The UAPTF, established on August 4, 2020, by the Department of Defense, aimed to understand and analyze unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) that could pose a threat to U.S. national security. In July 2022, it was rebranded as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) with a broader scope, including surveillance, collection, and analysis of UAP incidents across various domains.

The NRO’s response, dated February 29, 2024, indicates that seventeen documents were found to be responsive to the request. One document was denied in full, and sixteen were released in part. The redactions were made under FOIA exemptions (b)(1), for properly classified information under Executive Order 13526 Section 1.4(g), and (b)(3), which is the basis for withholding information exempt from disclosure by statute, specifically 10 U.S.C. § 424.

The released documents are heavily redacted, with many sections obscured under the mentioned exemptions. The content that is visible mainly consists of email exchanges discussing the coordination and review of a draft “180 Day Report on UAP” by the UAP Task Force. There are references to informal exchanges of information, taskings, and the involvement of various offices and agencies, including the NRO, in supporting the UAP Task Force. The specifics of the support provided or the content of the discussions are largely redacted.

Some key discoveries include the following.

First, in May 2021, an email from an unknown party to an unknown party was speaking about a “UAPTF Training Video.” This video has never been known to exist before, and the contents of it are unknown. Although the email was classified SECRET, and posted on a redacted system (possibly SIPRNET or JWICS), there was indication in the email they were able to share it via a Dropbox system, which would not adhere to any protocol for transferring classified files. That means it is likely the video itself may be unclassified, and potentially releasable via FOIA.

The Black Vault has filed requests for this video to numerous agencies for a copy. Those cases will be posted on The Black Vault, once available.

Another key document is an April 22, 2021, email which refers to the NRO effort to support the UAPTF. The name of it is considered classified (given the [b][1] exemption citation in the margin), but it does show that there was an established effort at the NRO to support the UAP research efforts of the established task force.

Overall, the documents provide limited insight into the nature of the communications between the NRO and the UAP Task Force due to the extensive redactions. The reasons for the redactions are based on national security concerns and the protection of sensitive information related to the functions and personnel of the NRO. But through the redacted lines, there lies pieces of the puzzle to see just how in-depth, and how classified, the UAP research programs truly are.

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Document Archive

FOIA Request Uncovers NRO and UAP Task Force Emails [133 Pages, 4.1MB]

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The post FOIA Request Uncovers NRO and UAP Task Force Emails first appeared on The Black Vault.

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NRO Information Review and Release Group (IRRG) Logs (Monday Weekly Emails) for 2022 [42 Pages, 8.4MB]

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The post NRO Information Review and Release Group (IRRG) Logs (Monday Weekly Emails) first appeared on The Black Vault.

In the interviews, the identities are unknown in most cases. If anyone can add who the individuals are, please CONTACT The Black Vault.

Released Videos

[ .zip File of ALL 10 Videos Below, As Released by the NRO – 5.72GB File Size ]

Metamorphosis: Corona Satellite Operation in the 1960s, Presentation by Lt. Col. David Arnold, PhD

Catch a Falling Star

Honoring the Corona Pioneers, May 24, 1995

Discovery / Corona – 1st You Don’t Succeed

Corona Interview #1

Corona Interview #2 (Part 2 of the above)

Corona Interview #3

Corona Interview #4 – Colonel Frank S. Buzard

Corona Interview #5 – Colonel Frank S. Buzard (Part 2 of the above)

Corona Interview #6

FOIA Release Letter

The post NRO Releases Previously Unseen Corona Satellite Related Videos first appeared on The Black Vault.

This journey began back on July 3, 2020, when The Black Vault filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (Case F-2020-00092) request for all records that pertain to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). That case would take nearly two years to process, wherein the final decision denied access to only one document that was considered responsive to that request.

Now, after a FOIA appeal was granted by the agency, that decision has been reversed. Only problem is, they still want to withhold nearly 100% of the information they have released, as the document itself shows very little.

It appears to be, based on the layout, a PowerPoint presentation printout. The first page which appears to be a generic NRO title slide, holds the only information that can be useful. (S//NF) begins the header, which denotes that the document/presentation is classified at the SECRET level, while NF, or NORFORN, stipulates the record is not for release to foreign nationals.

The header continues to include UAP, however, the remainder of that line is redacted citing FOIA exemption (b)(1), showing information properly classified, along with (b)(3), showing the information is withheld by statute.

The information that becomes valuable to a point, is the date revealed on the same slide. However, it is unknown if this is the date of the document, or the the date of an event. What also adds to that confusion is the “-” character that precedes it, which may have another date redacted printed just before it. This may indicate a date range, thus showing instead of the date of document, it may show a range of dates that an event, or series of events, occurred.

The two pages/slides that followed the title were entirely redacted, though represent the approximate dimensions of a PowerPoint slide presentation. Whether they are photos or simply text will remain a mystery, at least for now.

The Black Vault has at the writing of this article, five other UAP related requests being processed at the NRO. It is unclear what, if anything, will be released on those cases, but they will be published when available.

It should also be noted that the case referenced above was filed in July of 2020, likely indicating that the search of documents stopped at July of 2020. A new request was filed when this document was released to see what, if anything, was created after that date. The results from that case will also be published on The Black Vault, when available.

The document as released via appeal is available below.

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Document Archive

NRO Releases UAP Report; Shows Immense Secrecy Behind Issue [6 Pages, 1.1MB]

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The post NRO Releases UAP Report And It Shows, Yet Again, Immense Secrecy Surrounding UAP Issue first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Brand Style Guide, Released 2014 [16 Pages, 2.2MB]

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The post National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Brand Style Guide, Released 2014 first appeared on The Black Vault.

It was released in 2015, in a request filed by The Black Vault.

Document Archive

NRO Social Media Startup, Decision Brief – August 7, 2014 [11 Pages, 1.5MB]

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The post NRO Social Media Startup, Decision Brief – August 7, 2014 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The document itself had been released before, examples being here and here. Both releases had numerous redactions. The case filed in 2018 by The Black Vault, and completed in March of 2022, saw the removal of many redactions, though many still remain. In all, that is a success when using the MDR process!

From the introduction of the report:

“You have asked us to review and make recommendations to you regarding the overall direction of the National Reconnaissance Program (NRP) in time to be useful for your deliberations on the US fiscal year 1994 budget and five-year program. (The Terms of Reference are in Appendix A under separate cover.) In the six weeks available to us, we have done our best to evaluate the total system architecture for overhead imagery intelligence (IMINT) , signals intelligence (SIGINT) , measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) , and related communications as thoroughly as possible. We have outlined a strategy for overhead reconnaissance based on a reduced set of programs . Our assessment is that this reduced set will support the basic needs of the National Command Authorities (NCA) , policy makers, and several sets of operational users , particularly including military commanders , with one important exception : broad area synoptic search. We recommend an addition to this set of programs to meet this need. Throughout, we have balanced the ways in which space-based and non-space-based collection could meet our intelligence needs, considering both effectiveness and economy of effort.

Much useful preparatory work had been completed , and more was under way as a result of other reviews that the National Security Council (NSC), you, and the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) have initiated . We have drawn substantially from these efforts and have been aided by a series of briefings and discussions with the key participants.

We have begun from an understanding that intelligence needs are changing substantially as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the momentous events of the last few years . The risk to the nation of failing to detect any single event will be less cataclysmic than would have been the case when our concern was focused on the USSR; most would agree that there is no single development today that would deserve the attention we once focused on potential Soviet strategic weapons breakthroughs. But this does not radically simplify the task of intelligence collection in general or of overhead collection in particular.”

Document Archive

Final Report: National Reconnaissance Program Task Force for the Director of Central Intelligence, September 1992 [66 Pages, 28MB]

The post Final Report: National Reconnaissance Program Task Force for the Director of Central Intelligence, September 1992 first appeared on The Black Vault.

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.

As seen here, it reveals for the first time that NROs contribution totaled four paragraphs of information within the seventeen page classified UAP report. The second “effort” is entirely redacted for national security reasons, but the third reveals that the DoD’s Inspector General (DoD/IG) interviewed several officers from the NRO Mission Integration Directorate (MID). This was tied to the DoD Inspector General’s evaluation into the handling and response to the UAP topic which was launched in May 2021.

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:

As seen with the above, the NRO had to sign off on the final version of the report thus approving their contributions, and this released email also revealed some of the once classified Top Secret contributions to the report.

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.

As indicated with the above portion, the DoD/IG was going to task a “data call” to the NRO about two weeks after the email was written. This indicates much more involvement by the NRO in the DoD/IG’s effort, but it is unclear what the “data call” would entail.

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.

Make sure you are subscribed to The Black Vault on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for notifications on new document drops.

The entire FOIA release is below.

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Document Archive

F-2021-00164.pdf [17 Pages, 1.3MB]

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F-2021-00164 Full FOIA Case File (Archived for reference) [47 Pages, 15MB]

The post Newly Released NRO Documents Reveal Extent Of UAP Involvement and Contributions to UAP Task Force Report first appeared on The Black Vault.

There is no context, or explanation.

After requesting them under the FOIA, this is what I received. It is very unclear what this was even for or why it was created by the NRO, but there are archived here for reference purposes. 

It was received via FOIA Case F-2021-00172.

The post NRO Videos: Strange Noises Part 1 and Part 2 first appeared on The Black Vault.

However, this MDR case was a little strange. In most cases, an MDR “success” is when redacted are lifted, even in part. An MDR “failure” is when nothing changes. This? Not sure what you call this, but additional redactions were ADDED, and not removed.

In a rather humorous (albeit frustrating) outcome, I highlighted both releases below so you can see what they felt the need to cover-up now vs. not cover up in the past.

Note: The below montage of images may be too small to read, depending on your monitor. Simply click on the pages individually to make them larger. Each page is side by side with its corresponding page from the old release to the new one.

Document Archive

The post DoD/CIA-NASA Agreement on NASA Reconnaissance Programs, 28 August 1963 first appeared on The Black Vault.

In November of 2021, The Black Vault filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request to have the redacted information further reviewed.

The below, was the result, and additional information was released.

One particular section now declassified, talks about how NASA was hiding “Unclassified” information from the general public and they wanted to thwart future FOIA requests/questions.

Document Archive

Data and Information Release Committee of the Program Review Board Meeting Summary – August 10, 1977 [7 Pages, 4MB]

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The post Data and Information Release Committee of the Program Review Board Meeting Summary – August 10, 1977 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The date is was created is unknown.

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The post NRO: Getting the Job Done Video first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: 18-0001-IN – 2018 [22 Pages, 6MB]

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The post Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: 18-0001-IN – 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the NRO, here is some background on the agency:

Develop. Acquire. Launch. Operate.

When the United States needs eyes and ears in critical places where no human can reach – be it over the most rugged terrain or through the most hostile territory – it turns to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. Whether creating the latest innovations in satellite technology, contracting with the most cost-efficient industrial supplier, conducting rigorous launch schedules, or providing the highest-quality products to our customers, we never lose focus on who we are working to protect: our Nation and its citizens.

From our inception in 1961 to our declassification to the public in 1992, we have worked tirelessly to provide the best reconnaissance support possible to the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD). We are unwavering in our dedication to fulfilling our vision: Supra Et Ultra: Above and Beyond.

The below, are indexes to the videos that the NRO holds, in reverse chronological order on when they were released.

Declassified Documents

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of July of 2021 [50 Pages, 7.5MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of September of 2016 [26 Pages, 7.5MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of August of 2014 [78 Pages, 5.2MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of August of 2009 [61 Pages, 12.35MB]

The post National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Videos first appeared on The Black Vault.

On April 27, 2018, The Black Vault filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request to have it reviewed for possible release. On July 20, 2021, the NRO released the document, in full.

According to the record:

“This document is a chronological listing of the more important events in the evolution of the management of the National Reconnaissance Program, to include the internal structure of the National Reconnaissance Office as well as changes in the external environment which have affected the management of the program. It is not a complete compilation of every action on all issues, and additional material may be found in the file references and in the Management volume of the History of the NRO prepared by Robert Perry . The purpose of this chronology is to provide an overview and to permit ready recall of pertinent events and their timing.”

Document Archive

“NRO Charter and Management Evolution” (Chronology of Events), Author Unknown, undated. Circa February 1989 [17 Pages, 9MB]

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The post “NRO Charter and Management Evolution” (Chronology of Events), Author Unknown, February 1989 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document:

“The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a joint organization engaged in the research and development ( R&D), acquisition, launch, and operation of overhead reconnaissance systems necessary to meet the needs of the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD). The NRO conducts other activities as directed by the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) and/ or the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).”

The NRO Reference Guide was mentioned in the Intellipedia entry for the NRO. In September of 2017, I requested the 2012 version. It was completely denied in December of the same year.

The Black Vault appealed, then waited more than three years for the NRO to partially grant that appeal, and release the records. The result was a prime example why you should always appeal, as it yielded 669 pages of material, which spanned throughout FIVE NRO Reference Guides.

Although a lot is still redacted and withheld, the release does give nuggets of history and an inside look at various aspects of the NRO.

All of them are below.

Document Archive

Internal National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Reference Guides, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 [669 Pages, 142MB] – Note: There are “bookmarks” embedded in this .pdf which show the different guides within it.

The post Internal National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Reference Guides first appeared on The Black Vault.

Memorandum for Director, CIA Reconnaissance Programs – OPS NRO Quarterly Report on NRP Satellite Systems, July 28, 1969

Document Archive

Memorandum for Director, CIA Reconnaissance Programs – OPS NRO Quarterly Report on NRP Satellite Systems, July 28, 1969 [27 Pages, 8MB]

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The post Memorandum for Director, CIA Reconnaissance Programs – OPS NRO Quarterly Report on NRP Satellite Systems, July 28, 1969 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the Executive Summary of the document:

A U.S. Navy ELINT satellite system became operational in July 1960 and was operated until August 1962. The mission was to obtain information on Soviet air defense radars that could not be observed by Air Force and Navy ferret aircraft flying ELINT missions along accessible borders in Europe and the western Pacific. 

The system was proposed by the Naval Research Laboratory in the spring of 1958. In parallel with exploratory development by the NRL, the Office of Naval Intelligence obtained endorsements of Project Tattletale from elements of the executive and legislative branches. With positive recommendations from State, Defense, and CIA, President Eisenhower approved full development on 24 August 1959. By then, the project had been placed under a limited distribution security control system (Canes) with access limited to fewer than two hundred people in the Washington D.C. area . Development and interagency coordination proceeded as the GRAB (Galactic Radiation and Background) experiment .

After NRL completed development of the GRAB satellite and a network of overseas ground collection sites, a first launch was approved by Eisenhower on 5 May 1960, just four days after a CIA U- 2 aircraft was lost on a reconnaissance mission over Soviet territory . The GRAB satellite got a free ride into space on 22 June 1960 with Navy’s third Transit navigation satellite . GRAB carried two electronic payloads, the classified ELINT package and instrumentation to measure solar radiation. The SolRad experiment was publicly disclosed in DoD press releases on this and subsequent launches . The cost to achieve an initial operating capability was $ 1.1M, about the price of a single U-2 aircraft. Four more launches were attempted , one of them successfully on 29 June 1961. Total cost of the program was $7.6M.

The Director of Naval Intelligence exercised overall control. Field sites were operated by elements of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and CIA. Data recorded on magnetic tape was couriered back to the NRL. Tapes were evaluated , duplicated , and forwarded to the NSA at Army Fort Meade, Maryland, and the Strategic Air Command at Offut Air Force Base Omaha, Nebraska, for analysis and processing. In searching the tapes for new and unusual signals, NSA found that the Soviets were already operating a radar that supported a capability to destroy ballistic missiles. SAC’s processing was aimed at building the SIOP (single integrated operations plan ), a responsibility of the Joint Strategic Targeting Staff at Offutt AFB.

Shortly after the NRO was officially established as an operating agency of the DoD, the Navy ELINT satellite project and its multi-agency infrastructure were assimilated in the NRP as Program C (Navy) in July 1962. The GRAB successor, two-ball POPPY 1 / Mission 7101 , was launched five months later and was followed , in the next nine years, by six more launches of three or four POPPY satellites at a time. Starting as an ELINT general search system, the POPPY mission gradually expanded , as capabilities improved, to encompass: general search, ABM search, technical intelligence, EOB production, and ocean surveillance .

Growing concern in the U.S. defense establishment about demonstrated abilities of Soviet fleets to project military power across seas and oceans, was registered in 1970 by the USIB’s designation of ocean surveillance as a national intelligence objective. Pursuant to a study conducted by the Defense Science Board, POPPY was upgraded by NRO and Navy to become an interim ocean surveillance system . Meanwhile, NRO, Navy, and NSA conducted broader studies to determine an optimum system and concluded in 1972 that the POPPY technology infrastructure, and operational concept should evolve…

Document Archive

U.S. Navy/NRO Program C Electronic Intelligence Satellites (1958-1977) [255 Pages, 100MB]

The post U.S. Navy/NRO Program C Electronic Intelligence Satellites (1958-1977) first appeared on The Black Vault.

The following are the released editions of the NRO’s internal publication, The RECON.

More dates have been requested, and will be added when they are released.

Declassified Documents

 The RECON issues, 4/20/09, 5/4/09, 5/15/09, 6/01/09 [67 Pages, 10.34MB

 The RECON issues all of 2008 [23 Pages, 0.8MB]

 The RECON issues from 09/2001 through 01/2002 [124 Pages, 11.24MB]

 The RECON issues all of 2003 [327 Pages, 37MB] – This PDF file has bookmarks that mark every date issue discernible from the release.

The post The RECON – National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Publication first appeared on The Black Vault.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) began in 1961, but operated in secret for decades before it was officially acknowledged. Before the existence was declassified, in 1974, they evaluated numerous incidents where the agency was talked about within the press. The concern was how the Soviets, or the media, would react.

This document was first released to the National Security Archive (also archived below) and was heavily redacted. In August of 2019, I filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request to have it reviewed. To my surprise, all redactions were lifted and it was released in full minus one name at the end of the report.

Document Archive

History of NRO Security Breaches, January 7, 1974 [6 Pages, 1MB]

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Archived Versions

Original Release to the National Security Archive

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The post History of NRO Security Breaches, January 7, 1974 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Study encompasses all facets of the NRO workforce, with the goal to optimize human capital across the NRO to achieve mission objectives.

Document Archive

NRO Workforce 2015 Study, 11 April 2012 [22 Pages, 3.8MB]

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The post NRO Workforce 2015 Study, 11 April 2012 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Internally, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)’s Office of Strategic Communication published the blog entitled, “Vigilance from Above”. It appears, that it began in November of 2009 and was published until June of 2010.

I do have an open request for the entire collection, and this page will be updated when that request response comes in. Until then, the final 10 blogs published have been released to me below.

Document Archive

 NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE (Requested “all issues” a/o February 2019) [17 Pages, 1.5MB]

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 NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE (Requested “Last 10” a/o 2017) [11 Pages, 1.8MB]

The post NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE first appeared on The Black Vault.

This is the second volume in the history of the National Reconnaissance Program. The first volume related the story of CORONA-the first successful program in applying space vehicles to overflight reconnaissance operations. In its several evolutionary versions, CORONA steadily improved its photographic surveys of denied areas (with final resolutions of six to ten feet), operating in what the Intelligence Community calls “search mode.”

This volume is the story of a companion photographic satellite called GAMBIT, which was developed to perform at even better resolutions than CORONA and work against specified targets-an operation usually referred to as “surveillance mode.” GAMBIT fulfilled this surveillance function from July 1963 to April 1984.

Document Archive

The GAMBIT Story, June 1991 [200 Pages, 11MB]

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The post The GAMBIT Story, June 1991 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Below, you will find communications between the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). These are e-mails sent between the two agencies, and offer details into what is going on on all sorts of topics.

Document Archive

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), January 1, 2016 – March 21, 2017 [660 Pages, 150MB]

The post National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) first appeared on The Black Vault.

The NRO Primer was referenced in a February 2003 issue of the NRO’s internal magazine called RECON. I requested the document in December of 2018, and it was released on March 29, 2019.

Document Archive

NRO Primer Presentation, August 22, 2005 [75 Pages, 1.1MB]

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The post NRO Primer Presentation, August 22, 2005 first appeared on The Black Vault.