AFOSI 9.12.23

To Whom It May Concern:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

All records, i.e., reports, correspondence, evidence logs, etc., involving, mentioning, or relating to Dorothy Martin, aka Sister Thedra, aka Marian Keech (May 6, 1900 – June 13, 1992). Ms. Martin was a noted occultist and UFO devotee, and at various points in her life was the leader of a Chicago-based rapturist cult known as the Seekers, founder of the Association of Sananda and Sumat Kumara, and a member of the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays. In 1954, while leading the Seekers, Ms. Martin predicted the end of the world via a flood; her story was covered in newspapers throughout the United States between October and December of that same year. In accordance with that prediction, Ms. Martin's name and writings appear in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files of a number of other UFO personalities and groups, including George Hunt Williamson, George Adamski, and the Detroit Flying Saucer Club. Page 9 of a bureau report on the Detroit Flying Saucer Club, attached, states an FBI informant furnished the bureau with information on Ms. Martin given to them by a relative who attended a meeting with one of Ms. Martin's followers, Dr. Charles A. Laughead. This report also states on page 1, under a section labeled "COPIES OF THIS REPORT," that information on Ms. Martin was forwarded to the Detroit office of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI); as such, I am requesting all records produced by AFOSI on Ms. Martin and the Seekers.

There is no expectation of a violation of Ms. Martin's privacy, as she passed away in 1992. I am attaching a reproduction of Ms. Martin's obituary, published in the Arizona Republic on June 17, 1992.

I am asking you waive any fees associated with this request. I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. My bylines, which include Unicorn Riot, the Geopolitical Economy Report, and Creem Magazine, can be found in both print and electronic publications. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

A fee waiver is appropriate in situations where "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government, and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester,” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii). Although Ms. Martin was a public figure in the UFO community, she had committed no crimes by the nature of her public prophecy in 1954 and subsequent writings in the years after, yet the attached bureau report suggests that she was investigated for so-called subversive activities, a set of actions outlined in the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, defined in that act as any "conspiratorial and coercive tactics" that "endeavor to carry out the objectives of the world Communist movement by bringing about the overthrow of existing governments by any available means, including force if necessary." Page 1 of the attached report indicates it was created as part of an espionage investigation.

Any records AFOSI may have on Ms. Martin and/or the Seekers would contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government by showing how the FBI and AFOSI determined which people and groups were thought to be subversive in that period, how they pursued investigations of such figures, and how they did or did not clear those parties of any charges against them, with special concern for religious leaders of non-mainstream faiths and denominations. Ms. Martin, through her association with the Seekers, was a religious leader.

Given that this report was created in 1955, almost 70 years have passed since various instruments of the government investigated Ms. Martin and her group. There should be no concern for national security at this point.

If any potentially responsive records have been destroyed and/or transferred, then I request copies of the destruction or transfer slips as well as any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has no other copies of said records.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please advise of which tier of processing queue this request falls under and an estimated time frame for processing.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.

Dear FOIA officer:

I am following up on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request sent electronically to your office on September 12, 2023. The request was for: "All records, i.e., reports, correspondence, evidence logs, etc., involving, mentioning, or relating to Dorothy Martin, aka Sister Thedra, aka Marian Keech (May 6, 1900 – June 13, 1992)."

As evidence that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) maintained records on Ms. Martin, I attached a Federal Bureau of Investigation memorandum, dated February 11, 1954, which contained forwarding information for the AFOSI's Detroit office on page 1; Ms. Martin and her group are discussed at length between pages 9 and 13 of the document. I am reproducing that memorandum, along with Ms. Martin's obituary, attached to this correspondence.

By law, 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6), agencies are required to make a determination within 20 working days of a request. As of the date of this correspondence, November 14, 2023, I have yet to receive an acknowledgment with a FOIA request number, an assignment in a processing track, or an estimated time of completion. Please let me know when I can expect to receive this information.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if any further clarification is needed.

Sincerely,
Robert Skvarla, Jr.

To Whom It May Concern:
BACKGROUND

On September 12, 2023, I submitted the attached request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552, for: "All records, i.e., reports, correspondence, evidence logs, etc., involving, mentioning, or relating to Dorothy Martin, aka Sister Thedra, aka Marian Keech (May 6, 1900 – June 13, 1992)".

On November 14, 2023, I submitted the attached follow-up request with a copy of the original request and additional information identifying that per 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6), the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) is required to make a determination within 20 working days of a request.

CONTEXT

I have not received an acknowledgement of my request nor have I been provided with an estimated completion date as of the time of this correspondence, February 13, 2024—more than 90 working days after the request was first filed.

Prior copies of an obituary have been provided confirming Ms. Martin's passing but per Schrecker v. United States Dep't of Justice, 349 F.3d 657, 662-65 (D.C. Cir. 2003), an agency may assume an individual is no longer alive if their date of birth is more than 100 years ago. Ms. Martin was born on May 6, 1900, and therefore, would no longer be assumed alive under this ruling.

APPEAL

By law, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(i), agencies are required to make a determination within 20 working days of a request or notify the requestor if additional time is required due to unusual circumstances. As this time has elapsed without a substantive determination, I am appealing the constructive denial of my request, and asking for a determination that the agency must respond to my request, providing the documents or outlining reasons that they are exempt.

I am also renewing a request for a fee waiver. I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. My bylines, which include Unicorn Riot, the Geopolitical Economy Report, and Creem Magazine, can be found in both print and electronic publications. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

A fee waiver is appropriate in situations where "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government, and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester,” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii). This request would contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government by showing how AFOSI determined which people and groups were identified as subversive in that period of the Cold War, how they pursued investigations of such figures, and how they did or did not clear those parties of any charges against them, with special concern for religious leaders of non-mainstream faiths and denominations.

Additionally, there should be no privacy concerns or a need to protect national security and/or investigative methods as Mr. Martin is deceased and the information being requested is more than 50 years old.

Sincerely,
Robert Skvarla, Jr.