UAP Disclosure Act 2023–2024: What Passed, What Died
The UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 — formally the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act — was introduced by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act 2024. It was the most significant legislative attempt at UAP declassification since the Freedom of Information Act itself.
What the Original Bill Required
The original Schumer-Rounds amendment was modelled explicitly on the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Its key provisions included a presumption of disclosure for all UAP records, a new independent Review Board with subpoena power, a 25-year hard deadline for declassification of all UAP-related government records, and a prohibition on private entities claiming ownership of recovered non-human technology — meaning any craft or material recovered on American soil would be declared federal property regardless of which contractor currently held it.
The contractor ownership clause was the provision the defence industry fought hardest to remove. If passed in its original form, it would have legally compelled private companies to surrender any recovered non-human technology to government custody. It was stripped before the bill reached the floor.
What Was Stripped Out
Between the original draft and the version that passed in December 2023, the following provisions were removed or substantially weakened: the mandatory transfer of privately held UAP technology to government control; the subpoena power of the Review Board over defence contractors; the “presumption of disclosure” default that would have reversed the classification burden; and the binding 300-day timeline for initial disclosure of records identified by the Review Board.
The stripping was done primarily in conference committee negotiation. The DoD, citing national security concerns, successfully lobbied for removal of the contractor control provisions. The intelligence community opposed the Review Board’s independence provisions.
What Survived
The final NDAA 2024 UAP provisions retained: the UAP Records Review Board as a concept; a requirement for the President to establish the Review Board by executive order; a requirement for agencies to identify and disclose records to the Board; and a 25-year outer limit on classification with presidential override. The Board had no independent subpoena power and no authority to compel contractors to disclose or surrender technology.
The Executive Order Deadline
President Biden signed NDAA 2024 in December 2023. The Act gave the President until June 2024 to establish the Review Board by executive order. That deadline was not met. As of the April 27, 2026 congressional deadline for agency responses to briefing demands, the Review Board remained unestablished. The Trump administration inherited an unfulfilled executive order obligation and stated intent to address UAP disclosure through separate executive action.