The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 allows the American public unprecedented access to antecedently unreleased government documents through request and robotlike revelation . In addition to being a massive asset to journalists and eager members of the populace , it has also drop light on some of the unearthly corners of America ’s function democracy . Here are 10 of the strangest document that have been secure by FOIA requests , or let go by FOIA take rooms over the years .
1. A Fan Letter From J. Edgar Hoover to His Favorite Athlete
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J. Edgar Hoover was a in use gentleman’s gentleman during his 48 - yr term of office as Director of the FBI , but not too officious to take in the occasional baseball secret plan and write bootlick varsity letter to his favored players , as documented in aletterreleased by the FBI ’s FOIA electronic version elbow room .
The 1938 letter was write from Hoover to Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Vander Meer , fresh off back - to - back no - hitters against the Boston Bees and the Brooklyn Dodgers . After compliment Vander Meer on the exploit , Hoover writes “ I thought you might be interested in roll in the hay that last yr the Federal Bureau of Investigation win the U.S. Government conference championship , ” but laments that “ unfortunately we do not have any Johnny Vander Meers who are able to turn in two no - hit games within five days . ”
2. A List of 2000 Personalized Florida License Plate Requests Reviewed For Obscene Material
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For every job that kids aspire to from a new eld , like fire fighter , instructor , and cosmonaut , there are countless weird jobs that satiate in the cracks of society . Working for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles , a job which occasionally requires determining whether novelty license plates are road - appropriate , fits neatly into the latter category .
In 2011 , theMiami New Timesused a FOIA request to get their hands ona listof over 2300 individualise licence plates take for in need of recap for potential exceptionable message . The list swan from the destined - for - loser ( “ DRUNK ” was brusquely rejected ) to every form of sexual paronomasia imaginable ( the control board was split on “ SEXCESS ” ) to the hilariously unripe ( “ POOP ” got the thumb down , while “ POOPIE 1 ” was approve ) .
3. An Agreement Between The United States Navy and the Makers of the MovieBattleship
Cooperation between the United States government and Hollywood occasionally makes sense , like whenthe CIA assist Kathryn Bigelowwith her critically applaud 2012 film on America ’s pursuit of Osama bin Laden , Zero Dark Thirty . Other times , it ’s just confusing , like in the subject of 2012’sBattleship , a special burden - drenched action moving picture loosely accommodate from the board game of the same name . But with aliens .
The moving picture was made in collaboration with the United States Navy , which move over movie maker access to military assets like the USSRonald Reaganand Pearl Harbor . And what did the Navy get out of it ? According todocumentsobtained through the FOIA asking website MuckRock , partial creative mastery over the project , including a Department of Defense expert consultant tasked with guarantee the movie “ positively represents our overhaul and our navy man . ” The Navy also secured “ a minimum of ten ( 10 ) DVD copy of the Picture , ” a limited thanks on the credit , and a private screening in Washington .
4. FCC Complaints About Inappropriate Content OnSouth Park
YouTube , South Park Studios
Since debut to cries of public outrage in 1997,South Parkhas gained a reputation for being able to get away with pretty much anything . It could be that the public forgive the show ’s over - the - top profanity because it ’s also bright , funny , and frequently insightful . Or , more likely , citizenry now live what to bear .
Most multitude , at least . Some folks were a little tardy to theSouth Parkoutrage game , as demonstrate indocumentsobtained through the FOIA website Government Attic detailing complaints against the show to the Federal Communications Commission between 2004 and 2007 . One more or less confused citizen write “ You may ask something like this on HBO , Showtime , etc . but not on the Comedy Channel . ” Another decided on a fair punishment for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone : “ They should be fined 6000 per countersign . ”
5. The FBI’s Twitter Slang Dictionary
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Considering that enemies of the state like ISIS and Al - Qaeda use Twitter and other form of societal media , it probably does n’t seem like the world ’s speculative approximation , until you actuallyreadthe listing , with include shorthand for everything range from the harmless ( L8R G8R for “ later alligator ” ) to the countermand - from - the - pages - of - a - crappy-‘90s - situation comedy ( DEGT for “ do n’t even go there ” ) to manoeuvre references to a 1997 Jennifer Love Hewitt pic ( IKWYDLS for “ I make love what you did last summer ” ) .
6. Some Not-Very-Revealing Pictures Of An FBI Retirement Party
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It might be unvoiced to believe , but the FBI is made up of factual human beings who do actual human being material , like hang out with friends and go to parties . The Bureau was give a rarified chance to personalise its employees whenUSA Todayreporter Brad Heath requested pictures from a retirement party earlier this class . However , view they choose to put everyone ’s human face , you could debate that they miss the mark pretty good .
Initiallytweetedby Heath and thenpublishedby Gawker , the pictures of an Atlanta - based FBI agent ’s 2012 sendoff were censored under a FOIA privacy freedom , with the Bureau artlessly censor the grimace of everyone involved using white second power and pentagons . The resolution ended up look like a flakey work of modern art that confirm what we might have already assumed : There ’s nothing creepier than pictures of the great unwashed hugging , shaking hand , and hang out around a pool with tremendous blocks superimposed over their head .
7. The White House’s Beer Recipe
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In 2012 , one Redditor check that the sometime adage “ ask and ye shall get ” was more than just a platitude when he used the FOIA to bespeak the formula for White House Honey Ale . White House chefs had been brewing small muckle of the beer since 2011 at the request of President Obama , who had shoot an interest in the home - brewing movement and bought a kit with his own money .
After that beer lover stake his FOIA request on Reddit , and following some interest from other home - brew lovers across the nation , the President revealed in a Reddit AMA session that the formula would be release soon . “ I can tell from first hired man experience , it is tasty , " he declared . Shortly after , the recipe popped up on theWhite House ’s blog , concluded with ingredients and instruction . Good hazard get your hand on the honey “ tapped from the first ever bee - hive on the South Lawn ” used in the formula , though .
8. FTC Complaints Against Dating Websites
The not bad Pat Benatar once sang “ Love is a field of battle , ” and like all battlefields , it can not be in full regulated by the Federal Trade Commission . But that has n’t stopped citizenry from try , to the strain of 2364 complaint against the web site eHarmony , Match.com , and OkCupid.com since 2005 .
author Inkoo Kang obtainedthe documentsthrough three separate FOIA requests in 2013 , with all three requests being fulfilled short after . Most of the complaint were made against Match.com ( 2056 , compared to 301 against eHarmony and seven against OkCupid ) and , as you might imagine , they contain everything from lawful queasiness and concerns about scams , spam , and failures to invalidate defrayment , to lone psyche vent their go steady frustration . “ Out of thousands of lesbians across the United States nobody send me a hello or wonk [ sic ] , ” compose one thwarted eHarmony customer . “ I desire my money refunded . ”
9. A FBI Profile of Jack The Ripper About 100 Years Too Late
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The famously unsolved “ Jack the Ripper ” subject , which revolves around a series of violent murder in London ’s Whitechapel district between 1888 and 1891 , has become a best-loved discipline for amateur slueths , cabal buffs , and filmmakers . And , even though the case occurred across the Atlantic many generation ago , it was also the discipline of an FBI criminal analysis in 1988 .
Thereportwas conduct by the FBI at the request of Cosgrove - Meurer Productions for their documentary productionThe Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper , and was subsequently release through the FBI ’s FOIA reading room . It includes a psychological visibility of the murderer ( “ quiet , a lone wolf , shy , slightly withdrawn , and orderly in coming into court while work ” ) , and even imagines a scenario in which the FBI interrogates the sea wolf . “ Jack the Ripper would be easily suit to be interviewed during the former morning hours , ” it learn . ” He would feel more relaxed and impregnable to confess his homicides . ”
10. Seventeen Pages Of Correspondence Pooh-Poohing aLaugh-InSketch
An early ancestor ofSaturday Night Live , the scattershot , vaudevillianRowan & Martin ’s Laugh - Inis tame by today ’s standard , but when it publicize on NBC in 1968 and 1973 , the bawdy jokes , drug references , and political sarcasm made it one of the most controversial show of its time . Richard Nixon famously appeared on the show while campaigning for president in 1968 . However , the show ’s relationship with the United States government take a bend for the worse follow a 1971 skit , which , fit in to an FBI Vault - releaseddocument , featured “ cheerleaders who sang a ‘ fight song ’ about the FBI . ’ ”
Several implicated Americans wrote letters of support to J. Edgar Hoover show their dissatisfaction , including one viewer who rebuke the show for making the FBI “ a mark of undue derision and pasquinade . ” Another launches a two - front attempt on the sketch , writing that the “ so - call joke were not only not humourous but did not make any common sense . ” After being alerted , the FBI decide to settle on keep a magnetic tape of the vignette “ maintained in the Crime Research Section in the event the Director wishes to hear it . ”
