Item 4.5: Book Review of "Beyond UFO Secrecy"
(Originally published in -- and copyrighted by -- the June 2004 issue of the monthly newsstand magazine FATE ( http://www.fatemag.com )) By Larry W. Bryant "Beyond UFO Secrecy: The Story of 'The Black Vault's' Pursuit of the Truth," by John Greenewald, Jr. (Northridge, Calif.; 2002, softcover, 252 pages) [Now available in an expanded edition from Galde Press, Inc. -- http://www.galdepress.com .)
When in the course of cosmic events a new generation of researchers descends upon the UFOlogy scene, it's time for old-timers like me to take formal notice, and to pass along at least part of the baton. Not a difficult task in the case of California's John Greenewald, Jr., who reached his 23rd birthday during the inaugural X-Conference on the weekend of April 17--18, 2004, near Washington, D. C. His presence there amidst mostly seasoned researchers, scholars, and UFOtruth-seekers added both some intellectual fresh air and a challenge for me to actually read his book Beyond UFO Secrecy. Had all attenders at this UFO-disclosure conference been given a copy of Greenewald's UFOIA (UFO Freedom of Information and Accountability) handbook upon their registration, they would've brought home a timeless road map to conferring and networking -- as well as to furthering the cause (aka CAUS) of ending the government cover-up of the UFO experience. So, in preparation for next year's event (X-Con II?), I'm offering this review as a primer for all researchers who've yet to adopt the book as their UFOIA field guide. Greenewald focuses this self-published tome on his exploits as the founding director -- circa 1996, at age 15 -- of an Internet web site aptly called "The Black Vault" (http://www.blackvault.com). He sprinkles (and comments upon) selected Freedom-of-Information-Act-acquired documents throughout the work to illustrate the endless stream of official UFOana awaiting the uninitiated reader. Once bathed in this teasing light of initiation, the reader cannot but beg for more (have you a sequel in the works, John?). The preponderance of that info-stream lies in the computer-scanned gigabytes of agency UFOlit archived upon blackvault.com -- some of it remaining truncated, to this day, by agency censors. In my own (overgrown) library of UFOlit, this volume sits right up there with several titles (e.g., "Clear Intent" -- 1984) that help answer the question "What would the government know about UFO reality were it to read its own UFO-related documents?" Right from his Introduction, the author sets the tone and scope for this instant classic in the annals of anti-UFO-secrecy literature: "As you can see from the table of contents, the book is laid out in two parts. The first part is how The Black Vault came to be. The second part is the research itself. Laid out by the agency, and is in the order of relevance for proving the massive cover-up." A key stimulant for the Black Vault project occurred on Sept. 19, 1976 (five years before Greenewald's birth) -- in, of all places, Iran. It consists of a FOIA-acquired UFO-sighting report from the U. S. Defense Intelligence Agency, detailing how two Iranian air force jet interceptors were outwitted by a huge UFO in the nighttime skies of Tehran. Greenewald proceeds in Chapter 7 to chronicle the history and aftermath of that seminal, though slightly censored, report. For me, the most intriguing part of Beyond UFO Secrecy lies in Chapter 10 ("It [the government's UFO-investigation program] Never Stopped"), especially the following passage quoted from the May 14, 2002, edition of USAF Manual 10-206; its Chapter 5 ("Communications Instructions [for] Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS)") amplifies/localizes the UFO-encounter reporting requirements/format published in the sporadically revised Army-Navy-Air Publication No. 146 (bearing the same title): "5.7.4. Make every effort to document sightings with as many photographs as possible. Send undeveloped film or prints and negatives, with a brief written report and other identifying information, to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Department of the Navy, Washington, DC 20305. The Department of the Navy will process the film and return one copy of each print and a roll of new film to the individual." Well, how about it, Mr. Greenewald: let's make sure someone's regularly FOIA-seeking some of those CIRVIS-generated photos from the Navy's own Deep-Black Vault of UFOlore! The author's eight-year-long quest for UFOtruth -- and for public acceptance of his labors -- has come at some intellectual expense, as he candidly points out in Chapter 2 ("The Growth and Troubles Ahead"): "My priorities, my passion and my life have always been in the archive I was building. It was number one in my life; letting other, probably more important things, slide to number two. "I was a kid with a hobby, and I did not want to let it go. School should have been my number one priority, but instead I found it much more interesting to uncover a government secret than learn the formulas of geometry." As long-time FATE readers know, the original "UFO mystery" of the fifties has evolved into the political "UFO problem" of the 21st century. Accordingly, Greenewald's paperback companion to, and snapshot of, the Black Vault rightfully takes its place beside another classic -- journalist Mort Young's 1967 tome "UFO: Top Secret." In the course of his UFOlogical research, Young somehow had gained access to some files generated by the old USAF Project Blue Book (not a mean feat back in the mid-sixties). Of course, he realized, as does Greenewald today, that those files represent only the tip of the official UFOiceberg -- as epitomized by his closing observation: "Because all UFO material is supposedly available to the public, the field of inquiry is open to every citizen of the United States. Yet when the government is contacted and asked about UFO's, the knowledge gained is not about UFO's, but about how the government really operates day to day." Thus has Greenewald come full circle to Young's "Catch-22"-ish conclusion. (He even provides an appendix listing various federal agencies' FOIA points-of-contact for those who would dare follow in his FOIA-warrior footsteps.) His youthful journey may not match the polished prose of veteran reporter Young, but his continuing passion, stamina, and vision will help us all look into and "Beyond UFO Secrecy" (and any of its sequels) for answers too long denied us by the keepers of the Ultimate Secret.
When in the course of cosmic events a new generation of researchers descends upon the UFOlogy scene, it's time for old-timers like me to take formal notice, and to pass along at least part of the baton. Not a difficult task in the case of California's John Greenewald, Jr., who reached his 23rd birthday during the inaugural X-Conference on the weekend of April 17--18, 2004, near Washington, D. C. His presence there amidst mostly seasoned researchers, scholars, and UFOtruth-seekers added both some intellectual fresh air and a challenge for me to actually read his book Beyond UFO Secrecy. Had all attenders at this UFO-disclosure conference been given a copy of Greenewald's UFOIA (UFO Freedom of Information and Accountability) handbook upon their registration, they would've brought home a timeless road map to conferring and networking -- as well as to furthering the cause (aka CAUS) of ending the government cover-up of the UFO experience. So, in preparation for next year's event (X-Con II?), I'm offering this review as a primer for all researchers who've yet to adopt the book as their UFOIA field guide. Greenewald focuses this self-published tome on his exploits as the founding director -- circa 1996, at age 15 -- of an Internet web site aptly called "The Black Vault" (http://www.blackvault.com). He sprinkles (and comments upon) selected Freedom-of-Information-Act-acquired documents throughout the work to illustrate the endless stream of official UFOana awaiting the uninitiated reader. Once bathed in this teasing light of initiation, the reader cannot but beg for more (have you a sequel in the works, John?). The preponderance of that info-stream lies in the computer-scanned gigabytes of agency UFOlit archived upon blackvault.com -- some of it remaining truncated, to this day, by agency censors. In my own (overgrown) library of UFOlit, this volume sits right up there with several titles (e.g., "Clear Intent" -- 1984) that help answer the question "What would the government know about UFO reality were it to read its own UFO-related documents?" Right from his Introduction, the author sets the tone and scope for this instant classic in the annals of anti-UFO-secrecy literature: "As you can see from the table of contents, the book is laid out in two parts. The first part is how The Black Vault came to be. The second part is the research itself. Laid out by the agency, and is in the order of relevance for proving the massive cover-up." A key stimulant for the Black Vault project occurred on Sept. 19, 1976 (five years before Greenewald's birth) -- in, of all places, Iran. It consists of a FOIA-acquired UFO-sighting report from the U. S. Defense Intelligence Agency, detailing how two Iranian air force jet interceptors were outwitted by a huge UFO in the nighttime skies of Tehran. Greenewald proceeds in Chapter 7 to chronicle the history and aftermath of that seminal, though slightly censored, report. For me, the most intriguing part of Beyond UFO Secrecy lies in Chapter 10 ("It [the government's UFO-investigation program] Never Stopped"), especially the following passage quoted from the May 14, 2002, edition of USAF Manual 10-206; its Chapter 5 ("Communications Instructions [for] Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS)") amplifies/localizes the UFO-encounter reporting requirements/format published in the sporadically revised Army-Navy-Air Publication No. 146 (bearing the same title): "5.7.4. Make every effort to document sightings with as many photographs as possible. Send undeveloped film or prints and negatives, with a brief written report and other identifying information, to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Department of the Navy, Washington, DC 20305. The Department of the Navy will process the film and return one copy of each print and a roll of new film to the individual." Well, how about it, Mr. Greenewald: let's make sure someone's regularly FOIA-seeking some of those CIRVIS-generated photos from the Navy's own Deep-Black Vault of UFOlore! The author's eight-year-long quest for UFOtruth -- and for public acceptance of his labors -- has come at some intellectual expense, as he candidly points out in Chapter 2 ("The Growth and Troubles Ahead"): "My priorities, my passion and my life have always been in the archive I was building. It was number one in my life; letting other, probably more important things, slide to number two. "I was a kid with a hobby, and I did not want to let it go. School should have been my number one priority, but instead I found it much more interesting to uncover a government secret than learn the formulas of geometry." As long-time FATE readers know, the original "UFO mystery" of the fifties has evolved into the political "UFO problem" of the 21st century. Accordingly, Greenewald's paperback companion to, and snapshot of, the Black Vault rightfully takes its place beside another classic -- journalist Mort Young's 1967 tome "UFO: Top Secret." In the course of his UFOlogical research, Young somehow had gained access to some files generated by the old USAF Project Blue Book (not a mean feat back in the mid-sixties). Of course, he realized, as does Greenewald today, that those files represent only the tip of the official UFOiceberg -- as epitomized by his closing observation: "Because all UFO material is supposedly available to the public, the field of inquiry is open to every citizen of the United States. Yet when the government is contacted and asked about UFO's, the knowledge gained is not about UFO's, but about how the government really operates day to day." Thus has Greenewald come full circle to Young's "Catch-22"-ish conclusion. (He even provides an appendix listing various federal agencies' FOIA points-of-contact for those who would dare follow in his FOIA-warrior footsteps.) His youthful journey may not match the polished prose of veteran reporter Young, but his continuing passion, stamina, and vision will help us all look into and "Beyond UFO Secrecy" (and any of its sequels) for answers too long denied us by the keepers of the Ultimate Secret.
