ODNI's Lukas published the implementation memo for Trump's UAP NDA directive

Rep. Eric Burlison released the text of an Office of the Director of National Intelligence memorandum on August 1, 2026 — the first public document implementing President Donald Trump's July directive waiving nondisclosure agreements for former government and contractor personnel with UAP information. The memo, classified as unclassified and dated July 31, 2026, is signed by Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas and was authorized by the administration for public release, Burlison's office said.

"Any previous or existing NDAs prohibiting disclosure to the President, or designees like PURSUE, are no longer in force and… anyone with knowledge of UAP information should report all such information to AARO, or to an authorized PURSUE representative."

— ODNI Memorandum ES 2026-00818, "Preliminary Guidance for Implementation of NDA Waiver," July 31, 2026

The memo, titled "Memorandum for Distribution," is addressed to all 18 U.S. Intelligence Community elements — the directors of the CIA, NSA, FBI, NRO, NGA, and DIA, the intelligence arms of the State, Treasury, Homeland Security, Energy, and Justice departments, and the intelligence chiefs of every military service from the Army to the Coast Guard. It tells each of them, in identical language, what the President's order requires.

It sets a 30-day clock. "All members of the IC will, within 30 days of the receipt of this memorandum, coordinate with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to establish a PURSUE designee, and inform their workforce of the President's order," the memo says. "Detailed reporting procedures will be disseminated to IC components within the next 30 days. In addition, DoW and ODNI will be issuing to departments and agencies detailed implementation guidance for the broader PURSUE transparency project."

The reporting corridor, and its limits

The memo is a procedural document. It orders the intelligence community to clear the way for current and former employees and contractors to share UAP information with AARO, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the Pentagon, or PURSUE, the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, the White House task force that has been releasing classified UAP records in rolling tranches since 2025. It contains no substantive disclosure of UAP records.

It does not change the declassification standard, grant immunity to witnesses who came forward before the directive, or commit the executive branch to publish any specific tranche of records. Anything handed over still runs through the existing executive classification review before any release, as Fox News Digital first reported on July 20, 2026, quoting unnamed administration officials who said the directive is "not a declassification order" but "a targeted authorization for witnesses to speak through sanctioned government channels."

Burlison's own statement on the release repeats the open question about how the corridor reaches Congress. "Independent congressional oversight is a critical part of UAP disclosure," he wrote, "and we are uncertain whether the abrogation of NDAs will apply to testimony received by Congress before referral to the executive branch. Therefore, at this time, if you are thinking of speaking to the executive branch pursuant to this directive, I strongly recommend that, in addition to an attorney, you request that either I or another Member of Congress be present with you."

Sol Foundation's "historic moment," and where researchers see the gap

The Sol Foundation, a UAP research group associated with Stanford's Dr. Garry Nolan, called the release "a historic moment in disclosure," noting that Lukas's instruction that participation "is not optional" turns reporting into an order rather than an invitation, and pointing to the Sol Foundation's separate characterization of the Lukas memo as an admission that "illegal UAP NDAs" were "specifically written to prevent the lawfully elected President" from being informed.

Other UAP researchers are more cautious. Matthew, who writes the "Invisible Frontiers" Substack and has briefed ODNI directly on the AARO question, called the inclusion of AARO in the cleared reporting chain "a huge red flag." AARO's March 2024 Historical Record Report concluded that the office found no verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial technology or unauthorized off-book reverse-engineering programs. Witnesses whose testimony would directly contradict that finding have argued in public that routing fresh disclosures back through the same office that published the conclusion is unlikely to surface new material.

Joe Murgia, a long-running UAP journalist, posted within hours of the Burlison release that the Lukas memo "does NOT allow" the public testimony several witnesses have said they would give if granted legal immunity. Dr. Eric Davis, Dr. Hal Puthoff, and Dylan Borland — each on the record in recent years that they would share what they know publicly if cleared — can, under the Lukas memo, "only share what they know with AARO or PURSUE, in a private, secure setting," Murgia wrote.

What is still open

The memo lands ten days after the House adopted Burlison's separate UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, on a 216–212 vote on July 22, 2026. That amendment, if enacted, would establish a permanent UAP Records Collection at the National Archives, an independent nine-member UAP Records Review Board with subpoena authority, and mandatory 300-day timelines for federal agencies to transmit covered records. The Senate's NDAA currently contains no UAP language, and the two bills will need to be reconciled in conference later this year.

As of August 1, the underlying presidential directive that Lukas's memo implements remains unpublished. It has no published number, no published signature date, and no entry in the whitehouse.gov presidential actions listing, where NSPM-11 on artificial intelligence and NSPM-12 on cybersecurity appear for the surrounding period and no UAP memorandum does. Burlison's office has asked ODNI to publish the underlying directive text.

No cleared witness has publicly announced a filing under the directive. The 30-day IC coordination clock and the forthcoming DoW/ODNI "detailed implementation guidance" are the next concrete steps on the calendar.

Sources

• Rep. Eric Burlison, "Rep. Eric Burlison Releases Statement on President Trump's UAP NDA Directive," August 1, 2026 (House press release).
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Memorandum ES 2026-00818, "Preliminary Guidance for Implementation of NDA Waiver," signed Aaron Lukas, July 31, 2026 (released August 1, 2026 by Rep. Eric Burlison's office).
• Rep. Eric Burlison, post on X, August 1, 2026, /RepEricBurlison/status/2083537527567241401.
• Sol Foundation, post on X, August 1, 2026, /_SolFoundation/status/2083555959092429113.
• Joe Murgia, post on X, August 1, 2026, /TheUfoJoe/status/2083550096990613748.
• Matthew (SunOfAbramelin), post on X, August 1, 2026, /SunOfAbramelin/status/2083556446562570304.
• Fox News Digital (Morgan Phillips), "Long-hidden UFO information at center of Trump push to free former officials," July 20, 2026.
• UAP Globe, "Trump Directs Agencies to Waive UAP Nondisclosure Agreements," case file, updated July 26, 2026.
• Rep. Eric Burlison, "House Adopts Burlison Amendment Establishing UAP Disclosure Framework," July 22, 2026 (House press release).
• All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Volume I, Department of Defense, March 2024.
• U.S. House Committee on Rules, 119th Congress FY2027 NDAA Hearing Record, Amendment #1044 (Burlison), June 28, 2026.