This collection is designated for documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and records requests submitted to public offices and intelligence agencies.
Nazis and UFO Culture
View and download hundreds of pages of material obtained from the FBI pertaining to right-wing extremist Ernst Zundel and his Nazi propaganda publishing house, Samisdat, which became enmeshed with the 20th century UFO subculture:
Hunt for Nazis Led to CIA
An eight-page document obtained from the FBI via the FOIA, then further released through a subsequent appeal of redacted material withheld, indicated the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) conducted an investigation during the 1980s to locate Nazis. The search for Nazi sympathizers led to the CIA, the GAO informed the FBI, including identifying its Psychological Strategy Board and Office of Policy Coordination as offices of concern. The document:
Previously Unreleased FBI Records on Barry Goldwater
In April 2022, EFR obtained 23 pages through a FOIA appeal of previously unreleased FBI records pertaining to the late Senator Barry Goldwater. The Senator was a 1964 Republican nominee for president and future member of the Board of Governors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. Access the 23 pages, as well as some 430 pages of previously released FBI records on Barry Goldwater:
Roots of Mind Control Projects
Following a request for a Mandatory Declassification Review, the National Archives and Records Administration further released a 1949 FBI memo on biological warfare. The document reveals meetings of an advisory committee consisting of academics and intelligence officials, discussing questionable research with human subjects that clearly represents the roots of what became projects Bluebird, Artichoke and ultimately MKULTRA. A CIA officer, Dr. Willard Machle, in attendance of one of the documented meetings reportedly stated the group served as the Agency's first attempt to seek support outside the CIA for the research. The six-page memo:
Robertson Panel CIA Officer
In early 2023, Expanding Frontiers Research obtained a 67-page FBI file on Frederick Durant III, a CIA officer and guided missile expert who served as the author of a report produced by the 1953 Robertson Panel. The records were obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration resulting from a 2020 FOIA request submitted by Jack Brewer. It took NARA three years to process and release the records. The Durant file tells a story of the intelligence officer's career (which included heading up the engineering department at Wright Patterson AFB), Cold War intrigue, and FBI surveillance. The FBI file on Frederick Durant III:
Maj. Donald Keyhoe
Select records previously released by the CIA and FBI on Maj. Donald Keyhoe, who was a science fiction writer, tour manager of Charles Lindbergh, and director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena from 1957-1969:
Col. Joseph Bryan III
FBI records obtained on Col. Joseph Bryan III, a CIA officer, psychological warfare specialist, and staple of the Board of Governors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, include a 37-page pdf:
Records obtained also include a 1953 2-page FBI memo on brainwashing, espionage and sabotage. The memo documented the attendance of DCI Allen Dulles, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and other intelligence officials at a meeting held at the office of the U.S. Attorney General. It is further documented that CIA exhibited a film titled "Brain Washing" during the meeting, and that Joseph Bryan came up during discussion. The memo:
Nicholas de Rochefort
Access records obtained on Nicholas de Rochefort, a successful and well-connected Washington, D.C. lobbyist, expert in psychological warfare, almost certainly a CIA asset, and original organizer of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. The records are from sources including the CIA, FBI, and State Department:
Hillenkoetter and Menzel
Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter was the inaugural Director of Central Intelligence from 1947-1950 and the NICAP Chairman of the Board 1957-1962. Dr. Donald H. Menzel was a leading theoretical physicist and astronomer. View correspondence conducted between the two from 1961-1965, in which Menzel documents that Hillenkoetter is apparently expressing conflicting stances on UFOs, depending on whether he is talking to Menzel or NICAP Dir. Donald Keyhoe (The file was obtained by Jack Brewer from the American Philospohical Society):
Dr. Menzel spent his career in positions of responsibility which often required security clearance. Those who undertake such career paths may be subjected to surveillance their entire lives, first being cleared to work on a project, then being monitored to ensure they remain a low security risk. The folder below contains over 200 pages of FBI records pertaining to such surveillance of Menzel. FBI inner memos indicate Menzel was ultimately considered to be cultivated as an asset. Documentation of subsequent interactions indicate Menzel told the Bureau he was already discussing its topic of concern, an international conference, with the CIA.
View a 1949 letter below from DCI Hillenkoetter to the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), establishing it supplied the CIA with classified information it obtained. Soon after Hillenkoetter's letter, which requested the ECA increase its level of service to the CIA, the ECA contracted a Baltimore public relations firm, Counsel Services, to conduct work abroad. Counsel Services incorporated NICAP in 1956. The ECA was absorbed into the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, when it was established in 1961.
NSA Memo on 1978 MUFON Symposium
In 2017, Jack Brewer requested a Mandatory Declassification Review of a 1978 National Security Agency memo prepared by an assignee about his attendance at a conference held by the Mutual UFO Network. The NSA subsequently released the majority of the five-page memo, which indicates a variety of potential agendas and layers of deception among those presenting and in attendance at the conference. The 1978 NSA memo:
Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Application Program (AAWSAP)
The following material was periodically received from the Defense Intelligence Agency in response to various requests stemming from stories published surrounding the AAWSAP:
Ramtha's School of Enlightenment
Browse dozens of records obtained from the Thurston County (Washington) Sheriff's Office responsive to Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, located in the folder linked below. The records included law enforcement reports, as well as their related digital images, videos, and audio recordings. Also included in the folder is a two-page file obtained from the FBI.
Ramtha's School of Enlightenment
UFO Research Coalition
In October 2023, the FBI responded to an Expanding Frontiers Research FOIA request for records cross-referencing or pertaining to the UFO Research Coalition. The Bureau advised it located four responsive pages, and was releasing two of the four pages. FBI further stated it was unable to locate potentially responsive records which were not in their expected locations. The link below leads to a folder containing both the FBI response and the released pages.
The Unabomber
Expanding Frontiers Research obtained 143 pages of previously released FBI records responsive to domestic terrorist Theodore "Ted" John Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber. View and download the records and the correspondence received from the FBI in the folder linked below:
Learn more about the FOIA request and additional responsive records not yet processed for release in an EFR blogpost.