Federal agencies have been given until October 20th to provide all documents, audio, and video related to UFOs to the US government for public distribution, according to instructions issued by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) this month.
This action implements the UFO disclosure amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law last December.
The guidelines outline a strategy to compel reluctant parts of the US military and intelligence community to disclose all information they possess about the mysterious airborne events, now referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).
This move follows two months after the Pentagon's UFO office released a controversial report to Congress, stating it had found no verifiable evidence of the US government or private industry having access to extraterrestrial technology.
NARA archivists have mandated that all UFO or UAP documents be submitted in electronic formats with detailed metadata for inclusion in a new searchable database accessible to the public. The database will include classified material, which NARA will securely store until it can be declassified for public access.
The guidelines specify that government agencies must label each file with its official security status and any special controls, including Special Compartmented Information (SCI) and Special Access Programs (SAP). Every federal agency, including branches of the military and intelligence community such as the CIA, must provide explanations to NARA and the public for why certain UFO documents are exempt from disclosure under the new law.
Members of both houses of Congress have voiced frustration over the diluted nature of the UFO disclosure amendment that was included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Representative Tim Burchett, one of the lawmakers involved in the act, expressed disappointment, stating, “We got ripped off. We got completely hosed. They stripped out every part.”
