In Camera Affadavit Yeates

myunclassifiedaffidavi~ alldocumentswhichh~vei CivilActionNo. CJi\qr!J"-'~ beginningofeachparagraphofthis totheplaintiff. UNITED STATESDISTRICTCOURT FOR THEDISTRICTOFCOLUMBIA Thisaffidavitsupplements Defendant. ~prseeK!.( ~herecords thisaffidavitincameraforthepurposeofs~atingfacts,which cannotbepubliclydisclosed,thatarethebasisforcxemptiny beenlocatedbyNSApursuanttoplaintiff'sFOIArequestbut whichhavebeenwithhe1d\~ho1lyorinpartbyNSA. executedonSeptember30,1980regarding capacity,anduponconclusionsreachedinaccordancetherewith. EugeneF.Yeates,beingdulysworn,deposesands~ys: affidavit,theletterorletterswithinparenthesesdesignat~(s) AFFIDAVITOFEUGENEF.YEATES thedegreeofsensitivityofinformationtb~paragraphcontains. 1.(U)I amtheChief,OfficeofPolicy,oftheNational personalreviewofinformationava abletomeinmyoffici~l totheFreedomofInformationAct(FOIA)forNSArecoras.The statementshereinarebaseduponpersonalknowledge,uponmy responsibleforprocessingallinitialrequestsmadepursuant SecurityAgency(NSA).AsChief,OfficeofPolicy,Iam CountyofAnneArundel NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, StateofMaryland CITIZENSAGAINSTUNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS SECRECY, Plaintiff, Thesymbols"(SC)"and~(TSC)"standfor "CODEWORD"referstooneofthedistinctivefive-letterwords theinformationisunclassifiedorisclassifiedCONFIDENTIAL, "SECRETCODE~iORD"and"TOPSECRETCODEWORD",'respectively. SECRETorTOPSECRET IiTheletters"U","C","s"and"TS"indicaterespectivelythat usedtoidentifythesourceoftheinformationascommunications intelligence(COMINT),todistinguishbetweenCOMINTcategories andsub-categories,andtofacilitatetheapplicationofregula- rltionsforthedisseminationanduseofCOMINT.~hecodeword 1\"UMBRA"appearinginconjunctionwiththeTOPSECRETclassifica- tionatthetopandbottomofeachpageofthisaffidavit,is ofplaintiff'sFOIArequest.Itisanaccountby aperson affidavit,waserroneouslytr~atedaspartofthesubjectmatter inNSAfiles.Seventy-nineofthesedocumentsoriginatedwith other9QvernmentagenciesandhavebeenreferredbyNSAto thoseagenciesfortheirdirectresponsetotheplaintiff. Onedocument,whichIaddressedinparagraph20cofmypublic channels,i.e.,disclosedonlytopersonseligibleto receiveCOMINTitself~ THERELEVANTDOCUMENTS '~.~Inprocessingtheplaintiff'sFOIArequest,a totaloftwohundredandthirty-ninedocumentswerelocated notrequirecodewordprotection,mustbekeptwithinCOMINT VIACOMINTCHANNELSONLY",isusedtodesignateinformation relatedtoCOMINTorCOMINTactivities,which,althoughitdoes appropriatetothehighestcategoryorsub-categoryofCOMINT towhichtheyrelate,eventhoughtheymaynotcontainCOMINT assuch.G'hesymbol"CCO",whichstandsforthecaveat"HANDLE thecodewordapplicabletoCategoryIII(thehighestcategory) COMIN~Documentsrevealingsensitivedetailsaboutthepro- ductionofCOMINTmustbeartheclassificationandcodeword assignedtoNSAofhisattendanceata UFOs~nposium~ndit AllofthetitleafterUFO,whichaddresses AdocumententitledUFOnypothesisandSur~ival inthisdocumentweremadeasfollows: affectsU.S.intelligencegatheringcapabilities,]Deletions inapilitytorespondcorrectlytosurprisinginformationor gencecommunitytoprocessthistypeofunusualdataadversely discusseswhatheconsiderstobeaseriousshortcominginthe Agency'sCOMINTinterceptionandreportingprocedures--~e entitledYFO'~randtheI~telliqenceC9J!munityBlindSpotto SurpriseorDeceptiveQata:]Inthisdocument,theauthor andadeletionofareferencetohisNSAcomponent. pagesevenofthenameoftheemployeewhopreparedthedraft Qy~stio~wasreleasedtotheplaintiffwitbthedeletionon releasedtotheplaintiffwiththeexemptedmaterialdeleted. Thedeletionsinthesedocumentsareexplainedbelow: plaintiff.Twoadditionalnon-COMINTrecordshavebeen publicaffiqavit,wasrecentlydeclassifiedandreleasedto' cannotfairlybesaidtobearecordofthekindsoughtbythe plaintiff.Anotherdocument,discussedinparagraph~Odofmy theperceivedshortcoming,andallofparagraphone,whichi Iidiscusses~eemployee'spe<ceptionofthenegativeimplication!]I IIdeliberatelydeceptivedata]HeusestheUFOphenomenato "illustratehisbeliefthattheinabilityoftheU.S.intelli- I;d~scussedinparagraph20bofmypublicaffidavit. criticalAgencymissionwillofnecessitycomefromwithin. employeerunsifsubsequentlyfoundwrong.Thus,thismatter Publicdisclosureofsuchinformation,especiallywhenit mattersspecificallyexemptedfromdisclosurebyanotherstatute. Asnotedinparagraph20,sub-paragraphbofmypublicaffidavit, 5.U.S.C.S552(b)(3)whichexemptsfromreleaseundertheFOIA thus,isexemptfromdisclosurepursuantto5U.S.C.5552(b)(l). Thematerialinthisparagraphalsoconcernstheorganization andoperationalactivitiesandfunctionsofNSAGiirectedagains!j Thismaterialisexemptfromdisclosureuncer (2)Paragrriphthre~ofthisdocumentusesasignals intelligenceoperation insiJtoillustrate the~uthor'spoint.Thisparagraphcontainsinformationabou~ SIGINTactivitiesthatiscurrentlyandproperlyclassifiedand, wasdeletedpursuantto5U.S.C.552(b)(5). advancesanoveltheory,couldhavetheeffectofstiflingsuch candorbytheriskofdiminutiOnofprofessionalstandingthe especiallyinanintelligenceAgencywherethemostmeaningful suggestionsregardingwaystopromotetheefficiencyofthe ofthehandlingofUFOphenomenauSitdemonstrateswhathe believe,sistherIessthanoptimumabilityoftheintelligence. \ communitytoprocessandevaluatehighlyunusualdat~AsI statedinmtpublicaffidavit(paragraph20b),thetypeof candorthatisreflectedinthisrecordmustbeencouraged PublicLaw86-36pr.ovidesthatnolawshallbeconstruedto 'Irequiredisclosureoftheorg,mizationoranyfunctionofthe NSAoranyinformationwithrespecttoactivitiesthereof. (3)Paragraphfourofthememorandumstatesthe oftheabilityoftheAgencyemployeestodealwithunusual phenomenaitisnotresponsivetothepluintiff'srequest \'lhileittalkS I;conclusionsandrecommendationsoftheauthor. regardingUFOorUFOphenomena.I~anyevent,asIstatedin mypublicaffidavit(paragraph20b),thesubjectm~tte~of I~thatparag~aPh.Lsexemptfro~disclosurebecauseitcontainsthe employee's'specificreccmmendacLonsforaddressj.ngtheproblemof respondingtosurprisematerial. Forthereasonsstatedin Forpurpo~esofmy CorUNTREPOR'rs ThefinaldeletionisinappendixA,paragraph10 Onehundredandfifteenofthesereportswere anyreferencetoUFOorUFOphenomenaandis,therefore, report.Thissectiontalks~boutdeceptivecommunications usedbiJtheVietnameseagainstU.s.forcesanddoesnot by~heoignalsintelligenceorg~nization 1111....~heseCOMINTreportsareprovidedtoNS~ baseduponthesourceofthereport. whichwereproducedbetween1956and1979. discussionhere,theserecordsareorganizedintothreegroups request,itisexemptfromdisclosurepursuantto5U.S.C.552 notresponsivetoplaintiff'srequest.NonethelessthesubjectI matterofsub-paragraph10iscurrentlyandproperlyclassified.1 '.i.'hus,evenifitwer edeemedtobewithinthescopeofPlaintiff,::;l i.sub-paragraph(1)above,theserecommendat.Lcnsareexemptfrom jidisclosurepursuantto5U.S.C.552(b)(5).Onespecificrecom- I!mendationsuggestsanoperationalapproachtosolvingtheproblem I:whichrevealsNSAactivitiesandis,therefore,exem~tfrom 1\disclosurepursuantto5U.S.C.552(b)(3)aseXPlai~edabove. I;.;'".tactl.CS j;5.~'l'heremainingonehundredandfifty-sixrecor d s ;:beingwithheldarecommunicationsintelligence(COMINT)reports j'(1)Twooftherecordsatissueherewereprcduce~I i'l::;s~eme::Slt~.:[The~po,t"om;:,'1 If/ asprovidedtoNS~..772mpL b.TwooftheseCO~INTreportsoriginatc9from inexchangeforthesharingoftechnologyandCOl-lIN'l'inrormtltion. c.Theremaining,thirty-nineCO~IIN'rqo.cumentswe r e producedbyNS/\orrelatetoNSASIGINToperations.Thatis, thesereportsoriginated'atliSAitselfoiinfieldsitesunder theoperationalandtechnicalcontrolofNSA. 6.(U)AlloftheCOMINTreportsareineithermessageor summaryformat.Areportinmessageformatcontainsasingle underlyingcommunicationpres~ntedinaclassiccableformat, i.e.,theverbatimtextoftheparticulartransmission,preceded andfollowedby"extcrrials"consistingof:dataaboutthecendec providesinsummaryformthecontentsofasinglemessageor asmallnumberofrelatedinterceptedcommun Lca.tLons,often accompaniedbysome'technic"lldatu. 7.~onehundredandfifty-fouroftheonehundred andfifty-siy.COMINTreportsarebased\~holiyuponintercepted /\summary,asthelabelsuggests,othertechnicalinformation. iandtherecipient;thedatesandtimesoftransmission;and communicationsofforeigngovernmentstransmittedonnon-public cO~Runicationsfacilitieuinmypublic Theotherrecordwhichisnot~a9C~ oninterceptedcommunications,froiJ"gOvernme~tne!',i [facilities, on~lEeport,insummazy iformat,wasproduceu-b~"II. l~romtheinterceptecicommunicationsbetweentH0 I~ircraftsanda9foundcontrolleri~JtIIIf I:U971hi1-1F1~e-...reporta"phenomena" IintheskynorthoilF.frhre~eportsare \1aummarde s0il_GessagesinterceptedfroEl). I o~munications.Themessages.weretransmittedfrolii] I'-..-r:STlOi_I k~l!.adaroperatorstoacentralcontrolstation.InthestLJ Ii~I;essages,th~&eratorsreporteverythingthat "appearsontheirradarl;jcreens-.t'1hentheycannotidentifya ,:particularobject,theyreportitasanunidentifiableobject. 1\unidentified !b.~'l:_Hep'ortslihichT?rgetthe] 1\~ommunica~ionsSystemoiT ~tinchundredan~ninedocumentsinsummary~orm:~rreport I'oninterceptedcommunicationsbetween_raelar j:operatorsandacentralcontrolpoint.Thesesummariesarc r,similartothereportsdes c rLbedinSUb-po/Cl9raphaabovearidJ !0::;;adescriptionofanincidentpurportedtohavebeon Le a rned\ IfromU.S.interceptionandanalysis I~ommunicatiohs:.1, I;8.G"'~heC01HNTreportsoriginatedbV~:1iI7'1. Ii~anbe'furtherdescribedintermsof r:sourcesandintelli9:nce~argetsasfOl~o~siJ iia.I?mEr,ElFCOMIN'rReportstvhich-' l:_TargetCommunicationsTr.ansmitteelon] Ii!TIunicationsF~cilities. ommunications unformationpertainingtotheradarI ofobjects0...n---:1-11..-s--r-a-=di"rscreen'whichhoI &ommande~regardinga.yellowobjebtthat c.JIIIIIIIIIIIIICOMINTReportWhichTargets] ~ommunications.Thisdocumentisa sub-paragraphs(a)and(b)above~ d.~OMINTReportWhichTarqets] TRlcommunic:ations.Thissummarywasprepared 0tcontainsa wasreportedtohavefallenintotile-sea,Thesemessages weretransmittedalong~overnmentne~"l!acility.J summaryofinterceptedmessagespreparedin1976whichreport] rad~T aCkinginformationfrom~"""'~a~;stationtoa centralcontrolpoint.Itissimilar.tothereportsdescribed /ioperator'sreport Iiin1966bi) 1\summaryofinterceptedcommunicationswhichweretransmitted Iibetweenthe i .of.[ThetW<;lreportswe r e producedfromJfie~'fiitewhichi~(2peratedbythe C:!hereports Therelevantactivityreporteddeals Oneofthetworeportsisafollow-up were.preparedin1966andcontainsummariesothecommunica- tionstransmittedbi1~adaroperatorsasdiscussedin I~sub-paragraphb,above. Iireporttotheother. :'withthetrackingofanobjectapproximntely.50nautLcaL l'~ilesnortheastoil~Gy i:l!acility.As,,,iththemessagesdescribedabove,thesecmlINT Ereportsaresummariesofth essagesJ ~. :rigi~a:edreDort~-Thirty-eightdocu~ents Thesedocumentscnnbe purportedUFOzightingbiJlllllllll, '.>iu,ri",'jITUX"'" ThedocumentuescribingSIG!NToperations b.Onerecordisa1973reportwhichsummarizes 1'..IUI&essa9.etransmitted) Cfromthj factualcircumstancesoftheincidentrepo~teainthisrecord werereceivedbyNSAfromranFon!,requesterotherthanthe' /pl tiffandareconsideredtobefictitiousbyNSAanalysts. i;~rethedirectprcd~ctofNSASIGINToperationsandonedocument ~,describesclassifiedSIGINTacti~ities. I.[3.nallegedinterceptoijIJi!S.ommunic;;J.tions. ':furtherdes6ribedQSfollows: Twodocumentsreportoncommunications communicat.ions. formatandreportthe~"II,,"""II" Twooftherecordsare~n.~essa?e, Iitionswhichrelatethatanunidentifiedflyingobject:::munica- Isightedintheairby anit.Onereport \;containsasummaryof_activitybaseduponcommunica- I;tionsinreactiontoanunidentifiedflyingobjectalongthe transmittedbetween. I~c.TwelveNSA-originatedCOMINTreportstarget thecommunicationslinksandsystemsof Twodocuments,insummaryformat,reportthe~ ..;,t.~..horeportvisualobservationsofluminousspheres.One isasummaryofatransmission fourdocumentsinthisgroupoftwelvewereinterceptedfrom other. communicationstargets.Onedocumentisbased ontheintercei?tedtransmission-of"a:; reportingabrightlight.Thesecondrecordisbasedonthe i'interceptofatransmissionofanto I:a~stationseekingareportonanyshiningphenomenaor Thethirdand Allfiveofthese reportingobserva- basedoninterceptedcommunicationst,ansmittedI tionsofluminousobjectsinthesky. fourthreportsareasummariesofon-goingdebatesonUFOsamong fallingmeteoritesobservedonspecifieddates. Il~tl~g!!tji J:>i? 2tl1Zii:;lIfi ME~]1if if.~i~Ri2~i~t', " "e.FourNSA-originatedCOMINTreportstarget -:Ij~communicationslinksorsystems.Three'reportsarein summaryformrtandarebasedonaninterceptedmessage~trans. ~reportinganunidentif.i flyingobject::.:..:e.r highaltitude; aninterceptedmessagetransmittedfrom........11'1t \:rT'.reportingthatanunidentifiedflyingobjectwithtwo \ ,li9htS"ha:dpassedover_andanintercepteo i,.~oicJmessagetransmittedtos&.'_nfacilitybya \.ns...'-who:reportedanunidentifiedflying (tworeportsbased (tworeportsbasedoncommunica- in reportinganobjectthatappeared communicationsbetweentwoan~ anuni~entif1'e-d~i:ilonJint..hich.:~reported sightingsofbrightorlightspots),(areport"based j:tionsof. .andanunidentifiedsenc1erreporting I:sightingsofaUFO),.... \, oncommunicationsby1reportingunidentified \:flyingobjects),7.7'.(areportbasedon amessagefroma Ii_toanunidentifiedreceiverin~ li--reportingasightingofunidentifiedflyingobject"s}, I:..(areportfroman..,.r.SUMO>i.tothe_ l:tobearocketover Lobject.Thefourthreportisbaseduponamessagebet\:/eenl?I ' .unitsregardingaUFOsightincr~ ~.f.'SixteenNSA-originatedCOMINTreportstarget I!.,.~he'bovernment,net:tcomDlu~:,~ations:~ystemsandlin~:'Of r:a,e'/eraldifferentcountrie.~.Thisgroupcontainssummaries 1:ofinterceptedtransmissionsbet\'1een.... Eachreport reportingan thesighHng" (areportbaseduponatrans-. frominterceptedtransmissions aircraftby~Crada~ Onedocumentinsummaryformat transmissionreportingthesightingofanelongated EXEMPTIONOFTHECOMINTREPORTS '-iE,6)Pprimaryandoftenoverridingconsideration reportingthetrackingofunidentified (areportbasedon amessagefrom'-'toana~unidentified reportingasightingofanunidentifiedflyingobject),~ missionbetween_reportingthatsome.. :>awaballoflightaboutthesizeofanorangemovingoverhead). !ionatr.nsm~s~o:fro~:-: ;;;":itt~- I,recipientwhli.chprovidedinstructionsforreporting j1offlyingobjects),and I:OnedocumentinsummaryformatistheproductofaninteI;cepted I!balloffire.Onedocumentinmessageformatreportsthetext I:ofa_messagesentbythe. l:....tothe' Ilunidentifiedflyingobject. i:reportsth~text i"whichwastransmitted&lOngaUgovernmentne~facility. 1:Itreports,amongotheritems,-:nincreaseinUFOact~ity. I~Thelastthreedocumentsinthisgroupreportonintercepted I:communicationsof ::containsinformation'derived noperators. I.regardingtheclassificationofCmlIN'rreportsisthattheneed thecontentsofCOMINTreportsmaybedisclosed,where,ashere, underlyinginterceptedmessage$.Nevertheless,noportionof greaterthantheneedtoprotectsensitivecontentsofthe revealingtheinformationwouldhavetheeffectofidentifying IItoprotectcommunicationsintelligencesourcesandmethodsis orthetargetcommunicat6rsthespecificcommunicationsthathad beenintercep~edandexp1oLted.Onehundredandfifty-fourof theCONINTreportsbeing\'lithheldaretheproductofintercept operationsdirectedagainst_foreign'governmentcontrorl contentsofthesercports\~ould}i;is'closethe targetthes!1~vernme.nt'controlle~om- Evenwherethe.underlyingcommunIca- ccmmunLcatLcrlssystemswithintheirterritorialboundarLe s , ;c:evea:l.ngthe I;capabilityofNSAto municationsystems. hadbeenintercepted,orproces~ingbyNSA.Moreover,the disclosureofthesereportswouldrevealmuchmorethanthe identityofthetargetedcommunicationssystems.,It\~ould communication~sourcesinvolvedin11. a)Disclosure'ofthereportdiSCUSsedinparagraph9b wouldinfor~.II'lmU:hattheir communicationsb~nternationatcommon'carrie~acilitiesJ "1I1I anbeinterceptedandselected outbyNSA,and,evenmoreimportantly,thatth~ I:thiscase--whicharespecifiedorimplicitlyidentifiedin ItheCO!'lINTreportsbeing\dthheldbyNS~--L,E-rethes~urC'e:of"I Iextremel~valuable.communications'illt~ligencecoveringabroad'.. l~rangeofkindsofinformationfro~e&ndothe~ ~ctiViti~still'gl~n~Glatter.s.J,,! :meleaseofthesedocume n c swouldseriouslydamagetheabilityof ntheUnitedStates~ogatherthisvital"intelligenceinformation forthefollowingreasons: ta.rnufneat issuehere,basedonmessagestransmitt~d~;ia internationalcommonaccesscarrierfacilitii. OUldalsoreveal thisAgency'scapacItiJ:oselectfromsuchinterceptedcommuni- cc~tionsthosemessageshavingpotenti~lintelligencevalue. imore,revealingtheNSi\interceptcper ati.on<:!.g<lin:::;ll~e"in::eJi:1a- I:tionalcommo~accesscarrierrout.~Ghi':hyielded,th~ !:'-fessagecould:ause~;leunitedsrateztoloseacce s s i:tothecommunication.:;oiJ~herforeigngovernmentswhousetlElt isamecommunicationsrOllt~ (c)AsIh~vestatedinmyopenaffidavit,whenale~ted totheextentofNS~'scapabilit