{"id":21019,"date":"2025-11-24T18:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/?p=21019"},"modified":"2025-11-24T18:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:34:29","slug":"inside-the-pentagons-review-of-christopher-mellons-alleged-ufo-crash-retrieval-text","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/inside-the-pentagons-review-of-christopher-mellons-alleged-ufo-crash-retrieval-text\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Pentagon\u2019s Review of Christopher Mellon\u2019s Alleged UFO Crash Retrieval Text"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Christopher Mellon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A newly released set of Defense Department documents reveals how the Pentagon handled former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon\u2019s request to publish a message he said referenced an alleged effort to exploit \u201crecovered off-world technology.\u201d The records also reveal that Mellon\u2019s first attempt to submit the material was returned to him after a DOPSR employee deemed his three-page mailed package a \u201csecurity threat,\u201d a detail he did not disclose in his public article.<\/p>\n

The documents, sent to The Black Vault under FOIA case 24-F-1134<\/a>, include Mellon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The 17 pages released by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) document DOPSR\u2019s handling of Mellon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Mellon\u2019s Submission: A Message Alleging Access to a Recovery Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The FOIA file begins with Mellon\u2019s 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 \u201cto confirm it is not classified,\u201d and noted that a submission mailed earlier had been returned \u201cbecause some employee deemed it a security threat.\u201d<\/p>\n