{"id":21459,"date":"2026-09-17T22:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T22:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/?p=21459"},"modified":"2026-09-17T22:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T22:14:22","slug":"pentagon-says-it-has-no-record-of-immaculate-constellation-nsa-denies-appeal-and-wont-say-whether-it-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theblackvault.com\/documentarchive\/pentagon-says-it-has-no-record-of-immaculate-constellation-nsa-denies-appeal-and-wont-say-whether-it-does\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Says It Has No Record of \u201cImmaculate Constellation\u201d \u2014 NSA Denies Appeal and Won\u2019t Say Whether It Does"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Security Agency has upheld its refusal to confirm or deny whether it possesses intelligence records concerning the alleged \u201cImmaculate Constellation\u201d program, rejecting a Freedom of Information Act appeal filed by The Black Vault.<\/p>\n

The decision does not establish that Immaculate Constellation exists, that NSA participated in such a program, or even that NSA possesses records about it. Instead, NSA maintains that simply answering the question on whether responsive intelligence records exist at all, would itself disclose classified and statutorily protected information.<\/p>\n

That distinction is particularly significant in this case. The Department of War has publicly denied<\/a> having any record of a Special Access Program by that name, while the document responsible for many of the allegations remains an unverified whistleblower-origin report<\/a> containing extraordinary claims for which no underlying imagery, intelligence reports, databases or other corroborating evidence described in the report has been publicly produced.<\/p>\n

The result is an unusual information gap: one part of the government has publicly said it has no record of the alleged program, while NSA says national security prevents it from saying whether it has records pertaining to the same allegation.<\/p>\n

The Immaculate Constellation Allegations<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cImmaculate Constellation\u201d entered the public UAP debate in October 2024 through reporting by<\/a> journalist Michael Shellenberger<\/a>. A document subsequently provided to Congress was entered into the record of the House Oversight Committee’s November 13, 2024 hearing, \u201cUnidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The document describes itself as the product of \u201ca multi-year, internal investigation\u201d concerning UAP, \u201cTechnologies of Unknown Origin,\u201d and \u201cNon-Human Intelligence.\u201d It states that it was provided to Congress through UAP whistleblower mechanisms and says its public version was reviewed and approved for public release by the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Its central allegation is explicit:<\/p>\n

\u201cIMMACULATE CONSTELLATION is an Unacknowledged Special Access Program (USAP) established following the public disclosure of the AATIP\/AAWSAP programs by Luis Elizondo in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report further alleges that the program’s \u201cprimary mission is collecting imagery intelligence on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and ARV\/RV (Reproduction Vehicles)\u201d using tasked and untasked U.S. military-intelligence collection systems.<\/p>\n

The claims extend considerably further. The document describes alleged imagery from CENTCOM, INDOPACOM, NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM environments; asserts that a Defense HUMINT database contains more than 400 UAP\/UFO encounter reports from 1991 through 2022; and presents tables cataloging reported shapes, sizes, behaviors, signatures and other characteristics.<\/p>\n

Those are allegations contained in the document and are not independently established findings.<\/p>\n

The document’s presence in an official congressional hearing record verifies that Congress received and published the report. It does not authenticate the underlying claims, establish that the purported program exists, or demonstrate that the described imagery and databases are genuine.<\/p>\n

That evidentiary distinction remains an important part of this. No primary program documentation establishing Immaculate Constellation as an actual USAP has been publicly produced alongside the report, and the underlying imagery and intelligence reporting described in it have not been made publicly available for independent examination.<\/p>\n

Pentagon: No Record of the Program<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Source: FOIA Case DF-2025-00021 (https:\/\/archive.dni.gov\/files\/documents\/FOIA\/-Immaculate-Constellation-descrp-from-UNCLASS-Press-22-Oct-2024.pdf<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Department of Defense publicly took a substantially less ambiguous position.<\/p>\n

DoD spokesperson Sue Gough stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Defense has no record, present or historical, of any type of SAP called \u2018IMMACULATE CONSTELLATION.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That denial was also recorded in an internal Office of the Director of National Intelligence document concerning the allegations. The ODNI document characterized Immaculate Constellation as a \u201csupposed unacknowledged Special Access Program\u201d and summarized what had been reported publicly before recording Gough’s denial.<\/p>\n

The available public record therefore contains a direct conflict between the whistleblower-origin allegations and DoD’s stated position. There is currently no publicly available documentary evidence sufficient to independently resolve that conflict in favor of the program’s existence.<\/p>\n

The NSA FOIA Request<\/strong><\/p>\n

On December 3, 2024, The Black Vault submitted a request to NSA seeking intelligence records and records concerning intelligence activities pertaining to the alleged Immaculate Constellation program.<\/p>\n

The purpose of filing with NSA was not based on evidence establishing that NSA operated the alleged program. Rather, it was part of a broader FOIA strategy used by The Black Vault when attempting to trace claims involving the Intelligence Community.<\/p>\n

Records about a program or subject do not necessarily reside exclusively with the agency alleged to have originated them. Intelligence reporting, correspondence, referrals, finished products or other material can potentially exist elsewhere in government. When responsive records originated with another agency, the FOIA process can also involve consultation or referral to the originating agency for review.<\/p>\n

Submitting requests to multiple potentially relevant agencies can therefore test a broader portion of the government’s documentary record rather than assuming that only one agency could possess responsive material.<\/p>\n

NSA answered on December 6, 2024.<\/p>\n

But it did not say that it found nothing.<\/p>\n

It would not say whether it found anything at all.<\/p>\n

NSA Issues a Glomar Response<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
NSA denial letter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NSA told The Black Vault:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor reasons described below, we are not able to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of these records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importantly, NSA also explained that its response was not unique to Immaculate Constellation:<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease be advised that this is our standard response to all requests where we reasonably believe that the request seeks intelligence records or records revealing intelligence related activity involving UFOs\/UAP.\u201d<\/p>\n

NSA invoked FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3. Under Exemption 1, the agency said that even \u201cthe fact of the existence or non-existence\u201d of the requested material was currently and properly classified under Executive Order 13526.<\/p>\n

For Exemption 3, NSA cited 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 798, 50 U.S.C. \u00a7 3024(i), and Section 6 of Public Law 86-36, codified at 50 U.S.C. \u00a7 3605.<\/p>\n

NSA further stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cthe Agency reasonably foresees that disclosure of the existence or non-existence of the requested information would be harmful to an interest that is protected by the identified exemptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response is commonly known as a Glomar response: rather than acknowledging whether responsive records exist and then withholding some or all of them, an agency refuses to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records.<\/p>\n

Nothing in NSA’s December 2024 response can properly be treated as confirmation of Immaculate Constellation. NSA specifically said the response was its standard treatment for requests it believes seek intelligence records or intelligence-related activity involving UFOs or UAP.<\/p>\n

The Black Vault Appeals<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Black Vault appealed the decision on December 9, 2024.<\/p>\n

The appeal centered in part on the apparent tension between NSA’s position and the categorical public statement already made by DoD.<\/p>\n

It argued that if the alleged program did not exist, acknowledging that fact should not reveal classified information. Conversely, if responsive records existed independently of an NSA-operated program, for example, records discussing allegations concerning a program elsewhere in government; the FOIA process could potentially identify those records and subject them to normal classification and referral procedures.<\/p>\n

The appeal specifically requested that NSA reconsider the Glomar response, \u201cexplicitly confirm or deny the existence of records related to \u2018Immaculate Constellation,\u2019\u201d process any non-exempt portions, and provide appropriate justification for information that remained withheld.<\/p>\n

NSA has now rejected that argument.<\/p>\n