Zombie redactions have been a topic on this blog several times. Check the search box for the various references. As defined more than once, “A zombie redaction is a redaction in copy X of a document which has already been released in copy Y of the same document, available in some other file or folder or microfilm reel.” Zombies appear in many forms, but the example for today is unique, and funny, too, or at least ironic.

Flip flop?

Today’s example comes from two versions of ARC 104-10215-10129, a lengthy CIA record on Ross Crozier, a CIA contract agent who worked in Cuba and later Miami. The two versions in question are from 2022 and 2023, page 29 in both cases.

Here they are:

As the extracts show, 2022 redacts line 3 of the paragraph, while 2023 redacts line 2. This means that the entire text is available. So which is the zombie? How about both of them are half zombies (hemi-zombies)? To be fair, this is probably just a slip of the redactor’s drawing tool. Still funny, or at least entertaining.

Are there any real redactions left in ARC 104-10215-10129? Yes, paragraph one on page 91 is still redacted. That is the sole remaining redaction in the record.