President Donald Trump issued a February 2026 directive instructing federal agencies to identify and release government records on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, the current term for what were long called UFOs. This followed years of congressional hearings and pressure from lawmakers seeking expanded public access to unexplained aerial encounter data. On May 8, 2026, the Department of Defense launched an initial public release of reports, videos, photographs, and historical documents through a dedicated portal, with further tranches planned on a rolling basis every few weeks after interagency review. Ongoing coordination between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other departments continues to shape the pace and scope of disclosures, providing traders with clear milestones to assess completion timelines.