U.S. Forest Service UFO Files and UFO Photographs

Cold Open: This is a declassified document from the United States Forest Service, released in 2023. The document is a response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by John Greenwald, Jr. in 2016. The request sought records of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, received by the USFS. Provenance: The document was released on August 17, 2023, and is available on The Black Vault website. The USFS Washington Office FOIA Service Center processed the request, assigning tracking number 2017-FS-WO-00542-F. The agency searched for records in both the Washington Office Headquarters and each region/national forest, aggregating the responses and issuing one response on behalf of the agency. The Document: Dear Mr. Greenwald, This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act request dated November 3, 2016, which was received by the Washington Office FOIA Service Center on November 4, 2016. You requested records, electronic or otherwise, of all reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) received by the USFS by either the public or by USFS employees/personnel. We searched everywhere a reasonably knowledgeable professional could expect to find responsive records and found 18 pages of records. We are releasing to you nine pages in full and disclosing nine pages in part with information withheld pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C) of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6) and 7(C). FOIA Exemption 6 requires the Government to withhold all information about individuals in "personnel and medical files and similar files," where disclosure of such information "would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." We have determined information pertaining to private citizens (names, faces in photographs, email addresses) must be protected pursuant to Exemption 6 of the FOIA. FOIA Exemption 7(C) requires the Government to withhold records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. We have determined that the name of a law enforcement officer must be protected pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C) of the FOIA. Context: The USFS manages and protects 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 43 states and Puerto Rico. The agency's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The document includes a series of emails between USFS employees discussing a UFO sighting in the Bighorn Mountains. One of the emails includes four digital photographs taken on September 12, 2015, showing an unidentified object in the sky. Outro: This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. The USFS has declassified a small portion of its UFO files, revealing a glimpse into the agency's handling of unidentified flying objects. For more information, visit storyflo.com. The canonical PDF of this document is available at https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/2017-FS-WO-00542-F-Greenewald.pdf.