The Black Vault
OrgArchiveThe Black Vault
OrgArchiveThe Black Vault is John Greenewald’s independent digital archive of government records, built through decades of Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Black Vault is John Greenewald’s independent digital archive of government records, built through decades of Freedom of Information Act requests.
John Greenewald
The Black Vault is an independent online archive created by John Greenewald to obtain, organize, and publish government records. Greenewald began filing Freedom of Information Act requests as a teenager in 1996 and developed the resulting collection into a broad repository covering defense, intelligence, science, politics, and unexplained phenomena. Its holdings include documents released directly to the requester as well as records gathered from official reading rooms and historical collections.
The project’s central method is documentary rather than testimonial. Requests, agency acknowledgments, search descriptions, appeal letters, redactions, and released files preserve the administrative path by which information becomes public. The Black Vault also reports on delays, destroyed records, exemptions, inconsistent searches, and changes in agency explanations. A FOIA release proves that an agency held and processed a record; it does not necessarily prove the accuracy of every statement contained in the underlying document.
UFO and UAP records are among the archive’s best-known collections. Greenewald has pursued files from defense, intelligence, law-enforcement, aviation, and scientific agencies, often comparing public claims with the paper trail. The archive has published original release packages concerning military videos, AATIP and AAWSAP, AARO, historical sightings, and government communications. Its work has both supported transparency and produced skeptical corrections when a popular claim exceeded what a document actually showed.
The Black Vault’s lasting institutional value comes from continuity and provenance. Government websites change, links disappear, and responses arrive years after a news cycle ends; a maintained independent archive allows later researchers to reconstruct those sequences. Greenewald’s publication of correspondence alongside responsive documents also exposes the precise scope of a request and the agency’s stated search method. Its relationship to FOIA and transparency is intensely practical rather than abstract: the collection demonstrates both what public-records law can uncover and how incomplete, slow, or ambiguous that process can remain.
Deep probes
4Probed ingest of: Newly Released Documents Show UAP “Space Tiger Team” Built Around Space and Transmedium Cases
The Black Vault · May 1Probed ingest of: Pentagon Spokesperson Christopher Sherwood Emails on UFOs, UAP, and more
The Black Vault · Apr 23Probed ingest of: Archive of Luis Elizondo’s “Deleted” Emails
The Black Vault · Apr 2Probed ingest of: NASA Partially Lifts Redactions in James Webb Briefing Records Following Appeal
The Black Vault · Mar 30tl;dr: AAWSAP, and the story connected to it, is an absolute mess thanks to the U.S. government, the contractor connected to it, and everyone who has said they worked within it.
[Retweeted] Two officially released AAWSAP reports vs. "AAWSAP reports" that appeared in the PURSUE 7 release. See the difference? It is clear to me there is a stark difference (classification markings, formatting, contract number references etc) between the two. Why is this important? It shows a clear difference between what AAWSAP was officially (with the exception of 1, no DIRD talks about UFOs) and what it was for BAASS... then later framed erroneously by those spreading stories and outla...
Two officially released AAWSAP reports vs. "AAWSAP reports" that appeared in the PURSUE 7 release. See the difference? It is clear to me there is a stark difference (classification markings, formatting, contract number references etc) between the two. Why is this important? It shows a clear difference between what AAWSAP was officially (with the exception of 1, no DIRD talks about UFOs) and what it was for BAASS... then later framed erroneously by those spreading stories and outlandish UNPROV...
The obsession within the peanut gallery never dies. I stand by what I've said. Recent document releases only support what I've said that AAWSAP veered off from its intended purpose. I will let the public judge whether taxpayer funds were appropriated properly when it came from the original AAWSAP mission statement vs. what the DIA got in return. I find it very telling that many of the BAASS reports have no government markings, proper formatting, classification markings, etc., while the DIRDS...
I'm curious to see more on Gaffney's interview and denial but I don't see it shedding any light on the matter. If Lockheed was really going to divest themselves [Quoted] With publication on Oct. 13, 2026, of the book "Out of the Shadows" by @jaystratton, various stories about a proposed transfer of something from Lockheed Martin to AAWSAP, circa 2009, are again a matter of discussion and debate. Therefore I am now reposting this August 2025 post/thread. It notes the denials by Pentagon/AARO o...
Part 31 of a series reassessing the documentary record behind the 1933 Magenta narrative. TL;DR Project Magnet and Second Storey overlapped, with Wilbert Smith involved in both. His extraterrestrial conclusion was not adopted government policy. Second Storey held six committee meetings, 1952–54, plus an organizing meeting. Its work was Confidential; members’ requested Secret clearances were a separate matter. It developed reporting instructions, ordered 400 forms, and received completed examp...
[Retweeted] 🚨 NEW: FAA records reveal a previously unreported military response during the September 4 San Diego airport drone incident. The Navy reportedly prepared to engage an unauthorized drone at North Island. ATC audio then references one being "shot down." https://t.co/ULeFbgHcZW
[Retweeted] 🚨 NEW: FAA records reveal a previously unreported military response during the September 4 San Diego airport drone incident. The Navy reportedly prepared to engage an unauthorized drone at North Island. ATC audio then references one being "shot down." https://t.co/ULeFbgHcZW
[Retweeted] New FAA records on the Sept 4 San Diego airport drone incident just dropped via FOIA thanks to John Greenewald. Multiple pilots reported a UAS over the runway. Controllers shut down departures. Then NAS North Island called to say they were preparing to engage an unauthorized drone, and ATC audio references one possibly being shot down. Here we are two months later, and we still have zero confirmation of what was actually engaged, recovered, or identified. The gap between “we prepa...
🚨 NEW: FAA records reveal a previously unreported military response during the September 4 San Diego airport drone incident. The Navy reportedly prepared to engage an unauthorized drone at North Island. ATC audio then references one being "shot down." https://t.co/ULeFbgHcZW