In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), an office of the U.S. Navy has said that all UFO (Unidentified Flying Objects) videos were classified information and therefore exempt from release, the transparency website The Black Vault reported last week.
The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to set up a new office to investigate UFOs or Unidentified Aerial Phenomenons (UAP).
In December 2017, two videos of UAP were released into the public domain, which caught the media and the public eye. A few months later, another UFO video was released, which raised interest further, and people expected the government to come forward with all the information it had on the topic.
In its response, the Pentagon did nothing more than confirm that the videos were indeed captured by the U.S. Navy.
The Black Vault pursued the U.S. Navy to see if there more such videos that were tagged UAP and sent a FOIA request for their release.
A request sent to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the same office that officially released the three videos, was rejected in March this year, stating that there were no additional videos available with the office.
A request sent to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the supposed home for the UAP Task Force, in February of 2021, was responded to after 17 months to state that any videos of the nature would be available with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (N2/N6).
So, in July 2022, The Black Vault filed another request under the FOIA, which was rejected on the basis that the “videos contain sensitive information pertaining to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and are classified and are exempt from disclosure in their entirety.”
Also, the response letter added, “The release of this information will harm national security as it may provide adversaries valuable information regarding Department of Defense/Navy operations, vulnerabilities, and/or capabilities. No portions of the videos can be segregated for release.”
The letter explained the situation under which the three videos were officially released previously. “While three UAP videos were released in the past, the facts specific to those three videos are unique in that those videos were initially released via unofficial channels before official release.” the letter said. “Those events were discussed extensively in the public domain; in fact, major news outlets conducted specials on these events. Given the amount of information in the public domain regarding these encounters, it was possible to release the files without further damage to national security,” The Black Vault said in its report.