Archive / disclosure

Disclosure: the official record

What governments, legislatures, militaries, space agencies and courts have done about unidentified aerial phenomena, in date order, each entry resting on its document. Every nation that has acted. Newest first.100 entries since 1946.

Country All US 61GB 9CA 6BR 5FR 3JP 3MX 2AR 1BE 1CL 1DK 1ES 1NZ 1PE 1SE 1SU 1UY 1VA 1
Kind All Programme 25Report 19Release 15Law 12Hearing 12Statement 11Other 2FOIA release 2Court 2

2000s

US Court US District Court for the District of Columbia

Kean v. NASA: the court rules on NASA's search for its Kecksburg records

On 27 March 2007 the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, issued a memorandum opinion in Leslie Kean's Freedom of Information Act suit against NASA over records of the incident at Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, on 9 December 1965. The court found that NASA had not shown its searches were adequate, noting that most declarations from its Centers gave no detail of records searched or terms used, and that a renewed search of Records Center boxes had found responsive documents. It upheld NASA's withholding of two emails under Exemption 5, denied both motions in part without prejudice, and directed the parties to propose search and documentation procedures by 30 April 2007.

1 document·5 points
  • Kean's FOIA request of 31 January 2003 sought documents on Kecksburg, the "Fragology Files" for 1962 to 1967, Project Moon Dust and "Cosmos 96"; NASA admitted its first two searches were inadequate (p. 1)
  • Only one of ten Center letters, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, specified the databases searched and the search terms used (p. 6)
  • Three of nineteen boxes sought from the Washington National Record Center were reported missing; a fourth search in 2006 found responsive documents in the remaining sixteen (pp. 8-9)
  • The court held that the record left "significant doubt" about the searches, citing NASA documents on Cosmos 96 and the documents found in the fourth search (p. 17)
  • After in camera review, two emails between McConnell and attorney Bierbower were held covered by the deliberative process privilege (p. 19)

Documents

1980s

US Court US District Court for the District of Columbia; National Security Agency

The court upholds the NSA's withholding of its UFO records in Citizens Against UFO Secrecy v. NSA, on the Yeates affidavits

On 18 November 1980 the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted the National Security Agency's motion for summary judgment in Citizens Against UFO Secrecy v. National Security Agency, Civil Action No. 80-1562, a Freedom of Information Act suit seeking all NSA documents relating to UFOs. The court reviewed a public affidavit and a 21-page top secret in camera affidavit from NSA official Eugene Yeates and found the claimed exemptions properly applied. It held that the withheld communications intelligence reports were protected under Exemption 3 and Public Law 86-36, that four other documents were properly withheld in whole or part, and that the public interest was outweighed by national security. The case was dismissed.

3 documents·5 points
  • The plaintiff sought all documents in the NSA's possession relating to UFOs and UFO phenomena; the bulk of the withheld material consisted of communications intelligence reports.
  • The court examined personally a top secret, 21-page in camera affidavit from NSA official Eugene Yeates, alongside his public affidavit.
  • The court found that release of the intelligence reports "could seriously jeopardize the work of the agency and the security of the United States" and granted the Exemption 3 claim in its entirety under Public Law 86-36, without considering Exemption 1.
  • Four documents that were not intelligence reports were withheld in whole or in part under Exemptions 1, 3, 5 and 6, which the court found proper.
  • The court found the affidavits sufficient to make in camera review of the documents themselves unnecessary, granted summary judgment and dismissed the case.

Documents

The register here is the record's: what a body did, when, with the document. The archive's stories carry the longer reads, and the Latest feed carries this week's official news before it is entered here. Entries from the United Kingdom rest on material under the Open Government Licence v3.