Our colleagues in the Special Media Services Division recently announced on their blog “Media Matters” the declassification of nearly 200 new items.  Follow the link below for a listing of the new releases.

http://blogs.archives.gov/mediamatters/2013/01/11/declassified-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/

Today, the Public Interest Declassification Board released online its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  The full Report can be found at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/recommendations/transforming-classification.html.  The report centers on the need for new policies for classifying information, new processes for declassifying information, and the imperative for using and integrating technology into these processes.  In advance of today’s release, the Board publicized some of its recommendations on its blog Transforming Classification.  A public release event is taking place today at the National Archives to discuss the report with current Board members.

The Public Interest Declassification Board will host an open meeting on Thursday, December 6, 2012 to discuss its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  The full Report to the President will be published online on December 6th at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb.  The meeting will focus on the Board’s fourteen recommendations.  The recommendations center on the need for new policies for classifying information, new processes for declassifying information, and the imperative for using and integrating technology into these processes.  Press and media are welcome to attend.

 When: December 6, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Doors Open: 8:45 a.m.

Where: The Archivist’s Reception Room, Room 105 in the National Archives Building

Address: 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

            (Note:  Attendees must enter through the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance.)

 RSVP: pidb@nara.gov

 Space is limited and attendees must register via pidb@nara.gov; provide your name and professional affiliation (if applicable).  You will receive a confirmation e-mail from the Public Interest Declassification Board staff confirming your reservation.  Please note that one form of Government-issued photo identification (e.g. driver’s license) is required to gain admittance. 

 In anticipation of the report’s release, today the Board will re-engage its followers by re-opening its blog, Transforming Classification, where it will post summaries of some of the key recommendations in the report.  Be sure to stay connected to the Board’s activities and look for more information about the Board on its website: http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb

I want to thank NDC staffer Stephanie Coon for her discovering these records and writing  the following article.

Inside a box of recently declassified records related to awards presented to foreign nationals, the NDC discovered a certificate and medal for Exceptional Service presented by the United States Air Force to Dr. Cristjo Cristofv, in recognition of his Patriotic Service from 1947 to 1963. When the medal was discovered, the question came to mind, why was this medal part of records accessioned into the National Archives instead of with the family of Dr. Cristofv?

Certificate for Cristofv award

Cristofv, a Bulgarian scientist who escaped following World War II, came to the attention of the U.S Air Force through A. E. Stoll for his theories related to electrometric pulse, known as the “Cristofv Effect.” Dr. Cristofv voluntarily disclosed information related to a “physical phenomenon which opened new horizons in the detection of explosions.” Following this initial disclosure the theory was used to develop an electromagnetic system for detecting explosions, which the U.S. disclosed to the world during the Geneva Conferences of the atomic testing moratorium.

Obverse of Cristofv medal

A Google search revealed multiple newspaper articles dated from 1963 to 1965 related to Dr. Cristofv, including one from New Orleans Times-Picayune, that military leaders in Bulgaria and Germany were aware of the “Cristofv Effect” in the early 1930s, but the work was kept secret. According to the Times-Picayune article, the United States was comfortable signing the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty because of this method for detecting the explosions. Today, the “Cristofv Effect” is more commonly known as electromagnetic pulse detection and as recently as 2011 was being used in experiments for underground nuclear tests.
Whether the medal was ever officially presented to Dr. Cristofv remains a mystery that even the Air Force Historian’s office acknowledges.

Reverse of Cristofv medal

• The medal, the certificate and a copy of the citation were at the front of the box outside of the folder labeled Cristofv, Cristjo. The rest of folder related to Cristofv has been withdrawn. The withdrawn material includes the Air Force’s decision to withhold the medal pending further investigation into Cristofv. The investigation included his finances, whether he qualified for a TS clearance, and whether the information he provided to the AF was actually original or if he acquired the information from another source. The source of these records is United States Air Force (USAF) Military Personnel Center (MPC), Randolph Air Force Base Records (RG 341 UD-UP 228; NND 59468; Box 1).

The video from the August 29, 2012 NDC Open Forum is now available and may be viewed here.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNnxN3M9TUc

The National Archives recently developed a new web portal for declassification information.  As a result some of the links in older blog posts to released entries and bi-annual reports are not working correctly.  The new portal provides centralized pages for all new releases and reports.  You may access these by clicking  the links below.

New Releases:  http://www.archives.gov/declassification/ndc/releases.html

Bi-annual Reports:  http://www.archives.gov/declassification/ndc/reports/

 Don

The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) provides the public and users of the classification system with a forum for further review of classification decisions.   For the first time, documents declassified by the ISCAP are available for public access on a new site accessible from the declassification portal:  http://www.archives.gov/declassification/iscap/decision-table.html

The Executive Order 13526, “Classified National Security Information,” (the Order) requires that the ISCAP inform senior agency officials and the public of final ISCAP decisions on mandatory declassification review appeals and classification challenges (see sections 1.8 and 3.5 of the Order). This function is important for two reasons. First, the documents decided upon by the ISCAP for classification challenges and mandatory declassification review appeals may be of historical interest to the public, not just to the appellants. Second, agencies must now consider the final decisions of the ISCAP when making their own declassification decisions (see section 3.1(i) of the Order). Distribution of electronic versions of declassified documents on a publicly available web site is the most efficient way for the ISCAP to fulfill this function.

Among the recent decisions posted by the ISCAP are portions of several President’s Daily Briefs from the late 1960s and intelligence reports regarding nuclear activity in Iran in the 1970s.  These decisions represent the leading edge of declassification.  The ISCAP decisions site is a work in progress, and will be further refined to better serve the needs of our users.  Comments and suggestions regarding the ISCAP site may be sent to iscap@nara.gov.

The National Archives has launched a new declassification portal that provides a single point of access for declassification actions happening at NARA: http://www.archives.gov/declassification/

From this portal, users can get information about recent records releases at the National Archives.  Users can find information about the National Declassification Center, the Public Interest Declassification Board, the Presidential Libraries, and the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.

Aero Sys Div, 1969 (RG 342 UD-UP 138; NND 63253; Boxes 35 and 58)

By Michael Rhodes

Recently declassified records from the Aeronautical Systems Division, USAF (RG 342 – Records of United States Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations) reveal some surprising, perhaps never-before-seen images:

 

USAF Project 1794

The above illustration was discovered in the pages of a document titled “Project 1794, Final Development Summary Report” (d.1956) The caption reads “USAF Project 1794”. However, the Air Force had contracted the work out to a Canadian company, Avro Aircraft Limited in Ontario, to construct the disk-shaped craft. According to the same report, it was designed to be a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) plane designed to reach a top speed of Mach 4, with a ceiling of over 100,000 feet, and a range of over 1,000 nautical miles.

Fig 1 Cutaway of Aircraft Structure

Fig 2 Cutaway of Aircraft Structure

Curiously, these pictures bear a strong resemblance to ‘flying saucers’ in popular science fiction films made during the years these reports were created: 1956 and 1957.

Twenty records related to the Katyn Forest Massacre are now available on the National Archives Transcription Pilot Project.  Help transcribe telegrams, messages, letters and reports, including handwritten script.  Your efforts help improve the accessibility of the records.  For more information on how to get started, check out the Transcription Tips.

Learn more about the Katyn Forest Massacre on Archives.gov.