Posted by: Alejandro Rojas September
12, 2014 0 2,355
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UFO and government secrecy
researcher John Greenewald has been petitioning to get the National Security
Agency (NSA) UFO files that were released in the 90s further declassified. When
they were released, after a legal battle, much of the information was redacted.
There are large swaths of information that have been blacked out or covered
with white out. However, the NSA recently told Greenewald they could not
find even one original of the hundreds of pages UFO files.
Greenewald received this
information in response to a request for a Mandatory Declassification Review
(MDR) of the NSA’s UFO
files. MDRs require that the agency re-review previously
released redacted files to unredact information that is now declassified. This
is a similar process that was used to reveal the name ofArea 51 in CIA
documents last year.
The MDR was fulfilled for an
affidavit related to the lawsuit asking the NSA to release its UFO files in
1980, called the Yeates affidavit. As for the rest, the NSA writes, “With the
exception of the enclosed document, we cannot locate unredacted copies or the
original documents that were previously reviewed and released to the public.”
In the late 70s, the Citizens
Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS), headed by lawyer Peter Gersten, sought to get UFO
files from several government agencies released using the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). The NSA refused to release their files, so CAUS sued.
The NSA had a large amount of UFO
files, not necessarily because they were investigating UFOs, but because they
monitor communications worldwide as part of their regular duties. These files
are called communications intelligence (COMINT). Among this large amount of
data, there were hundreds of files referring to UFOs. However, the NSA felt
they should remain classified.
In 1980, Eugene F. Yeates, chief
of the Office of Policy for the NSA, submitted a 21 page document to the judge
overseeing the case, Federal Judge Gerhart A. Gesell, as to why these files
should remain classified. This is the Yeates affidavit. However, this document
was also classified.
Although Gesell did not have the
clearance to read the documents in question, the Yeates affidavit convinced him
that the NSA files should stay classified. He wrote, “The public interest in
disclosure is far outweighed by the sensitive nature of the materials and the
obvious effect on national security their release may well entail.”
When the Yeates affidavit was
released, it was heavily redacted. UFO researcher Stanton Friedman shows a page
from the document to demonstrate government UFO secrecy, and as he says, this
goes over well on television where a simple image can be very effective when
making a point.
A heavily redacted page from the
Yeates affidavit. (Credit: NSA)
Eventually, in 1997, due to laws
making it more difficult to keep files over 25 years old classified, the NSA
released a less redacted Yeates affidavit, and 156 UFO documents. As Friedman
puts it, the affidavit was originally about 75% blacked out, the second version
was only about 20% blacked out. However, the UFO documents are heavily
redacted.
The NSA must have seen Friedman’s
talks or television interviews, because instead of mostly blacking out the
text, this time they largely whited it out, making it much less visually
poignant.
A heavily redacted COMINT UFO
file. (Credit: NSA)
As you can see from the image
above, there is very little information available in the COMINT UFO documents.
Although a bit more information has been unredacted from the Yeates affidavit,
the unredacted COMINT reports are the most important information for UFO
researchers.
Greenewald writes, “In essence,
the ‘originals’ were destroyed or lost when they blacked out the records many
years ago — and now in 2014 — they are missing and can not be further reviewed
for declassification and release. The history, whatever it may be, is lost
forever.”
What the NSA has released can be
found on their UFO page.
You can download Greenewald’s FOIA request on his Government Secrets.com website.
ABOUT ALEJANDRO ROJAS
Alejandro Rojas is a radio host
for Open Minds Radio, editor and contributing writer for Open Minds magazine as
well as OpenMinds.tv. For several years Alejandro was the official spokesperson
for the Mutual UFO Network as the Director of Public Education. As a
UFO/Paranormal researcher and journalist, Alejandro has spent many hours in the
field investigating phenomena up close and personal. Alejandro has been
interviewed by media organizations around the world, including the largest
cable and network news agencies with several appearances on Coast to Coast AM.
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