President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to waive prior nondisclosure agreements for former government employees and defense contractors who possess information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, a move designed to encourage witnesses to come forward without fear of legal repercussions, Fox News Digital has learned exclusively.
A senior administration official confirmed that Trump recently instructed the Department of Defense and the intelligence community to allow former employees or contractors with relevant UAP information to meet with designated government representatives, including the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office or the president's UAP task force, known as PURSUE. Under this directive, any prior NDAs would be abrogated, clearing the way for these individuals to share what they know through official channels.
Another senior administration official emphasized that the directive is not a declassification order but rather a procedural change that permits former employees to disclose information only within government-approved settings. The move comes amid years of congressional inquiries, whistleblower allegations, and newly declassified records that have raised questions about whether additional witnesses have remained silent because they believed their NDAs prevented them from cooperating with investigations.
“People who believe that they have information have expressed reluctance in coming forward,” the official said. “We are eliminating that source of reluctance.”
Like other government employees and defense contractors with access to classified information or sensitive national security programs, many witnesses would have signed nondisclosure agreements as a condition of receiving security clearances or access to restricted information. Those agreements generally prohibit unauthorized disclosure of classified or otherwise protected material and typically remain in effect even after an individual leaves government service. Former officials and contractors who disclose protected information without authorization risk losing security clearances, facing civil penalties, or, in some circumstances, criminal prosecution if classified information is improperly disclosed.
Under the new process, former employees and contractors who believe they possess relevant UAP information would first meet with designated officials at AARO or PURSUE, who hold the appropriate security clearances. During those authorized discussions, any applicable NDAs could be waived, allowing witnesses to share information without fear of violating prior agreements. Information provided through the process would then be reviewed through the administration's existing declassification procedures.
“Any information that is received that sheds light on the UAP mystery will ultimately be made public,” the official said.
The administration does not know whether potential witnesses actually possess significant new information, but wants to remove any perceived legal barriers so investigators can determine whether previously undisclosed information exists. “You don't know what you don't know,” the official said. The official added that the focus is on incidents that remain unexplained, rather than known foreign technology, classified U.S. programs, or natural phenomena.
The latest directive builds on the Trump administration's broader effort to declassify decades of government records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena. Previous releases have included FBI and Pentagon records describing unexplained sightings reported by military personnel, law enforcement, and astronauts. These accounts include descriptions of glowing “mother orbs” that witnesses said released smaller objects near a sensitive U.S. national security site, mysterious orange spheres observed during military operations, and Apollo-era transcripts in which astronauts described unexplained lights and “jagged, angular fragments” drifting outside their spacecraft.
The most recent tranche of UAP records included expanded details and imagery from a 2015 incident involving an unidentified object over the Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Texas, along with newly declassified infrared footage showing a mysterious six-pointed star-shaped object tracked by a U.S. military sensor over the Yellow Sea on Jan. 1, 2025. The official said the next tranche of files will be made available “very soon.”
The directive follows years of complaints from some lawmakers and whistleblowers that former officials with firsthand knowledge were reluctant to come forward because of secrecy obligations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in 2023 that multiple individuals with firsthand knowledge had approached the committee but were hesitant to speak publicly because of potential repercussions.
“Some of these people still work in the government and frankly, a lot of them are very fearful — fearful of their jobs, fearful of their clearances, fearful of their career, and some, frankly, are fearful of harm coming to them,” Rubio said on News Nation in June 2023.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., demanded during a June 9 press conference on Capitol Hill: “Grant immunity to anyone who has already come forward, and everyone who will come forward. Open the door and let them speak.”
Public interest in UAPs accelerated in 2017 after The New York Times revealed the Pentagon had quietly operated a secret program to investigate unexplained aerial encounters and published Navy cockpit videos showing objects exhibiting unusual flight characteristics. Since then, Congress has held multiple hearings on the topic, and the Pentagon established AARO in 2022 to coordinate investigations across the military and intelligence community.
