Washington, D.C.: Judge Pratt binds CIA to search 22 branches for UFO records in GSW suit
On August 17, 1978, in the Ground Saucer Watch FOIA suit, Assistant US Attorney William Briggs asked Peter Gersten to define the categories of UFO documents, Gersten prepared a stipulation based on a draft by Brad Sparks requesting a search of 22 CIA component branches, and US District Court Judge John H. Pratt made the order binding with a mid-December deadline.
Background
On August 17, 1978, Assistant US Attorney for the District of Columbia William Briggs asked Peter Gersten of Ground Saucer Watch to identify broadly all categories of UFO documents, to enable the CIA to search for all of its UFO records. Based on a draft by Brad Sparks, Gersten prepared a stipulation requesting the CIA to conduct a reasonable search of 22 CIA component branches. US District Court Judge John H. Pratt made the order binding, giving the CIA until mid-December to complete the task. The entry cites the IUR report 'GSW + FOIA + CIA = 1,000 Pages of UFO Information' of August 1978. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.