The Federal Aviation Administration And UFO's
Part 1
The US Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the United ’States airspace and
civilian flight regulation body. Their responsibilities include the management
of national airspace, air traffic control services and flight safety promotion.
The FAA’s mission also includes an interoperable role with the United States
Air Force (USAF) and North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) to assist
in atmospheric air defence and military flying activity. For example, primary
radar coverage of the USA is partly achieved by the joint FAA-USAF Joint
Surveillance System (JSS). The most important component of that system is the Air
Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR) network which is capable of detecting and
tracking any sizable body in US airspace and somewhat beyond. Raw radar data
from long-range radar sites is instantly fed to FAA and USAF sites to build up
a wider “recognised air picture” of exactly what is in the American skies at
any given time.
Despite this awesome capability, the
FAA, apparently, does not deal with “Unidentified Flying Objects” (UFOs).
Dozens of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted to the FAA, over
the last thirty or so years, have yielded almost nothing of substance. There
are only a couple of FAA publications that mention UFO’s. One is the “Federal Aviation Aeronautical Information
Manual, Official Guide to Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures”,
often simply called the “AIM”. The latest version of the AIM was promulgated on
the 10th of December, 2015. John Greenwald, owner of “The Black Vault” website,
was probably the most recent FOIA requester to be furnished with a copy of the
relevant pages that mention UFO’s. Researcher Alejandro Rojas recently
discussed this matter with John Greenwald, and the story can be seen here. Briefly, the above mentioned FAA manual
states, in Section 7−6−4, states:
“a.
Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomena activity should contact a
UFO/unexplained phenomena reporting data collection center, such as the
National UFO Reporting Center, etc.
b.
If concern is expressed that life or property might be endangered, report the
activity to the local law enforcement department.”
This has to be one more puerile pieces
of officially sanctioned guidance I have seen. Flight crews do still report UFO’s
and other aerial oddities, but they seem to have nothing better to fall back
on, at least where the FAA is concerned. One could argue about this topic ceaselessly,
but it’s an old story, and nothing has changed one way, or another. Another FAA
publication, titled “JO 7110.65W Air
Traffic Organization Policy”, last published on the 26th of May, 2016, has
exactly the same short entry on UFO’s as the above detailed AIM manual.
In Greenwald’s original FOI request,
dated April 12th, 2016, he asked for copies of:
“…records,
electronic or otherwise, of ALL FAA manuals, regulations and publications -
that deal with, or mention, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and/or
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and/or Unexplained Phenomena, and/or any other
derivative that may be used the your agency. This would include, but not be
limited to, all manuals, publications and/or instructions that pertain to pilots
(commercial or otherwise), Air Traffic Controllers, or employees of the FAA.”
It should have been fairly clear to the
FAA that Greenwald’s request should have covered unknown or unidentified
aircraft that are detected and tracked on primary radar networks. This happens
all the time. Aircraft without their International Friend or Foe (IFF) function
switched on are common. Then there are balloons, many unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV), and anything else that is IFF-quiet or unable to communicate by radio. In
fact, everything is a UFO – that is “Unidentified
Flying Object” – until it is positively identified. The FAA must, therefore,
have gigantic quantities of information on “UFOs”. There would be policy and
plans materials, actual radar imaging, reports and briefs relating to unknown
aircraft crossing international boarders, training manuals for ATC’s, and
myriad other records that deal with what the FAA’s role is in processing
unidentified aircraft. So, what Greenwald was furnished with is almost irrelevant
in the scheme of things. The staff handling the request must have decided that
he solely meant “UFO” and “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and/or Unexplained
Phenomena” to be of the media-induced, kooky “flying saucer” variety. However,
it is also the issue, on a serious level, that no one, especially the FAA,
wants to discuss. Billy Cox, who writes most entertainingly in his De Void
blog, calls this caper “the great taboo”.
So if “UFO” and “Unidentified Aerial
Phenomena and/or Unexplained Phenomena” are not on the FAA’s books, then “unidentified”
aircraft, “unknown” radar tracks, etc certainly must be.
And now I am attempting, in a series of reports, to somehow lift the lid
on this issue.
An FAA Order, titled “7610.4J Special Military Operations”, put
into effect on November the 3erd, 1998, contains information that may one day
lead us to significant aircraft identification records. Chapter 5, titled “Aircraft
Movement Information Service” (AMIS) is worth a general glance, but it is section
8, titled “Violations of ADIZ Regulations”, that may point to a cache of FAA records
which would relate directly to unknown and unidentified aircraft. Section 8 is
itself divided into sub-sections. Thus, for example, chapter 5, section 8,
sub-section 1, is written “5-8-1”.
Chapters 5-8-1 through to 5-8-4 of “7610.4J Special Military Operations” discusses
the sharing of data between the FAA and NORAD when an “unknown radar track” appears
on dedicated primary radar systems. Also shared is information on known flight
activity and attempts at aircraft identification. When NORAD orders USAF combat
aircraft to intercept the object is causing the “unknown radar track”, FAA
controllers are part of the process, and are required to fill out either Part A
or Part B of a special form. The form is called an “AMIS Unknown/Intercept Log”,
as we shall see.
Chapter 5-8-5, titled “Aircraft Identification
Before Intercept”, states:
“AMIS
controllers shall complete Part A of the AMIS Unknown/Intercept Log (FIG 5-8-1)
when an unknown radar track is reported by NORAD air defense facilities and the
aircraft is identified before intercept. Each Unknown/Intercept Log shall be numbered
consecutively for each calendar year.”
Chapter 5-8-6, titled “Aircraft Identification After
Intercept”, states:
“AMIS
controllers shall complete Part B of the Unknown/Intercept Log when an unknown
radar track was intercepted to identify the aircraft.”
So, this is simply saying that when
NORAD send combat jets to identify a target, the FAA Air Traffic Controllers
will be part of the tracking and communications process, and will fill out a “AMIS
Unknown/Intercept Log”. If the unknown/unidentified aircraft or object is somehow
identified before the jets chase it
down, Part A of the log form will be filled out. If the unknown/unidentified
aircraft or object is only identified after
the jets get there, then Part B is filled out. This raises some very relevant questions.
How often do NORAD controlled USAF jets have to do this? What sort of unknowns
vanish before intercept occurs? What sort of things have they identified upon
arrival? Are they all simply
unannounced or distressed aircraft that have lost the ability to communicate?
Or are other oddities sometimes seen? Below is relevant page from the above
detailed FAA publication.
The “7610.4J
Special Military Operations” provides a copy of the “AMIS Unknown/Intercept
Log”. It is designated “Figure 5-8-1”. For unknown/unidentified aircraft or objects,
Part A is titled “Unknown” and FAA staff can fill out the blocks one would predicably
expect on a form such as this. There are sections for “Time”, “Coordinates”, “Heading”,
etc. Of note are sections titled “Possible Identification” and “Remarks”. There
are also blocks for “Reason Unknown” which give examples that staff would
circle like “Late Flight Plan” and “Pilot Error”. There is also an “Other
(Specify)” section. Part B contains more technical sections that are, as
explained above, relate to a successful identification after jets get to the
offending unknown. The “AMIS Unknown/Intercept Log” is imaged below.
The above discussed publication is from
1998. What about a current example? Indeed, there is a much more recent version
now available, but only in redacted form. My college David Charmichael had it
furnished to him under the FOI Act in December, 2015. It is titled “JO 7610.4JS Special Operations”, which
is very similar to the title of the 1998 version. It was published on April the
3erd, 2014. The chapter layout has changed though. Chapter 5, section 8, is now
chapter 5, section 5. The contents, despite being heavily redacted, appear to
be similar to the old version, as we can see below.
Likewise, the “Unknown/Intercept
Log”, now designated as “Figure 5-5-1”, is similar to the old form, but with
heavy redactions. Also, the name of the form has now, apparently, changed to “AAMS Unknown/Intercept Log”. In FAA language, “AAMS” stands for “Area Airspace Management System ”. The redactions are in place due to the material apparently
being exempt from public release under 5 U.S.C 552(b)(7)(E) which:
“…protects
from disclosure information which would reveal techniques and procedures for
law enforcement investigations or prosecutions or that would disclose
guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if disclosure of
the information could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.”
Below is the current, redacted version
of the “AAMS Unknown/Intercept Log”.
Of course, none of this is proof that
UFO’s – above and beyond unknown or unidentified aircraft and the like – are
being routinely detected on combined NORAD and FAA systems. Having said that, examples
of these FAA Unknown/Intercept forms have never been released, to my knowledge at
least, and we simply do not know what has been hurriedly scrawled on to them
during tense detection, tracking and interception events. Maybe we will one day know. Part 2 coming soon.