UFO researcher, FOIA requester, and UFO Magazine contributor
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.