US SecNav FOIA website - 15 new documents uploaded

Secretary of the US Navy

The US Department of Defence, Secretary of the Navy's FOIA website has had a number of responses to FOIA requests on it, for quite a while now. However, many researchers, including myself, have had a number of outstanding FOIA requests, with the US Navy, which remain open. I make it a practice of checking the website every day for any new material. One reason for doing so, is that some time ago, the US Navy advised in a final response, that they had found a responsive document to my request for a copy of the Security Classification Guide regarding UAP. It was therefore of great interest that I noted, that yesterday, 15 new documents had been uploaded, including the responsive document which I had been after.

What has been uploaded?

1. A 155 page ship's deck log for the USS America for the period 13-31 July 2019.

2.A 237 page ship's deck log for the USS John Finn for the period 13-31 July 2019.

3. Multi page ship's deck log for the USS Ralph Johnson for the period 13-31 July 2019 (I couldn't get this PDF to load.)

4. A 273 page ship's deck log for the USS Russell for the period 13-31 July 2019.

5. A 147 page ship's deck log for the USS Spruance for the period 13-31 July 2019.

6. A 20 page CIC log for the USS Rafael Peralta for the period 14-16 July 2019.

7. A 27 page CIC log for the USS Spruance for the period 15-19 July 2019.

8. A 50 page ship's deck log for the USS Comstock for the period 29-31 July 2019.

9. A 167 page ship's deck log for the USS Russell for the period 1-16 July 2019.

10. A 214 page ship's deck log for the USS Russell for the period 17-31 July 2019.

Comment:

The above 10 items were no doubt sought by a number of unnamed researchers who have been looking into the July 2019 "drone swarm" incident, involving a number of US ships in training ranges, off the coast of California.

11. A 10 page Security Classification Guide, Naval Intelligence Activity, regarding the subject of UAP. 

Comment:

In December 2021, John Greenewald advised that, in response to an FOIA request, he had received a copy of a Security Classification Guide, Naval Intelligence Activity, on UAP. It would therefore, be of interest to do a close comparison of these two released documents, to determine if they are exactly the same. For background on what a Security Classification Guide is, and a look at why I submitted my FOIA request for a copy of it, click here. 

12. A 2 page PDF labelled "FLIR Photo brief" regarding the 17 July 2019 USS Paul Hamilton's interaction with UAS. 

Comment: 

On 10 February 2022, The Drive's Adam Keyhoe and Marc Cecotti, published an article about the 17 July 2019 incident involving the USS Paul Hamilton, which was illustrated by the same briefing slide. However their copy contained an unredacted "timeline" of the events, whereas the just released PDF has the "timeline" redacted.

13. 27 page PDF labelled "Khan appeal response." 

14. A 1 page document titled "RANGEFOULERDeflatedballoon."

Comment:

13. This document contains a number of what are called "Range Fouler Debrief Forms." Each appears to be a copy of an electronically submit report which describes an encounter with "something." The total number of separate forms is 19. Looking for exactly what a "range fouler" is I found that the term was contained in an October 2020 document titled "Student Guide/MCS Operating Manual" generated by the US Naval Air Training Command. It suggests that a "range fouler" is something which shouldn't be there, and which might cause a problem to aircraft operating in the area. 

I don't recall ever seeing copies of these particular forms before. We have seen the SecNav website upload copies of US Navy "Hazard reports" which researchers discussed at the time of their release, as possible UAP sightings.  However, there are still only eight of these "Hazard reports" on the current SecNav FOIA website. So, it would pay us to give these 20 "Range fouler" forms a close inspection. Although they are heavily redacted, something may be gleaned. 

14. The title suggests that this "range fouler" was a deflated balloon. Observant readers will no doubt recall that the one identified UAP mentioned in the June 2021 Office of the Director of National Intelligence's "Preliminary Asessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena"  was stated as "We were able to identify one reported UAP with high confidence. In that case, we identified the object as a large deflating balloon."

15. 146 pages of emails between various US Navy and other parties pertaining to a range of briefings conducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence for Congress etc. 

Comment:

Again, I don't recall seeing these before, so a close reading of them is in order. 

Updates: 5 March 2022

1. In a 4 March 2022 Tweet, US researcher Dave Beaty advised that he had submitted an FOIA request for "Range Fouler and Whiskey Alert" documents to the US Navy. However, he also advised that "...mine was denied almost fully" and "The one in the Reading Room is from another researcher's request not mine." As the response file title is "Khan appeal response" it seems reasonable to deduce that the other researcher's surname is "Khan."

2. On further investigation of the term "Range Fouler" I came across a mention of it in the 25 June 2021 Office of the Director of National Intelligence's "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." On page 8 - under "Definition of key terms - UAP Report" we find:

"UAP Report: Documentation of a UAP event, including verified chains of custody and basic information such as the time, date, location, and description of the UAP. UAP reports include Range Fouler (1) reports and other reporting."

Foot note (1) reads:

"U.S. Navy aviators define a "range fouler" as an activity or object that interrupts pre-planned training or other military actvity in a military operating area or restricted airspace."

3. In a further Tweet Dave Beaty provided details of his 30 March 2021 FOIA request which included the term "range fouler." Dave advised "I was handed 4 pages previously released to @MC05A. No Range Fouler docs were ever released and 90 pages were 'classified exempt.'"