On January 13, 2018, a false ballistic missile alert was issued via the Emergency Alert System and Commercial Mobile Alert System over television, radio, and cellphones in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The alert stated that there was an incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii, advised residents to seek shelter, and concluded “This is not a drill”.

The message was sent at 8:07 a.m. local time. However, no civil defense outdoor warning sirens were authorized or sounded by the state.

A second message, sent 38 minutes later, described the first as a “false alarm”. State officials blamed a miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency for the first message. Governor David Ige publicly apologized for the erroneous alert, which caused panic and disruption throughout the state.

The Federal Communications Commission and the Hawaii House of Representatives launched investigations into the incident, leading to the resignation of the state’s emergency management administrator.

Below you will find documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding this incident.

Currently, there are multiple FOIA requests still pending throughout multiple agencies. More updates will be posted soon!

Document Archive

 Navy Region Hawaii, Pearl Harbor Documents [3 Pages, 1MB] – This document found was the only document located at Pearl Harbor.

 U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) Documents [57 Pages, 1MB]

The post Hawaii false missile alert – January 13, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault.

On 21 January 1968, an aircraft accident involving a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 bomber occurred near Thule Air Base in the Danish territory of Greenland. The aircraft was carrying four hydrogen bombs on a Cold War”Chrome Dome” alert mission over Baffin Bay when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft before they could carry out an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto sea ice in North Star Bay, Greenland, causing the conventional explosives aboard to detonate and the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in radioactive contamination.

The United States and Denmark launched an intensive clean-up and recovery operation, but the secondary stage of one of the nuclear weapons could not be accounted for after the operation completed. USAF Strategic Air Command “Chrome Dome” operations were discontinued immediately after the accident, which highlighted the safety and political risks of the missions. Safety procedures were reviewed and more stable explosives were developed for use in nuclear weapons. (Description of event courtesy of Wikipedia)

Declassified Documents

Department of the Air Force

•  USAF FOIA Response, April 25, 2018 [2 Pages, 0.3MB]
  • “Thule Nuclear Weapons Accident DOSE Evaluation Report” dated April 2001 [48 Pages, 0.6MB]
  • PROJECT CRESTED ICE – USAF B-52 Accident at Thule, Greenland, 21 January 1968 [214 Pages, 5.5MB]
  • USAF Nuclear Safety, Volume 65 (Part 2) Special Edition – Jan/Feb/March 1970, No.1 [100 Pages, 16.6MB]
  • Thule Photographs, 72dpi Thumbnails[11 Pages, 3.0MB]
  • Search for Personal Information – Thule Nuclear Weapons Accident, November 8, 2017 [6 Pages, 3.0MB]
  • USAF FOIA Reading Room Printout Regarding Palomares, Spain and Thule Air Base Nuclear Accidents [2 Pages, 0.5MB]
  • Response to Freedom of Information Act for Records Related to Project Crested Ice, 22 November 2017 [12 Pages, 0.7MB]

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

 CIA Documents on the 1968 B-52 Crash [247 Pages, 47MB]

National Security Agency (NSA)

 NSA Documents on the 1968 B-52 Crash [21 Pages, 6.2MB]

 Full FOIA Case File for the above [40 Pages, 15MB]

The post 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 Crash with 4 Hydrogen Bombs On Board first appeared on The Black Vault.

On April 1, 2016 (no it was not an April Fool’s joke), the Washington Post published the following:

“Briar Woods High School, a half-hour drive from the CIA’s headquarters in Northern Virginia, might have provided an ideal training ground for the agency’s bomb-sniffing dogs. Its labyrinthine hallways and voluminous classrooms are home to something that can wreak havoc for the canines: polished floors, which cause dogs to slip and lose their focus as they hunt for explosives.

That was one reason the school, which educates nearly 1,700 students in Ashburn, played host to a CIA dog team for a training exercise while students were on spring break last week, according to the Loudoun County school system. But the choice to go to a public school for the quiet exercise has led to an only-in-Washington embarrassment for the elite spy agency, which left explosive material behind in the engine compartment of a school bus that then shuttled special-needs children for two days this week.

A mechanic discovered and removed the explosive putty — which county Supervisor Koran Saines (D-Sterling) said was the demolition explosive C-4 — during a routine bus maintenance check Wednesday. Until then, no one noticed that it was missing.”

On the same day, I filed a FOIA request to the CIA for documents relating to this.  Below, you will find the records released in December of 2018.

Document Archive

 CIA K-9 Unit Leaves Explosives on School Bus, April 2016 [6 Pages, 2.6MB]

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The post CIA K-9 Unit Leaves Explosives on School Bus, April 2016 first appeared on The Black Vault.

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.

The disaster was the second fatal accident in the Space Shuttle program after Space Shuttle Challenger, which broke apart and killed the seven-member crew 73 seconds after liftoff in 1986. During the launch of STS-107, Columbia’s 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter. A few previous shuttle launches had seen damage ranging from minor to major from foam shedding, but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious. NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed.

When Columbia re-entered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart.

Below, you will find various records archived about the incident.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Documents 

 Columbia Recovery Operation – Informal After-Action Report, Date Unknown [53 Pages, 7.5MB] – This was a one-of-a-kind operation in many ways. First, it was a mission no one had expected or prepared for so the response team literally had to “make it up as we went”. It also brought together hundreds of agencies, including thousands of volunteers, most of whom bad never worked together. Finally, it was also very large in scope from at least 3 perspectives: (1) it was a long response operation lasting over 90 days; (2) it was manpower intensive with a peak strength of 6,000 personnel and over 25,000 personnel rotating through from the various agencies; (3) and it covered a large area with search operations of various magnitudes taking place in several states from the California coastline to the Gulf of Mississippi. Additionally, this operation took place as our nation was ramping up for war with Iraq and continued through the end of the war. This posed many challenges with regards to resources being diver ted to support the war effort.

Langley Research Center Timeline, E-mails and comments regarding possible issues with landing 

 Timeline, E-mails and comments [27 Pages, 700k]

Langley Research Center correspondence, e-mails or other documentation pertaining to Columbia Mission STS-107. (These documents are being posted in groups as they are released. )

 Group 1 [61 Pages, 6.1mb]

 Group 2 [154 Pages, 10.4mb]

 Group 3 [193 Pages, 20.4mb]

 Group 4 [16 Pages, 0.7mb]

 Group 5 [90 Pages, 3.9mb]

 Group 6 [301 Pages, 19mb]

 Group 7 [353 Pages, 12.7mb]

 Group 8 [31 Pages, 1.22mb]

 Group 9 [204 Pages, 19.4mb]

 Group 10 [31 Pages, 1.03mb]

 Group 11 [78 Pages, 3.06mb]

Langley Research Center employee e-mails and written or faxed correspondence involving Robert Daugherty, Howard Adelman & Mark Shuart regarding the Columbia STS-107 Mission 

 Robert Daugherty [320 Pages, 28.7mb]

 Howard Adelman [103 Pages, 10.3mb]

 Mark Shuart [52 Pages, 5.56mb]

The post STS-107 – Columbia Disaster – February 1, 2003 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Challenger was destroyed in the second minute of STS-51-L, the orbiter’s tenth mission, on January 28, 1986 at 11:38:00 a.m. EST, when an O-ring seal on its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed. The O-rings failed to seal due to a variety of factors, including unusually cold temperatures. This failure allowed a plume of flame to leak out of the SRB and impinge on both the external fuel tank (ET) and SRB aft attachment strut. This caused both structural failure of the ET and the SRB pivoting into the orbiter and ET. The orbiter’s attitude rotated out of the normal flight profile and the vehicle assembly then broke apart under aerodynamic loads.

Document Archive

 FBI File on Challenger Disaster [182 Pages, 10.9MB] – The FBI conducted an investigation in order to determine if the January 28, 1986, explosion was the result of sabotage.

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The post STS-51 – Challenger Disaster – January 28, 1986 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The incident was reported to the top levels of the United States (U.S.) military and referred to by observers as a Bent Spear incident, which indicates a nuclear weapon incident that is of significant concern, but does not involve the immediate threat of nuclear war. The USAF, however, has yet to officially classify the incident.

In response to the incident, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and USAF conducted an investigation, the results of which were released on October 19, 2007. The investigation concluded that nuclear weapons handling standards and procedures had not been followed by numerous USAF personnel involved in the incident. As a result, four USAF commanders were relieved of their commands, numerous other USAF personnel were disciplined and/or decertified to perform certain types of sensitive duties, and further cruise missile transport missions from and nuclear weapons operations at Minot Air Force Base were suspended. In addition, the USAF issued new nuclear weapons handling instructions and procedures.

Separate investigations by the U.S. Defense Science Board and a USAF “Blue Ribbon” panel reported that concerns existed on the procedures and processes for handling nuclear weapons within the U.S. DoD but did not find any failures with the security of U.S. nuclear weapons. Based on this and other incidents, on June 5, 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley, resigned. In response to recommendations by a review committee, in October 2008 the USAF announced the creation of Air Force Global Strike Command to control all USAF nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.

 Unauthorized  Transfer of Nuclear Warheads Briefing [7 Pages, 190kb]

 Commander Directed Investigation [67 Pages, 2.4MB]

 Sole Vouching Authority Storage Structure Procedures [13 Pages, 14kb]

 Index of Witnesses [222 Pages, 10.3MB]

 Index of Exhibits [173 Pages, 4.3MB]

The post Bent Spear: Minot Air Force Base (08-29-2007) first appeared on The Black Vault.

A “dull sword” is an Air Force reporting term that marks reports of minor incidents involving nuclear weapons, components or systems, or which could impair their deployment. This could include actions involving vehicles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but with no nuclear weapons on board at the time of the accident.

Declassified Documents

 DoD Instruction 7730.12, “Notification Procedures for Accidents and Significant Incidents Involving Nuclear Weapons, Reactors and Radioactive Materials” [7 Pages, 1.16mb]

 Dull Sword Incidents, 1981, 320th Bombardment Wing History [8 Pages, 308kb]

 Reporting Nuclear Safety Deficiencies (Dull Swords) on the F-16 Aircraft [101 Pages, 12.55mb]

The post Dull Sword Incidents first appeared on The Black Vault.

Department of the Navy Documents

The following documents were released under the FOIA to the Military Times.

 CFFC Response to FOIA Request [2 Pages, 19kb]

 Command Investigation with endorsements [67 Pages, 4.7mb]

 Enclosures 1 through 13 [55 Pages, 17.56mb]

 Enclosure 14, video files and player [256.5mb] – Download contents of .zip file to CD-R and click “run.” This is a .zip file of the exact contents of the CD-ROM that accompanied the original report’s release.

 Enclosures 15 through 112 [258 Pages, 19mb]

The post USS Minneapolis St. Paul, Four Sailor Deaths, 12/29/2006 first appeared on The Black Vault.

 USAF Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report [ 1,448 Pages, 59.10MB ]

The post Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska C-17 Crash, 06/28/2010 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on September 1, 1983, over the Sea of Japan/East Sea, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island over prohibited Soviet airspace. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Lawrence McDonald, a sitting member of the United States Congress. The aircraft was en route from New York City via Anchorage to Seoul when it strayed into prohibited Soviet airspace because of a navigational error.

Declassified Documents

 FBI File on the Shootdown of KAL 007 [ 121 Pages, 3.5MB ]

 The Shootdown of KAL (Korean Air Lines) 007: Accident or Conspiracy? [34 Pages, 2MB] – The Soviet shootdown of Korean Air Lines flight 007 in September 1983 raised many disturbing questions. Many theories were developed to explain what happened and why. The book Shootdown by R.W. Johnson proposed that the airliner was part of a US sponsored intelligence operation. This study evaluates Johnson’s thesis and logic and compares it to other investigations. The study concludes that flight 007 was not part of a US intelligence gathering mission and that it strayed off course as a result of a human error in navigation.

The post KAL (Korean Air Lines) 007, September 1983 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Five NATO troops and an Afghan soldier were killed in a friendly-fire airstrike in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials and Taliban said on Tuesday.

The NATO—led international military alliance said the soldiers were killed on Monday in the southern part of the country, but did not give details on the nationalities of the deceased soldiers or the exact location of the incident.

Afghan police said that NATO aircraft bombed the soldiers. (Source)

The below are documents relating to this incident.

 Investigation Report of the Fixed Wing Close Air Support Airstrike In the Vicinity of Arghandab, Afghanistan June 2014 [ 283 Pages, 66.47MB ]

The post Friendly fire strike in Afghanistan – June 2014 first appeared on The Black Vault.