UFO disclosure, step by step
Updated October 29, 2026
Short answer
So far, UFO disclosure has meant released files, reports and hearings, not a confirmation of aliens. Since 2017 the US government has admitted a secret UFO study, released Navy videos, set up a Pentagon UFO office (AARO), held several public hearings in Congress and, since May 2026, published seven batches of UFO files on war.gov/UFO. The next big decision is whether the UAP Disclosure Act survives in the final FY2027 defense bill.
Status: As of October 29, 2026: no official confirmation of non-human intelligence. Latest step: PURSUE Release 07 (October 23, 2026). Next: the final FY2027 defense bill and Release 08, neither with an announced date.
All the latest on Uncovering the Truth About UFOs
What "disclosure" means here
In UFO circles, "disclosure" means the government officially admitting what it knows about UFOs, and for many people, admitting that non-human intelligence exists. The official steps so far have been smaller: admitting that programs existed, releasing videos and documents, publishing case counts and hearing testimony under oath. None of them confirmed aliens; our status tracker covers that question day to day.
This timeline lists the official steps and keeps findings apart from claims. It is not about Steven Spielberg's film "Disclosure Day" (released June 12, 2026) or the documentary "The Age of Disclosure" (November 2025). Both raised interest, but neither is an official step.
2017–2020: the secret study comes out
This is where the current wave starts. Earlier programs, such as the Air Force's Project Blue Book (1952–1969), had closed decades before.
- December 16, 2017: The New York Times reveals the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), funded with about $22 million from 2007 to 2012 at Senator Harry Reid's request, and publishes two Navy videos.
- April 27, 2020: The Defense Department officially releases three Navy videos from 2004 and 2015 (FLIR, GIMBAL and GOFAST). The objects in them remain officially "unidentified."
- August 4, 2020: The Pentagon creates a UAP Task Force, led by the Navy.
2021–2022: the government starts counting
- June 25, 2021: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) publishes its preliminary assessment of 144 military reports from 2004 to 2021. It explains one, a deflating balloon, and says limited data leave the rest unexplained.
- May 17, 2022: A House Intelligence subcommittee holds the first public congressional hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years.
- July 20, 2022: The Pentagon sets up the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) as its permanent UFO office, covering air, sea and space.
2023: sworn testimony, NASA, and a law that got cut
- January 12, 2023: ODNI's annual report raises the total to 510 reports. Many of the new cases turn out to be balloons, drones or airborne clutter.
- July 2023: Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds introduce the UAP Disclosure Act, modeled on the JFK assassination records law, with an independent review board and the power to take over recovered technology and biological evidence held by private companies.
- July 26, 2023: Former intelligence officer David Grusch tells a House Oversight subcommittee under oath that the US runs a program to retrieve and reverse-engineer non-human craft and holds "non-human biologics." Navy pilots David Fravor and Ryan Graves describe what they saw. AARO later says it found no evidence for Grusch's claims.
- September 14, 2023: NASA's independent study team finds "no reason to conclude" that UAP reports have an extraterrestrial source and calls for better data.
- December 22, 2023: The FY2024 defense law is signed with a cut-down version of the Act: a UAP records collection at the National Archives, without the independent review board or the power to seize recovered material.
2024–2025: denials and more testimony
- March 8, 2024: AARO's historical report, covering records back to 1945, finds no evidence of extraterrestrial technology or of a hidden reverse-engineering program.
- November 13, 2024: A second House Oversight hearing, with former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, journalist Michael Shellenberger and former NASA official Michael Gold.
- November 14, 2024: AARO's annual report logs 757 new reports, 21 of which it says merit further analysis.
- September 9, 2025: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's declassification task force holds a UAP hearing. Rep. Eric Burlison shows a video, dated October 2024, of a Hellfire missile striking a glowing orb off Yemen.
- December 2025: The FY2026 defense law again leaves out the Disclosure Act, keeping only narrower UAP provisions, such as briefings on military intercepts.
2026: the UFO files
- February 14–15, 2026: Barack Obama says aliens are "real" in a podcast lightning round, then clarifies that he saw no evidence of contact.
- February 19, 2026: Donald Trump directs the Secretary of War and other agencies to identify and release files on UFOs, UAP and extraterrestrial life.
- March 2026: The White House registers aliens.gov. The address now forwards to a page about illegal immigration, not extraterrestrials.
- May 8, 2026: PURSUE Release 01 goes up on war.gov/UFO with more than 160 files. Further releases follow on May 22, June 12, July 10, August 7 and September 18.
- June 24, 2026: Schumer and Rounds file the Act again as Senate Amendment 6344 to the Senate's FY2027 defense bill.
- July 2026: The president directs the Department of War and intelligence agencies to let former employees talk to AARO or the PURSUE team with old non-disclosure agreements waived, Fox News reports, citing a senior administration official. AARO's FY2025 report logs 319 new reports and finds an ordinary explanation for every case it resolved.
- July 22, 2026: The House adds Rep. Eric Burlison's version of the UAP Disclosure Act to its FY2027 defense bill (H.R. 8800), which passes 216–212.
- October 23, 2026: PURSUE Release 07: 28 documents, including reports of black triangles and Walter Haut's account of the Roswell incident.
What to watch for next
None of these steps has confirmed non-human intelligence. These are the next moments that could change the picture:
- Release 08 of the UFO files. The seven batches so far came out on Fridays, two to six weeks apart. No date has been announced for the next one. Our UFO files hub picks up a new release within minutes.
- The final FY2027 defense bill. The House version includes the Disclosure Act; the Senate has not passed its own bill yet. In recent years the final bill has been signed in December. Watch whether the review board and the power to seize recovered material survive, since they did not in 2023. What the Act says.
- AARO's next annual report. The last one came out in July 2026, months behind the usual schedule, and covered events through May 2025.
- New testimony. If old non-disclosure agreements are waived as reported, more witnesses may go to AARO and PURSUE. Testimony stays a claim until evidence is released.
- The wording. "Unidentified," "unresolved" and "anomalous" mean the data ran out. The words that would matter are "non-human," "extraterrestrial" or "recovered craft," said on the record by the President, the Secretary of War, the Director of National Intelligence, NASA or AARO, with evidence attached.
Questions and answers
When will UFO disclosure happen?
No one knows, and no date has been set. The next moments to watch are the final FY2027 defense bill, usually signed in December, and the next PURSUE file release, which has not been announced.
Has UFO disclosure already happened?
Only partly. The US government has released videos, files and case counts, but it has not confirmed aliens or non-human intelligence.
What is PURSUE?
The Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, the Department of War program that has published UFO files on war.gov/UFO since May 8, 2026, following Trump's February order. Seven batches were out by October 23, 2026.
Did the UAP Disclosure Act pass?
Not yet. A cut-down version became law in December 2023 and created only a records collection at the National Archives. The full Act was added to the House's FY2027 defense bill on July 22, 2026, and its fate depends on the final bill negotiated with the Senate.
Is Disclosure Day a real event?
No. "Disclosure Day" is a Steven Spielberg science-fiction film released on June 12, 2026. It has nothing to do with any government announcement.
Why does the UFO disclosure timeline start in 2017?
Because the December 2017 New York Times report on AATIP was the first time the Pentagon's modern UFO study became public, and it pushed Congress to demand reports. Earlier programs, such as Project Blue Book, had closed in 1969.
From the past hours
UFO news todaySources
- Department of Defense, Statement on the Release of Historical Navy Videos (April 27, 2020)
- ODNI, Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (June 25, 2021)
- House Oversight Committee, UAP hearing with David Grusch, David Fravor and Ryan Graves (July 26, 2023)
- NASA, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team Report (September 2023)
- National Defense Authorization Act for FY2024, Public Law 118-31, secs. 1841–1843 (UAP records collection)
- AARO, Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with UAP, Volume I (March 8, 2024)
- House Oversight Task Force, Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (hearing transcript, September 9, 2025)
- Department of War, Seventh Release of UAP Files on WAR.GOV/UFO (October 23, 2026)
- Congress.gov, H.R. 8800, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
- Congress.gov, S.Amdt. 6344 (Schumer–Rounds UAP Disclosure Act) to S. 4784
More explainers
- Has the US government confirmed aliens? Here's where things standNo. As of October 29, 2026, no US agency or president has confirmed aliens or non-human intelligence. What AARO, NASA, Trump and Obama actually said.
- The UAP Disclosure Act: what it says and where it standsThe UAP Disclosure Act would force US UFO records into public view. What the bill says, what became law in 2023, and its status in the 2027 defense bill.
- Is the US government hiding aliens? The claims and the evidenceWhistleblowers say the US hides crashed UFOs and non-human bodies; the Pentagon says it found no evidence. What each side has shown, and what is proven.
- Non-human intelligence (NHI): what the UFO term meansWhat does NHI mean in UFO talk? US lawmakers defined non-human intelligence in 2023. What the term covers, who uses it, and what has actually been shown.