THE ROOM
The all-day forum convened in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building — the chamber that once hosted the Watergate and Army–McCarthy hearings. Organized by the Disclosure Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit, it was framed as a working forum rather than a hearing or a rally: keynote remarks and moderated panels on policy, oversight, and scientific process, two years into the rolling Pentagon UAP file releases.
WHO SPOKE
Five sitting lawmakers addressed the forum: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), and Tim Burchett (R-TN). The science and defense roster included Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb — who chairs the White House UAP Science Advisory Council — former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Mellon, retired Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, former NASA official Mike Gold, and physicist Hal Puthoff. Journalist Kristin Fisher moderated a panel. A poll released by the foundation reported that 89% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats favor greater government transparency on UAP.
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Two legislative threads stood out. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) pledged to revive the proposed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act, including whistleblower protections. Rep. Luna said she is working with the White House on granting immunity to people who claim to have information about recovered non-human technology and alien "biologics" — a claim the government has not verified and which AARO's own historical review did not substantiate. The forum also presented its Disclosure Award to former Pentagon official and whistleblower Luis Elizondo for his work pressing the issue into public view.
BEYOND PROOF, INTO PROCESS
The recurring theme was process, not proof. Loeb argued that "attention to anomalies is the best path for gaining new knowledge" and cautioned against drawing conclusions from limited, low-quality public data — urging funding for rigorous study whether the objects turn out to be advanced human technology or something else. Speakers returned to how Congress oversees a historically over-classified subject, what legal protection whistleblowers have, and how a serious scientific body should evaluate the cases that remain unresolved.
THE FORUM AND THE RECORD
The forum landed inside an active disclosure cycle: the PURSUE program has released three tranches of declassified UAP files since May 8, lawmakers are pushing the UAP Disclosure Act, and a bipartisan group held a Capitol press conference on June 9. The through-line across all of it is the primary record — the documents, footage, and testimony being unsealed. Umbra indexes and renders that record natively, so as Washington debates the path forward, you can read what has already been released.
> As Washington debates the path forward, read what's already been released — on your iPhone.
