Aaron Lukas

Background

Aaron Paul Lukas (b. 1971) is an Arkansas-born intelligence official who has become a central figure in the U.S. government's 2026 pivot toward mandatory UFO/UAP disclosure. A graduate of Texas A&M University (political science, 1993) and George Washington University, Lukas's career spans policy research, intelligence operations, and executive leadership in the intelligence community.

Intelligence Career

Lukas spent over two decades with the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as both an analyst and clandestine operations officer. His most significant field role was CIA Chief of Station, where he managed sensitive intelligence collection programs critical to U.S. national security. Before his CIA tenure, he worked seven years as a policy analyst at the Cato Institute and served as chief speechwriter for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick during the Bush administration.

Government Leadership in UAP Policy

Lukas was elevated to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence during the first Trump administration, initially serving as ODNI Chief of Staff. In 2025, the Senate confirmed him as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. When Director Tulsi Gabbard resigned in June 2026, Trump designated Lukas as Acting Director, placing him at the helm of the entire U.S. intelligence community during the most aggressive phase of formal UAP/alien disclosure in history.

2026 UAP Disclosure Memorandum

On July 31, 2026, Lukas signed an official memorandum from the ODNI that fundamentally altered the legal and bureaucratic landscape for UAP transparency. The directive declared that disclosure of information concerning Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena with potential association with non-human made technologies is no longer optional for current and former U.S. government employees, intelligence officials, and contractors.

The memorandum explicitly nullified the effect of existing secrecy oaths and non-disclosure agreements for UAP-related information disclosed through approved government channels, effectively creating a protected whistleblower pathway for insiders possessing classified UAP knowledge. Federal agencies were ordered to notify all employees that their obligations of silence on UAP matters had been rescinded for properly channeled disclosures.

PURSUE Task Force Oversight

As Acting DNI, Lukas oversees the PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) initiative launched in May 2026. PURSUE has systematically released tranches of declassified UAP documentation on a roughly monthly cadence: an initial batch of 162 files in May covering over 400 incidents spanning 1985–2025, followed by subsequent releases in June, July, and August 2026. These releases include FBI surveillance documents, NASA astronaut communications transcripts, State Department diplomatic cables, military thermal infrared videos, and pilot witness accounts of high-speed maneuvering objects.