The U.S. Department of War announced Monday that it has issued a new legal waiver allowing current and former government personnel to disclose information related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) to representatives of the PURSUE initiative, according to a specialty publication report.
The department said the waiver establishes an authorized, legally protected mechanism for personnel to provide UAP-related National Defense Information to designated PURSUE representatives. According to the department, the measure supports President Donald Trump's push for greater transparency on UAP by creating a protected channel for military and government personnel to share such information.
The directive applies to current and former Department of War service members, veterans, civilian employees and contractors who have or previously had access to UAP-related National Defense Information, the department said. According to a specialty publication's description of the waiver, it offers targeted relief from certain civil and administrative enforcement provisions contained in nondisclosure agreements and Special Access Program Indoctrination Agreements, but only for authorized communications with PURSUE representatives. The waiver does not amount to blanket authorization for individuals to publicly reveal protected or classified information.
The PURSUE initiative, launched earlier this year by the Trump administration according to the specialty publication, is described as an effort to identify, review, declassify and publicly release UAP-related records held by federal agencies. It is distinct from the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the Pentagon's UAP investigative body.
The Department of War said the waiver does not mean previously classified UAP information has been declassified or cleared for release. Instead, it said, the waiver creates an authorized pathway for people with relevant information to submit it to PURSUE for review, after which material would undergo potential declassification before any public release.
Michael Gold, president of Redwire Space and a former NASA official who has said he supported the earlier UAP Task Force and NASA's UAP Independent Study Team, characterized the Department of War's action as nearly unprecedented. Gold said he had never seen anything like it on any topic, and said it demonstrates the seriousness with which the department and the Trump administration are treating UAP transparency.
Gold said disclosures made to PURSUE would need to be reviewed, with classified information redacted, before being released publicly. He pointed to the National Archives and other executive branch agencies as having already gone through a similar process to release information in tranches, and said he believed the same approach could apply to material disclosed under the waiver. Gold said he was optimistic that some significant information could ultimately be made public through the process.
Gold also said members of Congress involved in UAP oversight should eventually be given access to information submitted under the waiver, and praised Representatives Burlison, Luna and Burchett, among others, as champions of UAP transparency.
Gold argued that greater UAP transparency could benefit the aerospace sector, lead to new scientific discoveries and technologies, and improve safety for air traffic and space operations. He also said reducing the stigma around UAP could help close what he described as a loophole exploited by adversary nations to mask advanced drone activity near critical American infrastructure.