The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 118-31, Sections 1841–1843) contains language that should have ended the debate. It requires NARA to establish an “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection” and mandates that every federal agency transfer records relating to: “unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, and non-human intelligence.” Congress put those three phrases in the same sentence and made compliance a legal requirement.
The Legal Definition
The UAP Records Collection will consist of “copies of all Government, Government-provided, or Government-funded records relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, and non-human intelligence (or equivalent subjects by any other name with the specific and sole exclusion of temporarily non-attributed objects).”
Three categories, each significant. “Technologies of unknown origin” covers retrieved or observed technology whose provenance cannot be attributed to any known human programme. “Non-human intelligence” covers any entity, signal, or evidence of awareness not attributable to humans. Congress did not define these terms — it recognised them as existing categories of government knowledge and mandated their disclosure.
The Transfer Deadline
Federal agencies were required to review, identify, and organise all UAP records by October 20, 2024. Agencies with publicly releasable records were to contact NARA by September 30, 2025 to initiate transfer. NARA is receiving records on an ongoing, rolling basis. The deadline has passed. The compliance question is now active.
Record Group 615
NARA has established Record Group 615 as the formal container for all UAP records. Each record is assigned an identifier in the format ###UAP00001, ###UAP00002, etc. — a sequential numbering system for what will become the most significant declassified government archive in history. Every document ever created by any US federal agency relating to non-human intelligence, technologies of unknown origin, or UAP now has a legal obligation to end up in that numbering system.
AC Memo 04.2025
In early 2025 NARA issued Administrative Correspondence Memo 04.2025 on “Transfer of Publicly Releasable Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Records” — confirming the transfer process is active and ongoing. The memo supplements the earlier AC 26.2024 guidance that established the metadata requirements agencies must follow when preparing their UAP files for handover.
Source: archives.gov/research/topics/uaps. 2024 NDAA Public Law 118-31 Sections 1841–1843. 44 U.S.C. 2107 note. NARA UAP guidance and AC Memo 04.2025.