The Black Vault is the largest privately operated repository of declassified government documents in the world — 3,838,797 pages as of 2026, all obtained through the Freedom of Information Act or other legal public information mechanisms. It was built by one person: John Greenewald Jr., who started filing FOIA requests at age 15 in 1996.
For UAP researchers, The Black Vault is an indispensable primary source archive. Greenewald has spent three decades systematically requesting documents from every US government agency — the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, DOD, DOE, NASA, NRO, and hundreds of others — and publishing every response, including denials, in full.
Key UAP Collections
- MJ-12 / Majestic-12 FBI Files: FBI files on the alleged members of MJ-12 and the FBI’s own file on the MJ-12 documents. Includes the agency’s investigation into the authenticity of the Eisenhower Briefing Document and related materials.
- FBI Paranormal Collection: FBI files obtained relating to paranormal phenomena — includes UAP-adjacent material, unexplained aerial events, and related investigations spanning decades.
- NRO / Spy Satellites Collection: Declassified materials on the National Reconnaissance Office and its satellite programs — the same infrastructure that researchers connect to the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office (NURO).
- CIA Historical Collection: Decades of CIA documents including materials relating to UAP investigations, Robertson Panel materials, and related Cold War intelligence programs.
- Department of War UAP Documents: Newly released in 2026, including the FOIA response on the Eglin AFB Gulf of Mexico incident and related materials.
- DOE FOIA Response: A recently released Freedom of Information Act response from the US Department of Energy on UAP-related matters — consistent with DOE’s documented role as the primary classification architecture for UAP programs.
The FOIA Battlefield
Greenewald’s work documents not just what the government has released but what it refuses to release. His March 2026 documentation of the Navy’s denial of 78 classified UAP photographs — despite Trump’s transparency order — is a primary legal record demonstrating the gap between public disclosure rhetoric and operational classification reality.
The Black Vault is available at theblackvault.com — the document archive is free to search and download. For UAP researchers, it is the starting point for any investigation requiring primary source documentation.
Source: theblackvault.com — founded 1996 by John Greenewald Jr. Current document count: 3,838,797 pages.