How High Does It Go?

Reading about conspiracies, especially of the Majestic 12/ Alien presence/ Black Technology types, you'll often see a reference to some arcane clearance level, i.e. "above top secret."

So what can anyone tell us about actual government clearance levels. All I can find on the web is from the FBI's site describing how to apply for clearance(!) But their system looks extremely rudimentary. I presume that there are subcategories they just don't post on the web.

Here's what I've found at the ITS dictionary site.

www.itsecurity.com...

Within Government, the classifications are normally:


Unclassified
Sensitive but Unclassified
Confidential
Secret
Top Secret
For all we know, however, the precise descriptions and number of classifications could be Top Secret...

I couldn't believe that last line. It's there, though.

So what levels have y'all heard of, and how reliable was the source?

I think this is what you were looking for

scroll to the third post and thank Starchild

[Edited on 14-5-2004 by DeltaChaos]

Thanks that's it exactly.

But the answer begets a question:

I see the term "lifestyle." what kind of clearance is that?

-access to the hotub at the pentagon?
-proof that you never inhaled?
-clearance for fashion magazines

Just kidding. all this stuff is cool. Compare with the posts of fraternity initiations, masons, etc.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
I see the term "lifestyle." what kind of clearance is that?

That's a polygraph test to ensure that operatives haven't given false information, thus making them worthy of the clearance. It's standard for spooks.

here is starchild's list, from that previous thread:

1C or 2C - Federal
3C or 4C - Federal
5C or 6C - Federal
ADP 1
ADP 2
CIA Lifestyle Polygraph
COMSEC
CONFIDENTIAL
Cosmic Top Secret - ATOMAL/CTSA
DEA Clearance
DISA
DISCO
DOD
DOD Lifestyle Polygraph
DOD Secret
DOD - Top Secret SSBI
DOE - Nuclear
DOE - C
DOE - L
DOE - Q
DOJ � NACI
DOJ - Sensitive
DOJ - Secret
DOJ - Top Secret
EBI - Extended Background Investigation
FAA Clearance
FBI
Foreign Government Information
Industrial Clearance
Inactive Clearance
Inactive Top Secret Crypto
Interim Secret
Interim Top Secret
Interim TS / SCI
IRS - MBI
ISSA / CISSP
MBI (IRS)
NAC
NASA
NATO
NATO Secret
NSA Lifestyle Polygraph
Position of Public Trust 1C
Position of Public Trust 2C
Position of Public Trust 3C
Position of Public Trust 4C
Position of Public Trust 5C
Position of Public Trust 6C
Polygraph - Counterintelligence
Polygraph - Full Scope / Lifestyle
SAR
S - Secret
Secret COMSEC
Secret SBI
SIDA - Secured Identification Defense Area
SAP - Special Access Programs
SBI - Special Background Investigation
SCI - Special Compartmented Intelligence
SSBI - Single Scope Background Inv.
Technology
TS - Top Secret
Top Secret-Crypto
Top Secret-Crypto SCI / TK / G / HCS-P
Top Secret-Final / Crypto / Polygraph
Top Secret-SCI / SBI
Top Secret-SCI / HSC
Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK
Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK / G / B
Top Secret-SCI / SI / TK / G / HCS
Top Secret-SCI / SIOP
Top Secret-SCI / SSBI
Top Secret-SBI-TS/SBI
Top Secret-CISP-TS/CISP
Top Secret-ISSA-TS/ISSA
Top Secret-SAP-TS/SAP
Top Secret-SCI-CI polygraph-TS/SCI/CI Poly
Top Secret-SCI-Full/Scope Lifestyle-TS/SCI Lifestyle Poly
Top Secret-SCI-TS/SCI
Top Secret-SSBI-TS/SSBI
Top Secret-SCI /SSBI / SI / TK
Top Secret-SCI / TK / G / HCS / CI Poly
Top Secret-SCI / TK / G / Lifestyle Poly
Top Secret-SCI / SSBI / CI Poly
Top Secret-SI / TK / B / +
Top Secret-SSBI / CI Poly
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / TK / G / HCS
Top Secret-SSBI / Lifestyle Poly
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI/ SI / TK / G
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / SI / TK / G / B / HCS
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI / TK / HCS
Top Secret-SSBI / SCI-B
Top Secret-EBI
Top Secret-SCI - SI / TK / G / HCS / I / P
Top Secret-CISP - TS / CISP
Top Secret-ISSA - TS / ISSA
Top Secret-SAP - TS / SAP
Top Secret-SCI - CI Poly - TS / SCI / CI Poly
Top Secret-SCI - Full / Scope Lifestyle - TS / SCI Lifestyle
Top Secret-SCI - TS / SCI
Top Secret-SSBI - SCI / TK / B / HCS / CI - Poly
Top Secret-SSBI - TS / SSBI
US Citizen
US Customs
US Treasury Clearance
USPS
VR
Yankee Fire
Yankee White
_______________

Question: What is "US Citizen" doing up so high? Does that mean that the rest of us are not really citizens?

I noted in another thread that in working alongside US customs, FBI and Marshalls, they always shied away from using the term 'citizen' to describe someone in a police report, prefering 'individual' or 'resident.' When asked, they said that was to avoid speculating about anyone's legal status. You definitely got the feeling they thought the term was politically incorrect.

Hmmm.