The Department of Defense announced Monday that it is issuing a legal waiver allowing current and former military personnel, civilian employees and contractors to disclose information related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), commonly known as UFOs, to designated representatives of a government transparency initiative, the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The announcement comes amid renewed interest in UAP investigations following congressional hearings, whistleblower allegations and the release of previously classified government records in recent years. For decades, military personnel and contractors with knowledge of classified UAP-related programs have cited concerns that speaking about the subject could expose them to legal penalties, loss of security clearances or other administrative consequences.
The waiver removes legal barriers that have long deterred UAP witnesses from coming forward, allowing current and former defense personnel to share UFO-related information with the government's PURSUE disclosure program without violating certain secrecy agreements. While the announcement represents one of the most significant policy changes in years regarding the government's handling of UAP information, it's the latest in a series of disclosure-related moves President Donald Trump has made since the beginning of his second term. Officials said the new process will create a formal pipeline for reviewing, evaluating and potentially declassifying historical and ongoing UAP information.
Supporters of disclosure efforts have long argued that legal protections are necessary to encourage witnesses and insiders to come forward with information that could help lawmakers and the public better understand unexplained aerial incidents. "Anytime there can be more transparency, it's great," Dr. Julia Mossbridge, founder of the Mossbridge Institute and a researcher affiliated with multiple universities and technology companies, told Newsweek in a phone interview Monday following the announcement.
"I think it's great that Pursue exists and has now been steadily releasing information that had previously been declassified to the general public, and I applaud the efforts of the Public Interest Declassification Board, the disclosure fund, the visible college, and the scientific coalition for UAP studies. These are organizations that have really pushed for congressional hearings and for full transparency, and it looks like we're headed in that direction," she said. "I think this will make a big difference in our understanding of our place in the universe." Before Monday's announcement, personnel with access to classified UAP-related information remained bound by non-disclosure agreements and Special Access Program Indoctrination Agreements, or SAPIAs.
The DOW said those agreements often discouraged people with knowledge of UAP-related programs from sharing information because of concerns about potential legal liability or administrative punishment. Under the new directive, civil and administrative enforcement provisions tied to those agreements are waived for authorized disclosures made directly to PURSUE representatives. The department emphasized that the waiver does not create unrestricted public disclosure authority.
Instead, it establishes a controlled process through which information can be reviewed for security concerns and possible declassification before wider release. Most recently, the DOD published its fifth release as part of PURSUE, a tranche of different information on multiple different UAP sightings, including civilian encounters. The tranche included accounts from two U.S. government special agents, including an afternoon incident documented with thermal video footage showing two slow-moving "black-hot" infrared anomalies Another witness reported three separate sightings within a five-hour window somewhere in the western United States.
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