This listing of government file folder headings represents 25 years of research into official interest in the UFO phenomena. The great majority of them are the result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) actions against official agencies in the U.S., and by similar legal actions abroad.

      The folders are generally listed by agency or by major topic. There is not a system in place yet to properly list individual documents. There are many problems in doing this.

      The contents are varied and often difficult to classify. In combing such records, one finds that single releases on specific incidents can include: administrative paperwork on how the information was handled; related and unrelated records coming from different agencies other than the one being queried; undated documents; difficult, if not impossible to read, copy; plain copy documents with no attribution; and handwritten notes out of context. Many of the documents contain partial censorship as well.

      Severe cross-referencing problems exist as well. Some documents allude to many other incidents, people or places. To place materials in their proper context might mean removing them from the context of their original releases. Retaining the context might mean making many copies of the same document for different files. This would eat up available space for researchers with limited storage.

      The information was assembled at significant cost: thousands of dollars and hours. These folders are the background documentation for the book, CLEAR INTENT, co-authored with Lawrence Fawcett and the organizational files for Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS) from 1984 through 1998. A substantial portion of the records are copies, and sometimes originals, of data acquired by researcher Robert Todd of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, who has had a huge impact on public knowledge of government UFO investigations from the mid-1970s until the late-1990s. Todd's legacy on this issue cannot be understated. Through his intricate knowledge of government agencies and their activities, he was able to pave the way to unearth more important records on this subject than any other investigator. In more recent times, another researcher, Jan Aldrich, has plowed a path through government records by personally visiting government file collections and unearthing documentation directly, rather than working through FOIA. His contributions to the subject are also reflected in these folders.

      Many others have contributed to such record holdings. We hope to feature their inventories in the near future.

      Barry Greenwood