CIA Refuses to Confirm 3I/ATLAS Records Exist
- Cristina Gomez
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
On December 31st, 2025, the Central Intelligence Agency responded to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by John Greenewald Jr. of The Black Vault regarding the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. According to the official response, the CIA stated it can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records, citing Section 6 of the CIA Act of 1949 and Section 102A of the National Security Act of 1947. This type of response is known as a Glomar response, a term originating from a 1970s incident involving the Hughes Glomar Explorer ship.
According to Greenewald, who has filed thousands of FOIA requests over nearly 30 years, the CIA does not always issue this type of response. He referenced specific cases where the agency simply stated no records exist, including requests about a potential terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Colombia and an Iranian F-14 incident near the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Both dealt with intelligence matters involving sources and methods, yet neither received a Glomar response.
Greenewald also highlighted a historical precedent involving the Hale-Bopp comet. According to documents he obtained, the Defense Intelligence Agency released an intelligence report about Hale-Bopp in May 1999 with redacted sources. The document referenced Chinese observatory predictions from the Purple Mountain Observatory and the Jiangsu Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The contrast is notable as both objects are comets with potential intelligence interest, yet the responses differ completely.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb weighed in on the matter in his article. According to Loeb, NASA stated definitively at their November 19th press conference that 3I/ATLAS is a comet of natural origin. He questioned why the CIA would classify records about a natural comet and suggested officials may have wanted to verify the object is not a low probability but high impact event.
Meanwhile, the Breakthrough Listen project used the Green Bank Telescope to scan 3I/ATLAS on December 18th. According to their research team, no artificial radio emissions were detected after filtering over 470,000 candidate signals down to nine, all of which were attributed to human technology interference.
As Greenewald stated, ask questions because we get absolutely nowhere if we do not.
Sources
Greenewald, J., Jr. [@theblackvault]. (2026, January 5). The CIA will “neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records” pertaining to interstellar object 3I/ATLAS [Image attached] [X post]. X. https://x.com/theblackvault/status/2008267999535571027
If 3I/ATLAS is a Comet, Why Would the CIA “Neither Deny, Nor Confirm” the Existence of Records on It? (2026, January 5). Medium. https://avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-is-a-comet-why-would-the-cia-neither-deny-nor-confirm-the-existence-of-records-on-897a8cb5f6bd
Phelan, M., Senior. (2024, October 11). Evidence of alien life could be revealed next month as NASA filmmaker claims “we’ve found it.” Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13950399/Evidence-alien-life-revealed-month.html
