{"id":21070,"date":"2025-12-15T17:11:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/?p=21070"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:11:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:11:43","slug":"pentagon-reopens-search-for-alleged-yankee-blue-memo-after-initial-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/pentagon-reopens-search-for-alleged-yankee-blue-memo-after-initial-denial\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Reopens Search for Alleged \u201cYankee Blue\u201d Memo After Initial Denial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A newly released FOIA appellate decision has remanded a case back to the Department of War (DoW) for additional searches related to an alleged 2023 memorandum described by<\/a> the Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, the Secretary of Defense\u2019s office issued a directive ordering the immediate halt of an Air Force hazing ritual known as \u201cYankee Blue,\u201d which involved fabricated claims of reverse-engineering non-human technology.<\/p>\n

The DoW originally stated that no such memorandum was found, but the appeal has now been granted, and the case remanded for a new search.<\/p>\n

An Unverified Claim and a Growing Controversy<\/h3>\n

In June 2023, the Wall Street Journal<\/em> published claims that a directive from the Secretary of Defense\u2019s office had been circulated across the military services \u201cordering the practice to stop immediately.\u201d The article tied the alleged directive to a hazing ritual in which service members were falsely told that they were working on operations involving retrieved non-human craft.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The WSJ did not publish the memo, identify its specific date, or provide sourcing for the claim. Following publication, no document surfaced publicly, and no military component acknowledged knowledge of the directive.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, the DoW stated in a formal FOIA response to The Black Vault that it had located no such memorandum. On October 1, when asked again about the WSJ claim, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough stated, \u201cRegarding the alleged memo: I cannot confirm the existence of any department-level memo as described in the article. You may want to ask the Air Force or other military services whether they put out such a memo to their personnel.\u201d In the original email, the word \u201calleged\u201d appeared underlined for emphasis.<\/p>\n

The Air Force did not respond after a request for comment, and the FOIA case seeking information on the alleged “Yankee Blue” ritual is still open.<\/p>\n

A FOIA Challenge to the Pentagon\u2019s \u201cNo Records\u201d Determination<\/h3>\n

The Black Vault’s FOIA request filed with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on June 17, 2025, sought a copy of any directive issued in spring 2023 ordering the halt of \u201cYankee Blue\u201d-related practices or other activities involving fabricated claims of reverse-engineering non-human technology.<\/p>\n

OSD searched solely within the Correspondence Management Division (CMD) and reported no responsive records.<\/p>\n

A formal appeal was filed on September 17, 2025, arguing that the search was inadequate and not legally sufficient under FOIA. The appeal emphasized that:<\/p>\n