Renowned Ufologist Stanton T. Friedman Responds To Misleading NSA/UFO Article

     [Note: In an open letter to Steven Aftergood found here, Nuclear Physicist and renowned Ufologist, Stanton T. Friedman responds to the recent article, "X Files Opened: The National Security Agency's UFO Investigations Unearthed," penned by, Leonard David, senior writer at Space.com

FW

Steven:

I am sorry to inform you that both your 14 Nov. Secrecy News and Leonard David's article about the NSA affidavit are grossly misleading. Here are some facts:

1. The affidavit was first released in response to an FOIA request in about 1981. It was about 75% blacked out. Judge Gerhardt Gesell who saw none of the NSA's 156 UFO documents, agreed they should not be released saying that The Public interest in Disclosure was far outweighed by the threat to national secuirty should the documents (he saw none) be released. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court, again not seeing any of the 156 documents.

2. In about 1996, the NSA in response to EO 12958 , decided to release a much less censored (perhaps only 20% though not as neat as your version)) version of the affidavit,and also released all 156 NSA UFO documents that had previously been withheld in their entirety. Unfortunately they were all almost completed censored, this time with white out so that typically only one or two lines per page could be read. From conversations with the NSA FOIA office, I gather they were unhappy with my showing the heavily redacted version of the affidavit on TV. It is impossible to believe that the 95+% of the documents dealt only with sources and methods.

3. In the mid 1980s I filed with the CIA a request for the 23 CIA UFO documents discovered by the NSA in response to Judge Gesell's order to search..These, of course, could not be released by the NSA. It took 2 years for the CIA to release 9 documents which were, believe it or not press abstracts of Eastern European newspaper articles about UFOs which the Soviets had the day they were released. I appealed their witholding of the 14 CIA UFO documents and after 3 years received portions of

4. On some pages all but 8 or 10 words were blacked out. On one page they said deny in toto.. couldn't find even 8 words to release... I filed again after 12958 and found no new words at all.

In short then this is not new news, and, not to mention the 95%+ of the whited out documents, is very misleading. Where is the text of those? What is being witheld by the CIA?. So, yes, Steven, there is a cosmic Watergate.

I should point out the 1969 comment by Air Force General Carroll Bolender that "Reports of UFOs which could affect national security are made in accordance with JANAP 146 or Air Force Manual 55-11 and are not part of the Blue Book System". The Air Force has never told the public that they had another channel besides Project Blue Book.

I think some clarification is in order. If not, please let me know what is in the other CIA UFO documents and in the 95% + of the 156 NSA UFO documents.

Most cordially,

Stanton T. Friedman
Nuclear Physicist
www.stantonfriedman.com

I had a Q clearance for 14 years and have been to 20 document archives.

     Aftergood replied:

Thanks for the message. I was not aware of the prior partial releases of the Yeates affidavit. I agree that it is disappointing that more of the withheld documents have not been released by now.

Home