U. S. Secret Service Special-Agent-in-Charge (FOIA Matters)

         Freedom of Information Act Branch - Communications Center

         245 Murray Lane, S. W. - Bldg. T-5

FROM:  Larry W. Bryant

               3518 Martha Custis Drive

               Alexandria, VA  22302

DATE:  April 13, 2011

1.  Reference:  your April 8, 2011, letter to me that arrived at my address on April 12 (in which you assign the case file number 20110177 to my FOIA request of February 18, 2011).  I'm including the text of your letter at the end of this reply.

2.  In response to your paragraph asking me to "provide us with copies of news articles or other types of publications that have been published under your name," I'm inclosing photocopies of several of my columns titled "Bryant's UFO View" as published in the newsstand periodical UFO Magazine.  Other than these inclosures, you'll find at my (free) blog site - http://ufoview.posterous.com - some reprints of my column from UFO Magazine.  According to the U. S. Open Government Act of 2007, this hard evidence of my FOIA requester status as a "representative of the news media" (RNM) entitles me to AUTOMATIC waiver of all your agency's records-search/review fees incident to the processing of my request.

3.  Please note that any decision you make to ignore/deny my RNM requester status will be subjected to administrative appeal and, thereafter, to any necessary judicial review (to include acquiring your agency's reimbursement of my attorney's fees).

4.  By USPS, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.

LARRY W. BRYANT

Columnist for UFO Magazine

Inclosures:

(1)  LWB Column:  "Tell Us More, Ms. Grafeld!" (from issue No. 155 - January 2011)

(2)  LWB Column:  "UFO-NASA Collusion Amidst the 1960s-Era Cape Canaveral?" (from issue No.150 - June 2009)

(3)  LWB Column:  "Separate and Unequal?" (from issue No. 151 - August 2009)

(4)  Obituary of Richard H. Hall (from issue No. 151 - August 2009)

Copy furnished to:  Editor, UFO Magazine 

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TEXT OF MR. ULMER's 8 APR 11 LETTER TO L.W.B.:

File Number:  20110177

Dear Requester:

This letter is intended to acknowledge the receipt of your recent Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Acts (FOIA/PA) request received by the United States Secret Service (USSS) on March 21, 2011, for information pertaining to UFO-E.T. contact that President Eisenhower experienced during his February 11-12, 1955 stay Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Due to the increasing number of FOIA/PA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request.  Per Section 5.5(a) of the FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R., Chapter I, Part 5, the Service processes FOIA/PA requests according to their order of receipt.

As it relates to your fee waiver request, your request will be held in abeyance pending the quantification of responsive records.  The FOIA regulations, Title 6 C.F.R., Chapter I, Part 5, Section 5.11(k)(2)(3), set forth six factors to examine when determining whether the applicable legal standard for fee waiver has been met.  We will consider these factors in our evaluation of your request for a fee waiver:

1)  Whether the subject of the requested records concerns "the operations or activities of the government;"

2)  Whether the disclosure is "likely to contribute" to an understanding of government operations or activities;

3)  Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requestor or a narrow segment of interested persons;

4)  Whether the contribution of public understanding of government operations or activities will be "significant";

5)  Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and

6)  Whether the magnitude of any identified commercial interest to the requestor is sufficiently large in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor.

If any responsive records are located, we will consider these factors in our evaluation of your request for a fee waiver.  In the event that your fee waiver is denied, we shall charge you for the records in accordance with Interim FOIA regulations as they apply to non-commercial ("all other") requesters.  The first 100 pages of duplication are free of charge.  As an "all other" requester, you will be charged .10 cents [sic] a page for the duplication of each additional page.  As an "all other" requester, the first 2 hours of search time are free of charge, after which you will be charged the per quarter-hour rate ($4.00, $7.00, $10.25) of the searcher.

In order for you to be considered in the category of news media, please provide us with copies of news articles or other types of publications that have been published under your name.  In order to be considered an educational or non-commercial scientific institution user, you must supply us with documentation to support your request.

Please be advised, the submission of your request is viewed as an agreement, by you, to pay duplication and search time costs up to $25.00.  A search for files responsive to your request is being conducted.  The appropriate components of the USSS are being queried for responsive documents.  If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability.  You will be contacted before any additional fees are accrued.

We solicit your cooperation and assure you that the search will be conducted as expeditiously as possible.  If you have any questions or would like to discuss this matter, please contact this office at (202) 406-5838.  Please use the file number indicated above in all future correspondence with this office.

Sincerely,

Craig W. Ulmer

Special Agent In Charge

Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Acts Officer

        ATTN:  Complaints-Processing Supervisor

        U. S. Army National Guard Training Center

        Fort McClellan, AL  36205

FROM:  Larry W. Bryant

               3518 Martha Custis Drive

               Alexandria, VA  22302

DATE:  April 8, 2011

Persons close to UFO-E.T.-coverup whistleblower James Norton, who now lives in Anniston, Ala., have been expressing concern about his personal safety and the need to protect himself from any official retaliation as regards the content of his revelations and the intent/tactics within officialdom's ongoing response to them (see my advertisement about his case at http://www.classifiedads.com/announcements-ad4204171.htm ; and the latest public discussion of his case at http://forums.jazmaonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2912 ).

Federal case law (including the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces' decision in U. S. v. Voorhees) assures the right of all servicemembers and other federal personnel to publicly express their views on public issues.  The September 1977 UFO-E.T. incident at Fort Benning, Ga. (in which Norton, among others, was victimized), certainly qualifies as a vital public issue - especially now that Norton has announced his possession of a confirmatory artifact from that event.  When fully analyzed (and presented, with his testimony, to a pertinent congressional committee), this smoking-gun artifact might entice additional whistleblowers to come forward with their evidence supporting the public's stakeholdership in this matter.

Accordingly, I submit this letter as a formal, written COMPLAINT that you investigate the official circumstances, principals, motives, decisionmaking, and actions (including threats) to which Norton has been, and still is being, subjected in his role as the ultimate whistleblower within the world's deepest secret.

Once you conclude this requested investigation, please send me a copy of your final report of findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

By USPS mail, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.

LARRY W. BRYANT

Director, Washington, D.C., Office of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy

Copy furnished to:  Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, U. S. House of Representatives

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