Larry W. Bryant’s UFOview

TO:  Agency Release Panel
       U. S. Central Intelligence Agency
       Washington, DC  20505

FROM:  Larry W. Bryant
            3518 Martha Custis Drive
            Alexandria, VA  22302

DATE:  July 22, 2009

Word has come to me that California resident John Greenewald, Jr., a prolific user of the U. S. Freedom of Information Act to ferret out, evaluate, and publicize various government agencies' holdings of UFO-related records and other material of critical public interest, has encountered arbitrary CIA denial of his FOIA-requester status as a "representative of the news media" (RNM).

As Greenewald duly and comprehensively has explained to CIA FOIA coordinator Delores M. Nelson, his fully documented RNM claim would leave no doubt in any juror's mind that he amply has made the case for your agency's immediate cessation of rejecting his record of RNM identity, purpose, scope, and action.

Accordingly, I'm transmitting herewith the text of his July 20, 2009, letter to Ms. Nelson, along with my request that you promptly reverse her decision not to honor his RNM status.  If you choose not to take this requested action, Greenewald would have to seek judicial remedy.  To inform your decisionmaking in this matter, I refer you to the ongoing FOIA lawsuit of Larry W. Bryant v. Central Intelligence Agency, filed May 20, 2009, in U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  The issues in that case mirror those in Greenewald's, the result being that current FOIA case law leans heavily in his favor, not yours.  Please refrain from any more expenditure of taxpayer funds in fending off his claim.

I further declare that Greenewald has my express permission to apply this document toward any litigation aimed at enjoining your agency's improper and illegal denial of his RNM-requester status.

By snail-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

Copies furnished to:

Mr. Greenewald
Editor, UFO Magazine
Chairwoman, Select Committee on Intelligence, U. S. Senate

Chairman, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives - U. S. House of Representatives
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

== TEXT OF MR. GREENEWALD's JULY 20, 2009, LETTER TO MS. NELSON ==

Monday, July 20, 2009

Information and Privacy Coordinator 
Central Intelligence Agency 
Washington, D.C. 20505 
Fax: (703) 613-3007

To whom it may concern,

Currently, I will not file this as an official appeal, as I wish to a) save of the extraordinary amount of time it takes to get a response to an appeal, and b) clarify my "news media" status so my requests can be processed as such.  It is frustrating to say the least that my requests are "on hold" until I agree to pay all fees relating to the request.  Never in my 13 years of filing FOIA requests has such a response been given to me, except by the CIA. 

I clearly stated, and nearly every agency but yours files my requests appropriately as a "representative of the news media," and examples are cited below.  I will not agree to ALL fees, as I am not sure how many people would.  I am not sure if this means $25 or $8,000, a fee I have been estimated in the past under the FOIA.  As stipulated by the FOIA, I placed my agreement to pay fees "up to" a certain amount, and I fulfilled this requirement on my original FOIAs. 

First and foremost, I consider this a grave injustice made in light of the true intent of the FOIA.  From President Clinton signing the Electronic FOIA and multiple executive directives regarding declassification; President Bush signing the U.S. Open Government Act of 2007; and President Obama on the day he entered office, signing legislation improving agency disclosure, openness and transparency in regards to document declassification; the FOIA has been an important tool in American democracy and public awareness.  To simply put my requests "on hold" when not recognizing my true fee status, is an unfortunate contradiction to the Commander in Chiefs mentioned above.

The CIA, in my opinion, will not recognize the true meaning of a "representative of the news media," and will not acknowledge my established ability to disseminate this information to the public. 

I submit the below evidence to my established category of "representative of the news media."

1.  Multiple agencies have considered my request to become a "representative of the news media," and have granted that request.  Only a select few are referenced below for your perusal:

a.  In a letter dated 10 April 2009, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in case F09-0036, states, "Based upon the information provided, you have been placed in the 'educational/scientific/media' category of requesters?."

b.  In a letter dated 14 May 2009, from the Department of the Air Force, Malmstrom Air Force Base, in FOIA case number 2009-00743F, it states, "You have been placed in the 'Media' category.'"

c.  In a letter dated March 16, 2009, in FOIA case number 09-006, it states, "Additionally, the U.S. Army Center of Military History's Initial Denial Authority for FOIA requests has declared you to be a member of the media?."

d.  MULTIPLE letters from MULTIPLE agencies can be cited and referenced.  But are too lengthy to name them all.  I hope the above sampling shows you this is a status recognized throughout the federal agencies and military branches - except yours.

2.  Further, you state that the FOIA stipulates I must show how I will turn raw materials into a distinct work, and distribute that to an audience.  I outline the following for your consideration:

a.  NEWS/EDITORIAL EXAMPLES - TELEVISION:

i.  The History Channel - The Universe - In this episode of The Universe on History Channel entitled, "Alien Faces," which I directed and wrote, I utilized multiple documents obtained from the FOIA from NASA on the topic of Astrobiology.  The material was used in the research/development phase of the program, and the information was interpreted and disseminated to the public throughout the show.

ii.  The History Channel - UFO Hunters, Season 3 - Multiple Episodes: From December 2008 - June 2009, I served as a producer of the popular UFO Hunters program.  Throughout multiple episodes, the research/FOIA documents I have collected over the last decade were used in the research/development phase, shown on screen, and opinions were offered on select documents.

As an example, one episode dealing with a secret underground installation, underground digging technology was discussed at length.  To source this information in the show, multiple documents were obtained under the FOIA as reference, including, "Use of the Subterrene for Military Drilling Applications" located at: http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/subt.pdf

iii.  The History Channel - UFO Files: Hangar 18 - Multiple documents obtained from the FOIA were used in this special, which dealt with the top secret work on military technology by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base throughout the past 5-6 decades.  Documents were obtained from the Air Force and Army that were used in this special, which I was credited as the producer.

iv.  The History Channel - UFO Files: UFOs and the White House - Multiple documents obtained from the FOIA were used in this special, which I also produced for The History Channel, which were used as source material, used in the research/development phase, and were interpreted for the public in the show's writing phase.

v.  With the details above, I feel this clearly shows interpretation and dissemination to the public the information obtained under the FOIA.

b.  NEWS/EDITORIAL EXAMPLES - NEWSPRINT:

i.  "Inadvertent Nuclear War - The India/Pakistan Armageddon," which was published on the popular online news site OpEdNews, located at, http://www.opednews.com/articles/Inadvertent-Nuclear-War--by-John-Greenewald-081202-496.html

ii.  "Dr. J. Allen Hynek: The UFO Scientist's 'Other life,'" which was published on the popular online news site OpEdNews, and is archived at, http://www.theblackvault.com/wiki/index.php/Dr._J._Allen_Hynek:_The_UFO_Scientist's_%22Other_life%22_(by_John_Greenewald,_Jr.,_3-13-2008)

iii.  "How 'Bruno' Gains Access - Documents Reveal Inside Look at Tactics" - which was published on the popular online news site OpEdNews, and is archived at, http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-Bruno-Gains-Access--by-John-Greenewald-090714-70.html

iv.  Fate Magazine - Multiple articles in print throughout the past 13 years - one example as a cover story entitled "Mysteries of The Black Vault" can be seen enclosed.