# How to Read a Pentagon UAP File: the Redaction Codes Explained

- Canonical URL: https://ufodata.org/library/how-to-read-a-uap-file
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIECTffhQw
- Source: UFOData.org case library (https://ufodata.org/library/)

> What do 1.4a, b(1) and b(6) mean on declassified UAP documents? The redaction codes are a public, legally-defined taxonomy — here's how to decode a Pentagon UFO file.

Every black bar on a declassified UAP mission report carries a small code. The codes are not secret — they are defined in public law (Executive Order 13526 and the Freedom of Information Act) — and they tell you what *kind* of secret each redaction is keeping, even when the content itself stays hidden.

💬 Questions or a theory about these files? [Join the discussion in the YouTube comments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIECTffhQw).

## The codes you'll see on UAP files

| Code | Legal basis | What it protects |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `1.4a` | E.O. 13526 §1.4(a) | Military plans, weapons systems, or operations — callsigns, coordinates, operation names, unit movements. |
| `(b)(1)` | FOIA Exemption 1 | Information that remains classified in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. |
| `(b)(6)` | FOIA Exemption 6 | Personal privacy — the names and identifying details of the people who filed and appear in the report. |
| `3.5(c)` | E.O. 13526 §3.5(c) | Marking associated with the Mandatory Declassification Review process the file went through. |

**The asymmetry worth noticing:** across the released mission reports, the UAP observation line itself — *"OBSERVED A UAP"* — is left unredacted. It is the operational context *around* the sighting that gets blacked out under `1.4a`. The government is willing to say its crews saw something; it will not say what was around them when they did.

## Try it on the real files

Each case page below shows the actual released document. Look for the codes beside each bar:

[Case D-62 · Strait of Hormuz](https://ufodata.org/case/d62) [Case D-64 · "Iran"](https://ufodata.org/case/d64) [Case D-14 · Iraq / Su-30](https://ufodata.org/case/d14) [Case D-23 · UAE (two sightings)](https://ufodata.org/case/d23) [Case D-33 · Greece launch](https://ufodata.org/case/d33) [Case D-32 · Syria (TIME-cited)](https://ufodata.org/case/d32)

Sources: [Executive Order 13526](https://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/cnsi-eo.html) · [FOIA.gov](https://www.foia.gov/faq.html) · documents from the U.S. government's 2026 PURSUE release (war.gov/UFO). All documents authentic; narration in the video is AI-generated text-to-speech.