Bipartisan senators, scientists, and national security officials gathered June 25 at the Russell Senate Office Building for the Disclosure Forum 2026 - Rep. Luna called for White House immunity for sources who may hold knowledge of potentially recovered nonhuman materials.
The Disclosure Forum 2026 - the most publicly prominent civil-society summit on unidentified anomalous phenomena yet convened on Capitol Hill - took place June 25, 2026, at the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building, bringing together bipartisan U.S. senators, House members, scientists, and former national security officials for a full-day on-the-record conversation about UAP transparency.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who chairs the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, said at the forum that federal agencies have failed to hand over UAP records her task force has requested, and that Congress has in some cases been told the relevant files cannot be located. Luna said lawmakers are maintaining a list of individuals for whom they are seeking White House immunity, in order to allow those individuals to share information on potentially recovered nonhuman craft or biologics, according to media coverage of the forum’s opening proceedings.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) reiterated his position that nondisclosure agreements covering UAP-related material should be waived and that anyone with knowledge of relevant evidence - including any evidence of non-Earth origin - should be able to come forward without legal risk.
The forum’s lineup
The event was organized by the Disclosure Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit chaired by Christopher Mellon, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. Mellon chaired the day’s proceedings.
The congressional delegation was bipartisan. Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, participated alongside House members from multiple committees. Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), and Andre Carson (D-IN) joined Luna and Burlison.
The scientific lineup included Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who chairs the 12-member UAP Science Advisory Council established in June by the White House, AARO, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and FBI partners. Also present were Harold Puthoff, PhD (EarthTech International), Carlos Eire, PhD (Yale University), and retired Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who previously served as NOAA’s Acting Administrator. Journalists Gadi Schwartz and Kristin Fisher served as moderators.
The forum’s theme, “Humanity at the Edge of Discovery,” framed panels covering Congressional oversight of PURSUE, national security considerations, scientific methodology for UAP investigation, philosophical and religious dimensions, and economic implications. The event ran from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., was free to attend, and was livestreamed publicly on the Disclosure Foundation’s YouTube channel.
Context: PURSUE and the Loeb council
The forum came at an active moment in UAP policy. The third tranche of declassified files under the PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) process was released on June 14, 2026, comprising 53 documents, images, videos, and audio from the CIA, FBI, NASA, and Pentagon. Approximately 40 percent of submitted phenomena remained unexplained in the assessment by AARO Director Dr. Jon Kosloski.
The UAP Science Advisory Council, also announced on June 14, is tasked with improving the rigor of data collection going forward rather than re-examining older unverifiable cases. Its 12 members span data science, molecular biology, oceanography, instrumentation, and psychology.
What is and is not established
The existence of recovered “nonhuman craft or biologics” is an unverified claim, not a publicly confirmed fact. No official statement from AARO, the Pentagon, or the White House has confirmed the existence of such materials. The calls for immunity from Luna and Burlison reflect a belief among some lawmakers that witnesses to such materials exist and are constrained by nondisclosure agreements - but the underlying evidence for that belief has not been made public.
The Disclosure Foundation itself makes no factual claim about recovered materials. Its stated purpose is to bring together those who “write the laws, study the evidence, and deserve answers - all in the same room, on the record.”
The White House had not publicly responded to the immunity request at the time of writing.
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