Cash-Landrum Incident -- FOIA Requests and Classified Programs: The Document Hunt
Cash-Landrum Incident -- FOIA Requests and Classified Programs: The Document Hunt
The Freedom of Information Act and UFO Cases
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1966 and strengthened in 1974, gives citizens the legal right to request government records. For UFO research, FOIA has been one of the primary tools for discovering what the government actually knows and has documented.
Schuessler and attorney Peter Gersten filed FOIA requests with multiple agencies in connection with the Cash-Landrum investigation. The responses illuminate both what was disclosed and -- more tellingly -- what was withheld.
The Requests and Responses
| Agency Requested | Response | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Army | Denied records of helicopter operations in FM 1485 area December 29, 1980 | Comprehensive denial; no responsive documents |
| U.S. Air Force | Denied records of any aircraft operations in the area | Comprehensive denial |
| National Security Agency (NSA) | Standard response; no responsive documents for the specific inquiry | NSA had previously been shown to have significant UFO-related records through Gersten's earlier litigation |
| Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) | No responsive documents | Standard denial |
| Department of Energy (AEC successor) | No responsive documents related to nuclear-powered aircraft in the area | Relevant given the nuclear propulsion hypothesis |
The Classified Program Exemptions
FOIA contains multiple exemptions that agencies use to withhold sensitive information. The most relevant to a classified military operation:
- Exemption 1: Information properly classified in the interest of national security
- Exemption 3: Information specifically exempted by statute (several intelligence statutes exempt entire categories of records)
A classified military program could withhold virtually any responsive document under Exemption 1. An agency can also state "we have no responsive documents" if the relevant records are held by a separate classified program office with its own restricted access.
What "No Responsive Documents" Really Means
In FOIA practice, "no responsive documents" does not mean "this did not happen." It means:
- The specific office receiving the FOIA request has no relevant records
- Relevant records may exist elsewhere in the classified system
- Records may have been transferred to a classified archive not covered by the standard FOIA response process
- Records may have been deliberately destroyed
For a classified special access program (SAP), the records would typically be held in a compartmented facility with restricted access that operates outside the standard agency FOIA process. A FOIA request to the Army's general records system would not reach a SAP's specific records -- even if those records documented the Cash-Landrum helicopters.
