DISCLOSURE / FILE

Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562)

Sworn 1980 NSA affidavit by Office of Policy Chief Eugene F. Yeates in CAUS v. NSA (Civil Action No. 80-1562) defending the withholding of 156 UFO-related records, almost all of them COMINT product, under FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3).

Brief

Filed September 12, 1980 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Yeates's affidavit catalogs four CIA referrals plus NSA's own holdings, totaling 156 UFO documents NSA refused to release in CAUS v. NSA. Yeates states that with one exception every COMINT report at issue is based on intercepted, almost always enciphered foreign government net communications, and that disclosure would identify the specific lines, channels, and links NSA targets. The affidavit invokes Executive Orders 10501, 11652, and 12065 and statutory bars at 18 U.S.C. 798, 50 U.S.C. 403(d)(3), and Section 6 of Public Law 86-36, and notes a supplemental TOP SECRET in camera affidavit for the judge. One non-COMINT record, the monograph UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions, was released in large part with only the preparer's name and organization withheld.

Metadata

Agency: National Security Agency
Release: 1980-09-12
Type: PDF • .pdf
Length: 15 pages
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED (released version of an originally TOP SECRET UMBRA filing)
Tags: FOIA litigation, NSA, COMINT, SIGINT, UFO, 1980, CAUS v. NSA, Civil Action 80-1562, Executive Order 12065, Public Law 86-36

Key points

NSA processed four separate CIA referrals of NSA documents located during the Ground Saucer Watch v. CIA FOIA litigation, beginning November 9, 1978 with 15 documents, plus 3 more on December 4, 1978, and a final referral on July 27, 1979.p.3
On February 16, 1979 plaintiff CAUS filed a direct FOIA request with NSA for all UFO-related records in NSA's possession or control.p.4
NSA's response located 79 documents, partially released after (b)(1) and (b)(3) deletions, and identified additional records withheld in full under (b)(1), (b)(3), (b)(5), and (b)(6).p.4
Yeates states a primary SIGINT mission of NSA is to intercept foreign government radio communications for foreign intelligence, and that COMINT is the intelligence derived from those intercepts.p.6
All but four of the NSA records at issue in the case are COMINT product; the remaining records are the output of signals intelligence activities.p.6
COMINT records were originally classified under Executive Orders 10501, 11652, and 12065, and Yeates personally reviewed each for declassification and found each portion remained properly classified.p.10
Withholding is also grounded in statute: 18 U.S.C. 798, 50 U.S.C. 403(d)(3), and Section 6 of Public Law 86-36 (50 U.S.C. 402 note), invoked via FOIA exemption (b)(3).p.11
With one exception, every COMINT report at issue is based on messages intercepted from foreign government net communications, and almost all of those messages were enciphered when originally transmitted.p.12
Three of four non-COMINT records were released in large part with deletions; the document UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions, a draft Agency monograph, was released except for the preparer's name and organization.

Most interesting

The affidavit puts a hard number on NSA's UFO holdings at the time: 156 documents, with 79 partially released and the rest withheld in full.
Yeates explicitly told the court that all but four of the contested NSA UFO records are products of signals intelligence, meaning the bulk of NSA's UFO file is intercepted foreign government communications, not analytic reports.
Almost all of the underlying intercepts at issue were enciphered when originally transmitted, an unusual detail to volunteer in a UFO FOIA case.
The judge ruled in NSA's favor after reviewing a separate classified TOP SECRET affidavit in camera that the plaintiffs never saw.
The single non-COMINT monograph named in the affidavit, UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions, became one of the more discussed NSA UFO documents of the era; the affidavit confirms it is an internal Agency draft.

Cross-references

PDFCommunication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, by Lambros D. Callimahos (NSA Cryptologic Spectrum)National Security Agency
PDFIs the CIA Stonewalling?, NSA / CIA Memo on UFO FOIA HandlingNational Security Agency / CIA
AUDHalt Tape, Lt Col Charles Halt's Microcassette Recording, Rendlesham Forest December 28, 1980United States Air Force (RAF Bentwaters, 81st TFW) / UK Ministry of Defence
PDFExpediente, Avistamiento en Canarias (22 May 1980)Ejército del Aire / Ministerio de Defensa

Common questions

What is Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562)?: Sworn 1980 NSA affidavit by Office of Policy Chief Eugene F. Yeates in CAUS v. NSA (Civil Action No. 80-1562) defending the withholding of 156 UFO-related records, almost all of them COMINT product, under FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3).
What does Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562) reveal?: NSA processed four separate CIA referrals of NSA documents located during the Ground Saucer Watch v. CIA FOIA litigation, beginning November 9, 1978 with 15 documents, plus 3 more on December 4, 1978, and a final referral on July 27, 1979. On February 16, 1979 plaintiff CAUS filed a direct FOIA request with NSA for all UFO-related records in NSA's…
Which agency produced Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562)?: Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562) is a primary-source record from National Security Agency. Its original classification was UNCLASSIFIED (released version of an originally TOP SECRET UMBRA filing).
When is Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562) dated?: Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562) is dated 1980-09-12.
What programs and topics appear in Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562)?: Yeates Affidavit, NSA Justification for Withholding 156 UFO Documents (Civil Action No. 80-1562) references FOIA litigation, COMINT, SIGINT, UFO, CAUS v. NSA and Civil Action 80-1562.

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