Navy FOIA Release Reveals F/A-18 Pilot Briefed Senate Staff

Navy FOIA Release Reveals F/A-18 Pilot Briefed Senate Staff on Anomalous Aerial Vehicle Encounter

A partially redacted Navy FOIA response released to The Black Vault documents a classified January 2019 briefing in which an F/A-18 pilot from VFA-103 described an anomalous aerial vehicle detection event off the U.S. east coast to Senate Armed Services Committee staff — who pressed for details on the object's shape, radar detection, and the chain of custody of encounter video.

Published

September 18, 2026

Declassified

Date not listed

Source agency

The Black Vault (FOIA archive)

navyfoiaencounterpilotbriefedsenatestaffanomalous

Navy FOIA Letter Documents January 2019 SASC Pilot Briefing

Operations issued a FOIA/Privacy Act response letter dated April 5, 2022, addressed to John Greenewald of The Black Vault, assigning case number DON-NAVY-2022-001613. The letter answers a request originally dated November 17, 2021, which sought records — including videos, photos, emails, reports, and PowerPoint presentations — concerning a January 2019 briefing delivered by an F/A-18 pilot from VFA-103, stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to professional staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to the response letter, the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs identified one responsive document totaling four pages.

C. C. C.

§ 552(b)(6), covering personally identifiable information such as names, email addresses, and telephone numbers. The remainder was released. S.

east coast. The document carries classification markings including SECRET//NOFORN, a derived-from reference to "UAP SCG ID

04-030," and a declassification date of 20461231. The letter itself

Navy statement in this record. The central question this release raises is therefore narrow but consequential:…

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Based on the official release at https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/new-details-emerge-about-uap-encounter-briefing-breakdown/

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