# Provenance of source copies used by this dig. US government documents are public domain. # All text files marked ocr were produced by machine OCR (tesseract 5.3.4, 150 dpi) from scanned # pages. OCR is noisy; quotes in claims.yaml were checked against the page text, but any quote # that matters should be re-read in the PDF. The Hanyok PDF itself (4.7 MB) is not stored here; # fetch it from the URL and compare the checksum. retrieved: 2026-10-02 sources: - id: src-hanyok-2001 title: "Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964" author: Robert J. Hanyok (NSA historian) published: Cryptologic Quarterly, early 2001 (classified); declassified 2005-12-01 document_class: study (an analysis; interpretive reading of primary intercepts) authenticity: status: authenticated strength: moderate provenance: > Declassified by NSA on 1 December 2005 (National Security Archive posting of that date; Scott Shane's New York Times report of 31 October 2005 is cited there). The copy read is hosted by the National Security Archive (George Washington University), which obtained it from NSA's release. tests: - "Internal markers present in the scan: Cryptologic Quarterly masthead, classification banners, statutory redaction marks (b)(3)-P.L. 86-36 [read]" - "Content match: sentences quoted in independent press and archive summaries (for example the 'preclude responsible decisionmakers' sentence) appear word for word in this copy [read]" tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: - "Not byte-compared with NSA's own copy; nsa.gov and media.defense.gov returned HTTP 403 to this environment." next_step: "Obtain NSA's copy from a network that is not refused, or from an independent web archive, and compare SHA-256." checked: 2026-10-02 url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/relea00012.pdf pdf_sha256: 1aeff1441e15b5574d9846faf593a6a727e2df418c1e6af705870ec76a2716f3 pdf_pages: 56 stored_as: sources/hanyok-skunks-bogies-2001.ocr.txt ocr_layout: two columns, split before OCR; some column bleed and line-break errors remain note: > NSA's own copies (nsa.gov, media.defense.gov) returned HTTP 403 to this environment on 2026-10-02. This copy is hosted by the National Security Archive (George Washington University) and the text begins with the Cryptologic Quarterly masthead, so it is the same study. Identity with NSA's release was not byte-compared. - id: src-bundy-memo-1964 title: "Memorandum for the Record: White House Staff Meeting, 5 August 1964, 8 a.m." document_class: primary_text (record by an attendee; not a verbatim transcript) authenticity: status: authenticated strength: moderate provenance: > Cited by Prados from the Lyndon B. Johnson Library holdings; hosted by the National Security Archive. tests: - "Markers in the scan: 'Memorandum for Record', date and subject lines, UNCLASSIFIED stamps on each page [read]" - "Content match: the passages Prados quotes in his 2004 essay appear in this copy word for word [read]" tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: - "The author line is not legible in the scan; authorship is from Prados (William Y. Smith)." - "The LBJ Library original was not seen." next_step: "Check the LBJ Library catalogue entry and, if possible, its scan." checked: 2026-10-02 url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/tonkin.pdf pdf_sha256: 77729eb941b3e88208cc3ce236a583fac0c3cf7e05e77c0c5a61d8059a98681f stored_as: sources/bundy-staff-meeting-memo-1964-08-05.pdf (+ .ocr.txt) note: author given as William Y. Smith, military aide, by Prados (secondary); the OCR does not show the author line. - id: src-intercepts-1964 title: "Gulf of Tonkin signals intercept reports (CIA/NSA selection sent to the White House, Aug 1964)" document_class: primary_text (NSA SIGINT reports, sanitized, declassified 2003) authenticity: status: authenticated strength: moderate provenance: > Declassified March 2003 on a Mandatory Declassification Review request (Prados); copies from the LBJ Library; hosted by the National Security Archive. tests: - "Stamps on the pages: NARA declassification-review marks (E.O. 12958, Sec. 3.6, date 3-13-03) and 'COPY LBJ LIBRARY' [read]" - "Content match: report numbers, date-time groups and wording agree with what Prados and Hanyok describe [read]" tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: - "Sanitized copies; some date-time groups are unreadable in the OCR." - "These are NSA summary reports of intercepts, not the raw intercepts." next_step: "Compare the report text with the NSA's 2005 release of the same reports." checked: 2026-10-02 url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/tonkin_intercepts.pdf pdf_sha256: 6d52d14df3442b090c1e3c00f06f37e93226cc678241edb225f1b3e943996faa pdf_pages: 9 stored_as: sources/nsa-sigint-intercept-reports-aug-1964.pdf (+ .ocr.txt) note: these are reports summarizing intercepts, not raw intercepts (see Prados essay). - id: src-nsarchive-essay-2004 title: "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 40 Years Later (essay)" author: John Prados (National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book 132) document_class: interpretive (secondary); quotes primary documents with footnotes authenticity: status: not_applicable basis: "A modern essay, not offered as a historical document. Its quotations of primary documents are checked where we hold the document." url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/essay.htm stored_as: not stored (copyrighted); cited by URL and short quotation only - id: src-lbj-tapes-transcripts title: "LBJ tapes on the Gulf of Tonkin incident (transcriptions with commentary)" author: transcribed by John Prados, The White House Tapes (New Press, 2003) document_class: primary_text via a secondary transcription (the audio is at the LBJ Library) authenticity: status: unchecked provenance: "Transcribed by John Prados in The White House Tapes (2003); the audio is at the LBJ Library." tests: [] gaps: - "Audio not heard. Wording differs slightly between the transcription ('Op Plan 34-A') and the essay's quotation ('OPLAN 34-A')." next_step: "Compare with the LBJ Library audio or its own transcript." checked: 2026-10-02 url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/tapes.htm stored_as: not stored (copyrighted); cited by URL and short quotation only - id: src-nsarchive-press-2005 title: "Tonkin Gulf Intelligence 'Skewed' According to Official History and Intercepts (posting)" url: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/press20051201.htm document_class: secondary authenticity: status: not_applicable basis: "A secondary news posting." stored_as: not stored; cited by URL - id: src-congressional-record-1964 title: "Congressional Record, Vol. 110, Part 14 (Senate, 7 August 1964), GPO bound edition, granule GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-4-1" document_class: primary_text (official proceedings) url: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-4-1.pdf pdf_sha256: 7de8a08396fe965fe493e8f44733a90992dc82250811759ca027ec83d4f74fea authenticity: status: authenticated strength: strong provenance: "Government Publishing Office bound Congressional Record, fetched from govinfo.gov" tests: ["Page headers and numbering continuous (p. 18470 roll call page read)", "Vote totals agree with the Voteview roll-call data (88-2)"] tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: ["OCR text of a two-column scan; wording checked on the page image only where quoted", "Debate read in part"] checked: 2026-10-02 stored_as: "page image sources/congressional-record/crec-1964-p18470-30.png (full 42 MB file not stored)" image_sha256: 6dab8ad713e7031730bed4d34fa61163e62a2684318dfcdc34a3fadf67ce354a - id: src-congressional-record-1970 title: "Congressional Record, Vol. 116, Part 16 (Senate, 24 June 1970), GPO bound edition, granule GPO-CRECB-1970-pt16-1-1" document_class: primary_text (official proceedings) url: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1970-pt16/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1970-pt16-1-1.pdf pdf_sha256: da3ed809dbeee6c7cc94ea5492f1bdc8aec4a67094df3142e0d38497efc15844 authenticity: status: authenticated strength: strong provenance: "Government Publishing Office bound Congressional Record, fetched from govinfo.gov" tests: ["Roll call page (21132) read; counts agree with Voteview roll 398 (81-10)"] tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: ["Two-column scan; the quoted Fulbright passage was checked on the page image", "Debate read in part"] checked: 2026-10-02 stored_as: "page images sources/congressional-record/crec-1970-p21119-019.png, crec-1970-p21131-031.png and crec-1970-p21132-032.png (full 62 MB file not stored)" image_sha256: {p21131: 01b080cdd0e9bd3366363b74c79c202283dc23723a341101806503df6455c556, p21119: 6f4c79df6d4b929237dea41dec46c8467e69165ffba15bc03ddb50f9749f25bc, p21132: 0cf5547d25a755a54493958d46d61a291a3a9f9155e6a173ac01b4dff41ec440} - id: src-congressional-record-1964-aug6 title: "Congressional Record, Vol. 110, Part 14 (Senate, 6 August 1964), GPO bound edition, granule GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-3-2" document_class: primary_text (official proceedings) url: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-3-2.pdf pdf_sha256: b46e183f2a2686b42d0decf0329dd70f0d122b4c08db4cb63cb0c9dd9439f55c authenticity: status: authenticated strength: strong provenance: "Government Publishing Office bound Congressional Record, fetched from govinfo.gov" tests: ["Page 18399 (Fulbright's opening) read on the page image; wording matches the text layer"] tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: ["Two-column scan; text layer interleaves columns, so only the quoted passage was checked on the image", "Debate searched, not read in full"] checked: 2026-10-02 stored_as: "page image sources/congressional-record/crec-1964-p18399-061.png (full file not stored)" image_sha256: f8d3095874651358c8e3fb4a7d87e475b436e3a0c2e4115ec5574c12e35846bd - id: src-sfrc-1968-hearing title: "The Gulf of Tonkin, the 1964 Incidents. Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, with Robert S. McNamara, 20 Feb 1968 (S. Hrg. 90-187), Part 1" document_class: primary_text (official hearing record) url: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-90shrg90187/pdf/CHRG-90shrg90187.pdf pdf_sha256: bd6cfd61a0b98f4094c57895e5e1917a73941041e3d77dfcee248d1d9d574024 authenticity: status: authenticated strength: strong provenance: "Government Publishing Office hearing, fetched from govinfo.gov" tests: ["Hearing text read; quotations of the 1964 testimony are also read in context with McNamara's confirmation (p. 30)"] tested_by: "Stratah session, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: ["OCR text layer, some pages letter-spaced; page numbers taken from the text layer, not verified on images", "A 1968 record: what it says about 1964 is a later account"] checked: 2026-10-02 stored_as: "sources/mcnamara-1968-hearing.ocr.txt (OCR text, public domain; the 24 MB PDF is not stored)" - id: src-congressional-record-1964-house title: "Congressional Record, Vol. 110, Part 14 (House, 7 August 1964), GPO bound edition, granule GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-4-2" document_class: primary_text (official proceedings) url: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt14-4-2.pdf pdf_sha256: 71e2c32e90a8180f151325e420415fc1ea2a078ddac00314eb1d2198986d0cda authenticity: status: authenticated strength: strong provenance: "Government Publishing Office bound Congressional Record, fetched from govinfo.gov" tests: ["Roll call (p. 18555) read on the page image by the delegated reader; counts agree with Voteview (416-0)"] tested_by: "Stratah session with a delegated reader, 2026-10-02 (not an independent review)" gaps: ["Pages 18556-18625 keyword-searched only", "No page images stored yet for this file"] checked: 2026-10-02 stored_as: "not stored (full PDF not kept)"