Nine days after President Trump directed federal agencies to begin releasing files related to UFOs, UAPs, and extraterrestrial life, one of the most prominent voices in the disclosure movement weighed in.
Christopher K. Mellon – former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and former Minority Staff Director for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence – posted a detailed assessment on X. His take: this is historic. But it’s not the finish line.
“This is clearly a historic development, one that has the potential to open many minds.”
What followed was a careful, paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown of what the directive can and cannot accomplish – and where the real disclosure bottleneck lies.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; UAP transparency advocate
View full profile →The Core Argument – Disclosure Won’t Come From the Archives
Mellon’s central point cuts against a common assumption in the UAP community: that disclosure will arrive in a flood of declassified documents.
It won’t, he argues. Not through the statutory pipeline at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and not through any single data dump. The reason is straightforward – no agency head is going to let a bombshell confirming non-human intelligence slip out in a batch upload to an online catalog.
“Disclosure is not going to be the result of someone combing through stacks of UAP documents released to the National Archives as presently required by law. No agency head is going to release a bombshell of this magnitude in a data dump at the National Archives. They are going to take any information confirming non-human intelligence straight to the White House for guidance.”
That framing sets up a tension between two disclosure pathways now running in parallel.
Two Pathways, One Goal
Pathway 1: The statutory NARA pipeline. Under the 2024 NDAA (Sections 1841–1843), federal agencies are required to identify UAP records, create digital copies, and transfer publicly releasable versions to NARA’s UAP Records Collection – designated Record Group 615. A NARA guidance memo sets a hard deadline: agencies must transfer records identified by October 20, 2024, no later than September 30, 2025. Some records from the ODNI, OSD, FAA, and NRC have already arrived.
Pathway 2: The presidential directive. Trump’s February 19 announcement bypasses (or at least accelerates) the archival process by ordering agencies directly to identify and release everything related to UAPs and extraterrestrial life. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has since confirmed the Pentagon is acting on it.
“We’ve got our people working on it right now … we’re digging in.” – Pete Hegseth, per TIME
“We’re going to be in full compliance with that executive order.” – Hegseth, per DefenseScoop
Mellon sees both pathways as beneficial but clearly believes the presidential route carries more force. The NARA pipeline is methodical and slow by design. A White House directive, backed by a defense secretary willing to comply, has the potential to shake loose material that might otherwise sit in agency vaults for years.
The Public Record Is Already Compelling
Before making his procedural argument, Mellon established a premise that’s easy to overlook in the policy discussion:
“There is already more than enough evidence in the public record for a reasonable person to suspect that non-human technology is operating in Earth’s skies and oceans and has been since at least WWII. What is lacking is an irrefutable smoking gun linking these craft to non-human intelligence.”
He’s referencing a record that includes Navy UAP videos formally released by the DoD in 2020, decades of pilot reports, and a pattern of sightings stretching back to the “foo fighter” reports filed by Allied aircrews during World War II. The gap, in his view, isn’t evidence – it’s proof at the level that ends the debate entirely.
He also suggested that even without a single decisive document, a critical mass of credible photos and videos could force the issue:
“A build-up of credible UAP photos and videos may ignite a national conversation that eventually requires the President to engage in more direct and extensive public discussions regarding UAP.”
The ‘Blue Force’ Problem
Mellon flagged an issue that complicates any wholesale release of UAP files: some of what’s been recorded as “UAP” is actually classified U.S. military technology – what the intelligence community calls “blue force.”
This is particularly acute for records dating back to the Cold War and earlier. Experimental aircraft, classified sensor platforms, and test flights have historically generated UAP reports that were never corrected in the record. Releasing those files without careful review could expose programs that still require protection.
Mellon acknowledged this directly, calling for a release that recognizes “some ‘UAP’ information is actually blue force technology that does need to be protected.”
Where Things Stand – AARO’s Growing Caseload and Missing Reports
While the White House and Pentagon signal forward momentum, the office actually responsible for UAP investigations – the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) – remains behind on its own obligations.
As DefenseScoop reported on February 25, AARO’s caseload now exceeds 2,000 reports. Yet two major congressionally mandated deliverables are still outstanding:
- Historical Record Report, Volume II – required under the FY2023 NDAA (Section 6802). Volume I, released in March 2024, found no evidence of confirmed extraterrestrial technology. Volume II has not appeared.
- 2025 Annual Report – required by statute. As of late February 2026, it has not been published.
Mellon has been vocal about these gaps, arguing that AARO “has yet to fulfill its statutory obligations.” The Trump directive, he suggested, could create additional pressure for the office to deliver.
A Long Process
Mellon closed with a note of realism. Even with a sitting president ordering releases, even with a defense secretary pledging compliance, the actual process of reviewing, declassifying, and publishing decades of UAP records will take time.
“I expect a rather long process, one that may feel like water torture to some UAP researchers. Hopefully, Congress will recognize the enormous stakes involved and work to ensure full compliance with the President’s initiative.”
His organization, the Disclosure Foundation, pledged to track the process and push for accountability.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2026 | Trump announces directive to release UAP/alien files |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Reuters, AP, ABC News confirm the announcement |
| Feb 25, 2026 | Hegseth confirms Pentagon is working on compliance; DefenseScoop reports AARO caseload exceeds 2,000 |
| Feb 28, 2026 | Mellon publishes detailed assessment on X |
Sources: Mellon on X · Reuters · ABC News · AP News · TIME · DefenseScoop (Feb 20) · DefenseScoop (Feb 25) · NARA UAP Records · NARA FAQ