{"id":20797,"date":"2025-08-12T13:12:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T13:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/?p=20797"},"modified":"2025-08-12T14:34:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T14:34:54","slug":"new-documents-detail-slow-multi-agency-vetting-of-skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/new-documents-detail-slow-multi-agency-vetting-of-skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon\/","title":{"rendered":"New Documents Detail Slow, Multi-Agency Vetting of \u201cSkinwalkers at the Pentagon\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Newly released Department of Defense records reveal the prolonged and often frustrating prepublication review process for the 2021 book Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insider\u2019s Account of the Secret Government UFO Program<\/a> by James Lacatski, Colm Kelleher, and George Knapp. The documents, obtained by The Black Vault under FOIA case 22-F-0035, detail how the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR<\/a>) took more than a year to complete its review, despite what appears to be no substantive objections from the reviewing agencies.<\/p>\n

The records show the manuscript, originally submitted in March 2020, was routed to multiple agencies including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), U.S. Air Force, and Department of Homeland Security. All three cleared the manuscript, though DIA required some amendments before public release. On May 11, 2021, DOPSR issued its final determination: CLEARED AS AMENDED. The changes were largely to address privacy concerns involving personally identifiable information and protected health information, as well as the names of certain government employees.<\/p>\n

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James Lacatski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Lacatski, who served as a key figure in the Pentagon\u2019s Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP<\/a>), the delays were a source of growing frustration. Email exchanges show repeated inquiries about the status of the review, with him noting at one point that the process had reached \u201cthe fourteen month point\u201d and suggesting that holding up publication \u201cmay very well be one person\u201d delaying the work. In another message, he urged DOPSR to give the lagging office \u201ca firm deadline\u201d or assume no further comments would be provided.<\/p>\n

Kelly McHale, the DOPSR security review specialist assigned to the case, repeatedly cited slow responses from reviewing components, pandemic-related telework restrictions, and the complexity of coordinating input from multiple agencies as factors in the delay. \u201cWe never intend for reviews to take this long,\u201d McHale wrote, assuring Lacatski that she was \u201ckeeping the pressure on\u201d.<\/p>\n

The delays not only impacted the authors\u2019 timeline but also forced consideration of alternative publication strategies. In one April 2021 email, Lacatski proposed adding a statement to the book\u2019s copyright page indicating that the manuscript was under DOPSR review, so the work could be sent to the editor without waiting for final clearance.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Colm Kelleher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a post-release interview on Coast to Coast AM, co-author Colm Kelleher outlined what DOPSR required before publication: \u201cthey made us take out some fairly specific references to various offices and also some of the security-related verbiage,\u201d and they insisted that \u201cany active military people or people who are still working in the government service had their names changed.\u201d He said \u201call of the names that are in the book are actually pseudonyms for all active-duty service people,\u201d noting that \u201cone of the four Tic Tac pilots from the famous Tic Tac incident back in 2004\u201d was discovered to still be active duty and was therefore given a pseudonym. Kelleher added that DOPSR \u201csent the book out to four separate agencies for review,\u201d and the process \u201cdid take\u2026 about 14 months,\u201d which he believed was \u201cbecause of the COVID.\u201d When asked if the review was fair, he said officials \u201cleft in a lot of the details,\u201d including Appendix One\u2019s \u201cfull summary of over 100 separate reports\u2026 delivered to the Defense Intelligence Agency,\u201d adding, \u201cwe expected to have some of that removed but none of it was removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DOPSR process, designed to protect classified and sensitive information, often draws criticism<\/a> from current and former government employees. The Skinwalkers at the Pentagon case highlights how these reviews can extend well beyond initial projections, even for manuscripts that ultimately face minimal redactions.<\/p>\n

While the FOIA release contains no revelations about the classified and\/or sensitive content removed from the book, it provides a detailed view of the bureaucratic hurdles faced by authors with government ties. The prolonged review, combined with the authors\u2019 public comments about omitted material, underscores the tension between national security vetting and timely public disclosure.<\/p>\n

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Document Archive<\/h3>\n

FOIA Case 22-F-0035 Release Package<\/a> [108 Pages, 3.6MB]<\/p>\n