[Requester name, organization, address, email, phone]
[Date]
[Agency] FOIA / Mandatory Declassification Review Office [Address / portal]
Re: Freedom of Information Act request [and, in the alternative or in parallel, Mandatory Declassification Review request] for directives, legal opinions, and classification guidance concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena
Dear FOIA Officer:
Under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. §552, I request copies of the following records. [For MDR: Under section 3.5 of Executive Order 13526, I request declassification review of the records described in items 1 through 5.]
Definitions. “UAP” means unidentified anomalous phenomena as defined in 50 U.S.C. §3373(n)(8) and includes the terms “unidentified aerial phenomena,” “unidentified aerospace phenomena,” “unidentified flying objects,” “UFO,” “UAP,” “flying saucers,” “flying discs,” “anomalous,” “non-human intelligence,” “NHI,” “technologies of unknown origin,” and “biological evidence of non-human intelligence.” “Directive” includes any executive order, national security directive of any series (including NSAM, NSDM, PD, NSDD, NSD, PDD, NSPD, HSPD, PPD, NSPM, and NSM), presidential memorandum, presidential finding, memorandum of notification, and any instruction from the Executive Office of the President.
Records requested.
- Any directive, in the form received by or transmitted to [agency], that addresses UAP, including the reporting, investigation, collection, retrieval, storage, analysis, or exploitation of UAP or of materials or technology associated with UAP, from January 1, 1947 to the date of the search.
- Any implementing instruction, memorandum, or guidance issued by [agency] under a directive described in item 1.
- Any opinion, memorandum, or letter of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel received by [agency] concerning UAP, concerning the authority to withhold UAP-related information from Congress, or concerning the application of 50 U.S.C. §3373b, Pub. L. No. 118-31, §1687, or Pub. L. No. 118-31, §§1841-1843.
- Every security classification guide, classification matrix, or portion of a guide that addresses UAP, including any guide identified in response to the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act’s requirement that AARO account for UAP-related classification guides.
- Records sufficient to show the title, number, date, and originating office of each item responsive to items 1 through 4 that [agency] withholds in full. 5A. Specific instruments, to the extent they exist and are held by [agency]:
(a) the “classified policy parameters” for responding to unidentified aerial objects that the President described on February 16, 2023, in the form received by [agency];
(b) the “UAP Security Classification Guide” referenced in the Joint Staff J3 GENADMIN of May 19, 2023 (DoD FOIA 24-F-0067), and any successor guide;
(c) any memorandum establishing or terminating the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) or establishing AARO; and
(d) any directive or memorandum governing the handling of disclosures received under 50 U.S.C. §3373b.
- [Historical:] All editions and changes of JANAP 146 (Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings), AFR 200-2, and AFR 80-17, and any successor instruction governing reports of UAP.
Search. Please search the record systems of [components], including email, classified networks, SAP and controlled-access program repositories, and records retired to federal records centers, and please use the terms in the Definitions paragraph, including the abbreviations UAP and UFO. Please identify the record systems searched and the search terms used in your response. See Slaughter, 2026 WL 571249, at *4.
Official acknowledgment. The following have been officially acknowledged and cannot properly be the subject of a refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records: [list statutes, AARO reports, sworn testimony of officials, PURSUE releases relevant to the agency]. See ACLU v. CIA, 710 F.3d 422 (D.C. Cir. 2013).
Presidential communications privilege. To the extent [agency] holds a directive that was transmitted to it for implementation, the presidential communications privilege does not apply. Center for Effective Gov’t v. U.S. Dep’t of State, 7 F. Supp. 3d 16 (D.D.C. 2013).
Segregability. Please release all reasonably segregable non-exempt portions, including titles, dates, and distribution lists, and identify the exemption claimed for each redaction.
Fees. I request [news media / educational / public interest] fee status and a fee waiver under 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(A)(iii). Disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations of the government because [explain: publication on nhilaw.com or other outlet; analysis; no commercial interest]. If fees are assessed, please notify me before incurring more than $[amount].
Expedited processing. [If applicable: I request expedited processing under 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(E) because there is an urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged federal government activity, as shown by [current congressional action on the UAP Disclosure Act, the PURSUE program, and related hearings], and I am primarily engaged in disseminating information. I certify that this statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.]
Please send records electronically to [email]. Thank you.
Sincerely, [Name]
