entire FOIA release is below.
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This post was published on April 8, 2022 1:55 pm
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