How To File A FOIA Request

The FOIA Map Framework connects four facts before you submit a request: the event, the record type, the agency, and the search terms. The framework matters because agencies usually search their own systems. If you send a request about a Navy encounter to an office that never received the report, that office may properly respond that it found no records.

Use the framework in this order:

1. Event: Write down what happened, where it happened, and when it happened. Use a date range if you do not know the exact date. “An aerial observation near the Pacific training area from January 1 through March 31, 2022” gives an agency a usable starting point. 2. Record type: Identify the document or material you want. Examples include incident reports, safety reports, radar summaries, briefing slides, emails, video files, audio files, and records of communication with another office. 3. Agency: Select the federal agency or component most likely to possess the record. A military service may hold an operational report; an intelligence agency may hold an assessment; a civilian regulator may hold an air-traffic or safety record. 4. Search terms: List the words, abbreviations, location names, unit names, file labels, and date ranges that could appear in the records. Include both the current term “unidentified anomalous phenomena” and older terms such as “unidentified flying objects” when the time period supports both.

Ask yourself: could a records officer take this description and identify a database, mailbox, paper file, or electronic folder to search? If the answer is no, narrow the request before you file it.

You also need to understand the limits of FOIA. Any person, including a United States citizen, foreign resident, journalist, researcher, company, or organization, may submit a request. You do not need to prove personal involvement in the event. You generally do not need to explain why you want the records. However, the agency may withhold all or part of a record under one or more FOIA exemptions. A classified video may receive a denial or a redacted release; a public press statement may already be available and may not require a FOIA request.

The federal system adds another layer. FOIA applies to executive-branch agencies and certain federal offices, but it does not automatically cover Congress, federal courts, state agencies, local police departments, or private contractors. If a contractor created a video for a federal agency, the agency may possess a copy or may control the contract records, but FOIA does not turn the contractor itself into a federal agency. If a state police department handled the original report, use that state’s public-records law instead of federal FOIA.

A strong request also separates records from questions. “Did the agency determine that the object was extraterrestrial?” asks for an answer. “All final assessments, memoranda, and briefing materials addressing the origin or identification of the object” asks for existing records. The second form fits FOIA because it names record categories and a subject. Your practical takeaway: map the event to a record, map the record to an agency, and give that agency search terms it can actually use.

Applying the Map to a Specific Request

Consider a request for records about a reported object observed during a military exercise near the Atlantic coast between April 10 and April 12, 2021. The goal is not to ask the government whether the object was a UFO. The goal is to locate records that may document the observation, the response, or a later review.

1. Define the event. Write: “Records concerning aerial observations reported during the Atlantic training exercise conducted April 10-12, 2021, including observations made from aircraft, ships, or shore facilities.” This date range limits the search while allowing for records created shortly afterward. 2. Choose record categories. Request incident reports, mishap or safety reports, operational summaries, radar-related records, photographs, video, audio, emails, memoranda, briefing materials, and final assessments. List categories separately so the agency can evaluate each one. 3. Choose the first agency. If the event involved Navy aircraft or ships, start with the Department of the Navy component responsible for the relevant records. If the material concerns an intelligence assessment, submit a separate request to the intelligence agency that may hold that assessment. Do not assume one request reaches every agency. 4. Build search terms. Include “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” “unidentified flying object,” “UAP,” “UFO,” the exercise name, the location, the dates, and any known unit or aircraft identifiers. Spell out terms because older records may not use current language. 5. State the record boundary. Request records created from April 10, 2021, through December 31, 2021. This captures immediate reports and later reviews without opening an unlimited historical search. 6. Request electronic delivery. Ask for native electronic files when available, including original video, audio, and metadata. Metadata means information about a file, such as its creation date, modification date, or technical format. Ask the agency to release reasonably segregable portions, meaning nonexempt parts that it can separate from withheld material. 7. Submit through the correct channel. Use the agency’s official FOIA website or designated email address. Save the confirmation, tracking number, submitted text, attachments, and date of submission. These details establish the request’s record if you later need clarification or an administrative appeal.

A request written this way may produce several outcomes. The agency may locate records and release them, release redacted copies, refer part of the request to another agency, ask you to clarify the scope, or report that it found no responsive records. “No records” does not prove that no event occurred. It means the searched agency did not locate records matching the request under its search methods. You can then revise the agency choice, dates, record categories, or search terms.

Quick checklist

• Identify the event date, location, participants, and known operation name. - Separate questions from requests for existing records. - Name specific record types instead of requesting “everything.” - Select the agency component most likely to hold each record. - Include both current and historical UFO-related terms. - Set a reasonable creation-date range. - Ask for electronic files and reasonably segregable portions. - Save the request, confirmation, tracking number, and attachments. - Expect separate requests when separate agencies may hold separate records.

The practical test is simple: if an agency employee can read your request and know what systems, offices, and date ranges to search, your map is ready.

Mistakes That Distort a UFO Records Search

Sending one broad request to the entire federal government

FOIA does not operate as a single government-wide search box. Each agency processes requests for records in its own custody. A request sent to one department does not automatically search every military service, intelligence agency, or civilian office.

Do this: Divide the project by likely record holder. Send one focused request to the Navy for Navy records, another to an intelligence agency for intelligence records, and a separate request to a civilian aviation agency for air-traffic records.

Not this: “Send me every UFO record held by the federal government from 1947 to the present.”

The focused approach gives each agency a workable search and makes an incomplete response easier to identify.

Asking for an explanation instead of a record

An agency does not have to create an answer because a requester asks, “What was this object?” It may also reject a request that asks employees to conduct research or form a new opinion.

Do this: Request “final reports, assessments, memoranda, photographs, video, radar summaries, and correspondence concerning the identification of the object observed on [date].”

Not this: “Tell me whether the object came from another planet.”

The record-based wording preserves the question you care about while fitting the agency’s legal duty to search existing material.

Using only the newest terminology

Agencies may have created older records before they adopted “unidentified anomalous phenomena.” A search limited to “UAP” can miss records labeled “UFO,” “unidentified aerial object,” “unknown aircraft,” “aerial phenomenon,” or a local incident code.

Do this: List current and historical terms, then add the operation name, location, unit, aircraft, and date range. Explain that the terms describe the same subject for purposes of the search.

Not this: Assume a zero-result search proves that the agency has no related material.

If the response says “no responsive records,” compare the agency searched, the date range, and the terms you supplied. Then submit a narrower follow-up or a new request to a more likely records holder. A clean map does not guarantee release, but it shows whether the problem lies in the agency’s search, the wording, or a legal exemption.

FOIA works best when you approach it as a federal records system with defined boundaries. The subject may be unusual, but the mechanics remain concrete: identify the event, locate the likely custodian, describe existing records, and preserve every submission detail. That discipline gives your later requests a clear foundation and turns a broad UFO question into a searchable document trail.

End of chapter one. 7 more chapters in the full book.