BBG-UFO-July2016.Pdf

This document is made available through the declassification efforts and research of John Greenewald, Jr., creator of: The Black Vault The Black Vault is the largest online Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document clearinghouse in the world. The research efforts here are responsible for the declassification of hundreds of thousands of pages released by the U.S. Government & Military. Discover the Truth at: http://www.theblackvault.com Broadcasting 330 Independence Ave.SW T 202.203.4550 Board of Cohen Building, Room 3349 F 202.203.4585 Governors Washington, DC 20237 Office of the General Counsel Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Office July 19,2016 John Greenewald, Jr. 5 RE: Request Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act- FOIA #16-041 Dear Mr. Greenewald: This letter is in response to your undated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which the Agency received on May 31, 2016. In your request, you ask for a copy of records, electronic or otherwise, of all news stories printed from Agency' s archive with the keyword "UFO." You further specify that you are asking the Agency to search all its news stories for the keyword "UFO." The Agency has completed its search for and review of the documents responsive to your scoped request, and 62 pages of releasable documents are provided on the CD-ROM enclosed with this letter. A total of 540 pages of responsive documents, consisting of VOA program scripts created for overseas dissemination prior to the July 2, 2013 effective date of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, were withheld in their entirety pursuant to FOIA Exemption 3 in accordance with 22 U.S.C. §§ 1461 , 1461-la. Also, the 649 commercially-available news stories listed consist of copyrighted materials obtained by the Agency via license agreement and were withheld in their entirety pursuant to FOIA Exemption 4. No other responsive information was redacted from the documents provided, and all releasable responsive documents located by the agency are being provided to you. There are no chargeable fees associated with your request, and the enclosed materials are provided to you at no cost. This completes the Agency's response to your request and it is now closed. However, because responsive documents were withheld you have the right to appeal this disposition. If you wish to do so, you must send your appeal within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this letter to the Chairperson, Access Appeal Committee, BBG, Suite 3349, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20237. Sincerely, ~~ Andrew T. Krog FOIA and Privacy Act Officer Central Scripts Basic Search Keyword: “UFO” Results: 107 1) Key : 1835778 Creation Date : 2014-03-07 12:42:55.0 Load Date : 2014-03-07 13:20:05.0 Number : B7158205 Title : Burkina Faso / FGM Repair Type : SCRIPT-NEB Byline : Jennifer Lazuta Dateline : Editor : dalet_admin Content : (( Title: Burkina Faso / FGM Repair HEAD: FGM Repair Hospital Stirs Controversy in Burkina Faso DATE: 03/07/2014 PUBLISHED AT: (Press Alt+D here before publishing to generate a timestamp) BYLINE: Jennifer Lazuta DATELINE: Dakar CAMERA: VIDEO EDITOR: VIDEO FROM: NUMBER: 7158205 TYPE: BKG TRT: )) ((INTRO)) The world's first hospital built to help victims of Female Genital Mutilation, or FGM, is creating a controversy in Burkina Faso. The hospital was due to open Friday but the government now says it won't allow the clinic to open because of licensing issues. The American NGO behind the hospital says the government revoked permission for the clinic in response to pressure from the Catholic Church. Jennifer Lazuta has more from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar. ((TEXT)) Burkina Faso's first lady, Chantal Compaoré, was scheduled to inaugurate the world's first hospital to reconstruct the clitoris of women who have suffered from female genital mutilation (FGM). The hospital has been under construction in Bobo-Dioulasso since 2011. But earlier this week, the Ministry of Health 1 said it would not allow the hospital to open its doors. Lene Sebgo, the minister of health, gave the reason: (( SEBGO ACT IN FRENCH )) He says, "the Ministry of Health can't give permission for the hospital to open on March 7 because there was never any authorization to create it." He says, "There are clear rules and regulations for opening a medical clinic, and the government cannot allow the hospital to open now because it has not followed these rules or listed its health workers." The hospital was created by Clitoraid, a Las Vegas-based non-profit organization, which works to "restore a sense of pleasure" to women who underwent FGM. It was backed by the founder of the International Realian Movement, a UFO religious sect that promotes sexuality and sensuality. The surgery, which rebuilds the anatomy of the clitoris, not only repairs the physical damage of FGM, but can also restore sexual sensation. Abibata Sanon is Clitoraid's Burkina Faso representative and the head of the Association of Female Fulfillment, a local NGO that collaborated with Clitoraid on the hospital. She said she doesn't understand why the government won't allow the hospital to open. (( SANON ACT IN FRENCH )) She says, "We submitted all the paperwork in 2011, but now the Minister of Health is saying there was a problem of deadline with the files and has asked us to delay the opening of the hospital." Sanon says the building is complete, the equipment is in place and volunteer surgeons are ready to work. Clitoraid released a statement on Tuesday saying the government revoked its authorization following pressure from the Catholic Church, which they say is against the restoration of a woman's pleasure. The Realian Movement and the Catholic Church have butted heads in the past, particularly when it comes to the issue of condoms. The spokesperson for a national conference of Catholic bishops in Ouagadougou declined to comment. This is not the first time clitoral repair surgery is being offered to 2 victims of FGM. Doctors have been performing the surgery in private clinics in Burkina Faso since 2006. Doctors usually present the surgery as a way to relieve health problems caused by FGM, such as burning during urination, painful scar tissue or complications during childbirth. It remains, however, controversial, as many people in West Africa still view the removal of a girl's clitoris as a rite of passage. Many NGOs working to end the practice of FGM says the surgery could undermine their efforts, if people view it as a "quick fix." (( REST OPTIONAL )) Burkina Faso's Minister of the Promotion of Women, Nestorine Sangare, said there are other ways to help a woman find pleasure besides the surgical reconstruction of the clitoris. (( SANGARE ACT IN FRENCH )) She says, "Sex education courses for women can teach them how to discover their body and learn how to have a sex life that is satisfying. The presence or absence of a clitoris isn't the end of the world." She says, "When she first heard about plans to open a "pleasure hospital," she was insulted, because such a campaign stigmatizes women on account of their sex life. Clitoraid says that more than 300 women have already signed up for the surgery, which will be offered free of charge. Sanon says the volunteer surgeons will go ahead and perform the surgeries in other, private clinics over the coming weeks. (( JENNIFER LAZUTA, FOR VOA NEWS, DAKAR )) -- end -- end -- end – 2) Key : 1822856 Creation 2013-08-16 17:50:02.0 Date : Load Date : 2013-08-16 18:07:09.0 Number : B5581578 Title : AREA 51 Type : SCRIPT-NEB Byline : Ken Bredemeier Dateline : Editor : dalet_admin 3 Content : (( Title: AREA 51 HEAD: US Acknowledges Location of Secretive Test Site, but Not Aliens DATE: 08/16/2013 PUBLISHED AT: Friday, August 16, 2013 2:06:16 PM NUMBER: 5581578 TYPE: CN )) The U.S. for the first time is acknowledging the location of a secretive aerial surveillance test site that conspiracy theorists have long claimed might be the home for extraterrestrials who have invaded the country. In declassified documents disclosed this week, the Central Intelligence Agency showed a map of the remote Area 51 site in the western state of Nevada, about 130 kilometers northwest of the well-known gambling mecca of Las Vegas. The CIA said it used the nearly 1,500-square-kilometer site from 1954 to 1974 as testing grounds for the government's U-2 and Oxcart aerial surveillance programs. The U.S. deployed U-2 planes, flying at an altitude of 18 kilometers, around the world at the height of the Cold War, including over the Soviet Union. The CIA document released by the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington traced the history of the aircraft testing. It made no mention of the facility's role since 1974, although the government is believed to be using it for testing intelligence tools and weapons. The report said the high-altitude U-2 tests led to an unexpected side effect -- a huge increase in reports of unidentified flying objects. At the time, government officials attributed the UFO sightings to natural phenomena. But conspiracy theorists in the U.S. have long remained skeptical of governmental pronouncements about the site. Tales of alien landings, time travel and meetings with extraterrestrials and other exotic theories about Area 51 have for years played a role in popular American movies, fostering even more curiosity about the site.

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