The Black Vault has published a 170-page CIA FOIA release package (case F-2021-02420) documenting decades of correspondence between UFO researcher and government transparency advocate Larry W. Bryant and the Central Intelligence Agency. The collection encompasses administrative records, appeals, fee disputes, litigation records, and Bryant's repeated attempts to obtain CIA documents related to unidentified flying objects, alleged intelligence operations, and named individuals. Bryant also contributed to UFO Magazine and sought formal recognition from the CIA as a representative of the news media for fee-waiver purposes.
Among the most notable subjects covered is Bryant's effort to obtain CIA records pertaining to the November 1986 Japan Airlines UFO encounter over Alaska and a reportedly subsequent meeting held at Federal Aviation Administration headquarters in 1987. In a September 30, 2008, response, the CIA formally stated that there was "no organized CIA effort to do research in connection with UFO phenomena" and that the agency had not maintained an organized UFO intelligence collection effort since the 1950s. Additional correspondence concerns Bryant's requests for records on John Joseph McCarthy Jr. and Project CHERRY — requests the CIA refused under FOIA exemptions covering classified information and intelligence sources and methods — as well as Bryant's interest in UFO skeptic Philip J. Klass and FBI records obtained about him through FOIA.
Eighteen sections and serials of the FBI Headquarters master investigative case file on 'flying discs,' covering the Roswell era through the late 1960s. Includes Oak Ridge nuclear-facility overflight reports. The largest single PDF in PURSUE is 101 megabytes.
Dozens of residents around Stephenville, Texas, report large, fast-moving, brightly lit objects in the night sky. A subsequent FOIA release of FAA radar data confirms anomalous tracks consistent with witness reports.
United Airlines ground personnel, mechanics, and pilots at Chicago O'Hare International Airport report a metallic, disc-shaped object hovering at low altitude above gate C-17, then ascending rapidly through the cloud deck. The Federal Aviation Administration confirms the report but declines to investigate.
Capt. Kenju Terauchi reports two small craft and a much larger, walnut-shaped 'mothership' alongside a Japan Airlines 747 cargo flight transiting Alaskan airspace. The objects are corroborated by FAA ground radar at Anchorage Center.
U.S. Air Force security personnel stationed at the twin Royal Air Force bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge report a triangular, metallic craft on the ground in adjacent Rendlesham Forest, followed by aerial light phenomena two nights later. The deputy base commander signs a memorandum to the U.K. Ministry of Defence summarizing the events.
Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantoms intercept an unidentified object over Tehran. Both pilots report electronic-system failures, and one reports temporary loss of weapons control. A four-page Defense Intelligence Agency report on the case is later released under FOIA.
The Roswell Army Air Field public information officer issues a press release stating that the 509th Bomb Group has come into possession of a 'flying disc' recovered from a nearby ranch. Within twenty-four hours the Army retracts the statement and identifies the debris as a weather balloon.