Affidavit of Eugene F. Yeates in Citizens Against Unidentified Flying Objects Secrecy v. National Security Agency

This document is an affidavit signed by Eugene F. Yeates, Chief of the Office of Policy at the National Security Agency (NSA), on September 30, 1980. It was submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of Citizens Against Unidentified Flying Objects Secrecy v. National Security Agency (Civil Action No. 80-1562). The affidavit serves to justify the NSA's decision to withhold records requested by the plaintiff under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Yeates explains that the NSA received four separate referrals from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regarding documents related to UFOs and UFO phenomena. The NSA determined that these records were exempt from release under various FOIA exemptions, primarily 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1) (classified information) and 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3) (information protected by statute, including 18 U.S.C. 798, 50 U.S.C. 403(d)(3), and Public Law 86-36). The affidavit details the NSA's mission as a signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency, specifically focusing on communications intelligence (COMINT). Yeates argues that the records in question are products of these COMINT activities. He asserts that releasing the records would identify the specific communications lines, channels, and systems targeted by the NSA, as well as the agency's processing techniques. Such disclosure, he contends, would allow foreign governments to take countermeasures, thereby defeating the NSA's intelligence-gathering capabilities and causing grave damage to national security. The document also addresses four non-COMINT records, noting that some were released with deletions to protect employee names or sensitive operational information, while others were found to be non-responsive to the plaintiff's request. Yeates concludes by stating that he has personally reviewed the withheld records and determined that they remain properly classified under Executive Order 12065.