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Above Top Secret is a term used by many people to describe the levels of security clearances established by the U.S. Government that exist above the level of Top Secret. It is a compartmentalized system that includes sub-levels of clearances, such that even if someone has "Top Secret" clearance, they do not have access to all documents that are classified "Top Secret." Having the clearance is only the first step toward having access.

The reason the U.S. government created additional clearance classifications above Top Secret is because the information is considered to be so sensitive that unauthorized disclosure could cause a high level of harm to the national security. While the official name of such clearance is not "Above Top Secret", the classifications are in fact clearances that technically exist above Top Secret clearance. That is where the term "Above Top Secret" came from, mostly throughout conspiracy theorist lore.

Levels of Clearance
There are three basic levels of security classification regardless of which Department of the U.S. government you work for. The Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), and all other agencies use the three general levels of classification.


 * Confidential: The lowest security clearance - any information where unauthorized disclosure could cause damage to the national security.


 * Secret: Any information where unauthorized disclosure could cause serious damage to the national security. If a private contractor has to work on a military or government contract where they could potentially see or hear information classified as SECRET, they will often be required to obtain SECRET clearance.


 * Top Secret: This is the highest security clearance available. Information that is classified TOP SECRET typically has the potential to cause grave damage to national security if the information is disclosed without authorization.

Compartmentalization Above Top Secret
Since TOP SECRET is the highest classification level, information that is protected by the "extra protection measures" in place beyond TOP SECRET is generally referred to as information within "above Top Secret". The term is actually a misnomer, because there is no such classification - but the additional protections above Top Secret do actually exist.

These additional protections are:

SCI – Sensitive Compartmented Information SAP – Special Access Programs

Therefore, if someone holds a Top Secret clearance, they would not have access to SCI or SAP information. The SCI protection in particular is what adds fodder to so many conspiracy theories, because even with SCI access, you still have to have a "need to know". If you are not cleared for that "compartment" of information, you can't access it.

Why Above Top Secret Clearances Exist
These additional protections are very important for military research projects in particular, where scientists and technicians have a "need to know" about specific areas or components of the project. This is especially true with engineering designs, where the access is even limited to parts of a design - but the engineer or technician may not need to have access to the entire scope of the project or design.

The point of these additional protections above top secret protect highly sensitive projects even in the case where there is a leak to foreign intelligence agents, because individual members that are cleared will only have access to a small part of the project. The remaining "compartments" stay protected from the leak.