–https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/policy/memos-to-agency-records-officers.html

AC 04.2025
Date: October 10, 2024
Memorandum to Federal Agency Records Officers: Transfer of Publicly Releasable Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Records
This memo is for federal agencies with UAP records responsive to sections 1841–1843 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (Public Law 118-31) (now at 44 U.S.C. 2107 note). 
No later than September 30, 2025, federal agencies must transfer to NARA digital copies of all UAP records identified by October 20, 2024, that can be publicly disclosed, including those that were publicly available on December 22, 2023, the date of the enactment of the Act.  We request that agencies transfer materials on a rolling basis and as soon as possible rather than waiting until the deadline. 
Agencies with publicly releasable UAP records should contact NARA at projects.researchservices@nara.gov as soon as possible to provide information as to their transfer plans and to initiate transfer of publicly releasable UAP records in advance of September 30, 2025. Each publicly releasable UAP record must include metadata according to the guidance to agencies announced in AC 26.2024. 
For any publicly releasable records that include redactions, agencies must simultaneously transfer redacted and unredacted copies to NARA. NARA will only accept digital versions of UAP records. UAP records transferred to NARA in accordance with the Act will be part of Record Group 615, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection.
Further guidance on the review and transfer procedures for classified or otherwise restricted UAP records using the standards for withholding specified in Section 1843 of the Act will be forthcoming.

WILLIAM FISCHER   
Chief Records Officer 
for the U.S. Government (Acting)
 
CHRIS NAYLOR
Executive for Research Services 

AC 39.2024
Date: August 16, 2024
Memorandum to Federal Agency Contacts: General Records Schedule Transmittal 36 
I am pleased to announce the publication of General Records Schedule (GRS) Transmittal 36. 
This transmittal includes one new schedule:
GRS 6.7: Special Collections Required by Statute
This schedule provides disposition authority necessary to allow agencies to transfer records to NARA in the Electronic Records Archive (ERA) as required by specific statutes. Examples of these statutes include The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-426) and the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Collection (Public Law 118-31, Sections 1841-1843). The schedule only covers these special collections of records and not the original records that the agency continues to maintain.
Agency responsibilities:
Agency Records Officers must disseminate the revised GRS within their agencies no later than February 16, 2024.
Any notifications requesting the continued use of agency authorities must be submitted to GRS_Team@nara.gov by December 14, 2024. See Submitting GRS Notifications for more information about this process. Agencies should not need to submit notifications related to this new GRS. This GRS is only for copies of records that are transferred to NARA as required by statute. The GRS does not supersede agency authorities for the records maintained by the agency for its own business purposes. 
For more information, please see the GRS web page. If you have any questions about the GRS, please contact GRS_Team@nara.gov.
 
WILLIAM FISCHER
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government (Acting)

AC 26.2024
Date: May 09, 2024
Memorandum to Federal Records Management Contacts: Guidance on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records
This AC memo announces the guidance to agencies on what information is needed to create and manage the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Records Collection.
Sections 1841-1843 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 118-31) require NARA to establish the ‘‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection.” The law also requires that by October 2024, each federal agency review, identify, and organize each UAP record in its custody for disclosure to the public and transmission to the National Archives. 
Agencies must make digital copies of these records and prepare them for transfer to NARA by the deadline established by the act. NARA will only accept the digital versions of UAP records. 
The webpage contains the metadata requirements and steps agencies must follow when reviewing, identifying, and organizing each UAP record in its custody for transmission to the National Archives and disclosure to the public. 
 
LAURENCE BREWER   
Chief Records Officer 
for the U.S. Government
 
CHRIS NAYLOR
Executive for Research Services 

AC 13.2024
 
Date: February 6, 2024
Memorandum to Federal Records Management Contacts: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records
This AC memo is to inform agency records managers about the recent law on federal records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Sections 1841-1843 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 118-31) require NARA to establish the ‘‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection.” The law also requires that by October 2024, each federal agency review, identify, and organize each UAP record in its custody for disclosure to the public and transmission to the National Archives.  
As one of the first steps, NARA will provide agencies with guidance on what information will be needed to create and manage this collection. The law directs NARA to create a standard form or finding aid for agency use in identifying and reviewing records in the new UAP collection.
NARA will provide this guidance as soon as possible. A preview of the type of metadata or information NARA will need is agency name, file identifiers, document title, date, originator, from, to, location, classification level, restrictions, and number of pages. We will need to know what records can be publicly disclosed and what records must be protected, in whole or in part.
To expedite the collection process, agencies should begin identifying all unidentified anomalous phenomena records as required by the law. Agencies should begin planning on how to create metadata and review these records.
NARA will provide further guidance and communications as we develop processes to identify records responsive to the Act as well as instructions for how to transfer responsive records to the National Archives. 
 
LAURENCE BREWER   
Chief Records Officer 
for the U.S. Government
 
CHRIS NAYLOR
Executive for Research Services 

National Archives Releases UAP Records
Press Release · Thursday, April 24, 2025
Washington, DC

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) today released new records related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). These records were transferred to the National Archives from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in accordance with sections 1841–1843 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 118-31). They are now part of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Collection at the National Archives. 
The release of these UAP records is part of the National Archives’ priority to maximize transparency, ensuring that this information is made available to the American people. NARA will continue to add UAP records to the Collection and make them available online through the National Archives Catalog on an ongoing, rolling basis as they are transferred from federal agencies. 
Visit www.archives.gov/uap for all UAP-related records.

Knight also discussed two recent records release projects and the web pages designed to make those records easier to access: The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection and Records Related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) at the National Archives.

RFK Files, UAP Records, and More
The National Archives continues to deliver for the American people by making more government records available. We released the first tranche of Records Related to the Assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy through a web page dedicated to these records. The release of the first 10,000 pages fulfills part of President Trump’s maximum transparency promise in Executive Order 14176. Visit Archives.gov/RFK to explore the records.
Acting Archivist of the United States Secretary Marco Rubio was at the National Archives at College Park on Wednesday, April 23. The Archivist viewed iconic artifacts spanning 250 years of American history and visited the Digitization Lab to receive a briefing on the ongoing digitization efforts related to Executive Order 14176.
On Thursday, April 24, The National Archives released Records Related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) at the National Archives. These records and their release fulfill the National Archives’ requirement in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act to establish the ‘‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection.”
Additionally, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library released 25 boxes of newly declassified National Security Council records, which are now open and available to the public. These include records related to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, negotiations to end the Vietnam War, diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China, and more.

PIDB Executive Session held on April 10, 2025
May 15, 2025 by karas, posted in Executive Sessions
The PIDB held an in-person executive session on April 10, 2025, at the National Archives building. The meeting was attended by PIDB members Mark Angelson, Carter Burwell, Ezra Cohen, John W. McCarthy, and Ryan Montoya. The members in attendance unanimously voted to amend the PIDB Bylaws to allow two members to serve as Vice Chairs and to elect Carter Burwell and Ezra Cohen to serve as Vice Chairs. 
The meeting featured the following presentations.
An ethics briefing by Jennifer Klein and Neil Hillis from the NARA General Counsel (NGC). 
A briefing on the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) records project, presented by Dr. Jon Kosloski, Director of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), John D. Smith, Chief, Records and Declassification Division of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and David Waltrop and Tom Lutte from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
In addition to the briefing, members discussed topics pertaining to classification and declassification, upcoming meetings, and overall board activities. 
The agenda for the meeting is available on the PIDB’s webpage.

April 10, 2025
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
National Archives Building
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408
Executive Session Agenda
I. Welcome
2:00 – 2:10
Mark Angelson, Chair
II. PIDB Appropriations, and Staffing
2:10 – 2:40
Jennifer Klein, Designated Agency Ethics Official
Neil Hillis, Attorney-Advisor
III. UAP Briefing
3:00 – 4:00
Dr. Jon Kosloski, Director, All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office
J.D. Smith, Chief, Records and Declassification Division. OSD
David Waltrop, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Tom Lutte, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
IV. JFK Act Document Review
4:00 – 4:30
V. Discussion
4:30 – 4:55
All Board Members
VI. Closing Remarks
4:55 – 5:00
Mark Angelson, Chair

PIDB Executive Session held on December 18, 2024
January 6, 2025 by Larry D Clark, posted in Executive Sessions
The PIDB held a virtual executive session on December 18, 2024. In recent weeks, Mary DeRosa, David Hickton, and Andrew Byrnes resigned from the Board. In the interim, Vice Chair Alissa Starzak will serve as acting chair. Ms. Starzak has previously served as acting chair, from June 5, 2020 to January 10, 2021, and again from January 11, 2023 to December 4, 2023. The Board thanked Ms. DeRosa for serving as chair, and Mr. Byrnes and Hickton for their service. 
Acting Chair Starzak led the meeting which was attended by PIDB members Carter Burwell, Andrew Byrnes, Ezra Cohen, Laura DeBonis, and Carmen Medina. The meeting featured a briefing on NARA’s Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) records project by Chris Naylor, Executive for Research Services; Dr. William Fischer, Director NDC and Acting Chief Records Officer; and 
Dr. William Carpenter, Associate Director. NARA has established Record Group 615 Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection which will consist of the digital records transferred to NARA. Federal agencies will transfer UAP identified records that can be publicly disclosed by September 30, 2025. NARA has a website, https://www.archives.gov/research/topics/uaps, for the collection. Researchers can access articles, blog posts, and records available in the catalog.
In addition to the briefing, the members discussed with PIDB Executive Secretary Michael Thomas the work plan for 2025. 
The agenda for the meeting is available on the PIDB’s webpage.

December 18, 2024
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Executive Session
I. Welcome and Introductions
4:30 – 4:35
            Alissa Starzak, Acting Chair
 
II. Introduction of Michael Thomas, ISOO Director
4:35 – 4:40
III. UAP Briefing
4:40 – 5:05
Chris Naylor, Executive for Research Services
Bill Fischer, Director NDC and Acting Chief Records Officer
Bill Carpenter, Associate Director
IV. Declassification Request
5:05 – 5:15
Alissa Starzak, Acting Chair
V. Discussion
5:15 – 5:55
             Alissa Starzak and Michael Thomas
 
             All Board Members
 
VI. Closing Remarks
5:55 – 6:00
Alissa Starzak, Acting Chair