Form C1-1. Counsel's Letter to AARO Requesting Confirmation of the §3373b Authorized Reporting Mechanism

Use. Before a client discloses classified UAP information, counsel confirms in writing that the intended recipient is the statutory “mechanism for authorized reporting,” obtains the published procedures, and arranges a cleared session. The letter creates a record that the disclosure was made in reliance on 50 U.S.C. §3373b.

On the site’s working premise. The site assumes AARO is a deliberate source of disinformation and part of the concealment (Issue C1 §2). The letter still matters, because the §3373b(b) protection attaches by statute to an authorized disclosure whatever AARO does with it. Use the letter to secure the protection, give AARO no more than the protection requires, and make the substantive disclosure in parallel to an inspector general or the ICIG (see the cc line and the follow-up letter below).

When to use. Before a client makes a disclosure through the AARO mechanism, to confirm the channel in writing. Not for: Disclosures to an inspector general or committee, which follow their own procedures.

Deadlines. Send before the disclosure. Follow up after 30 days without a response.

The document

3 pages, laid out as in the PDF and Word downloads. Select a page to open the PDF at that page.

[Counsel letterhead]

[Date]

Director All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office [Address / AARO secure contact as published]

Re: Request to arrange an authorized disclosure under 50 U.S.C. §3373b on behalf of a client

Dear Director:

I represent an individual (the “Client”) who [is a current / former] [employee of (agency) / service member / employee of a contractor of (agency)] and who has information concerning [an event relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena / an activity or program relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena] within the meaning of 50 U.S.C. §3373b(a)(1). The Client wishes to make an authorized disclosure through the mechanism established under that section.

To ensure that the disclosure is made through the statutory mechanism and receives the protections of §3373b(b), I request that AARO:

confirm the specific office, personnel, and procedures that constitute the “mechanism for authorized reporting” under §3373b(a)(1), and provide a copy of the public guidance issued under §3373b(a)(5)(B);
arrange a meeting in an appropriate secure facility with designated, appropriately cleared personnel (§3373b(a)(3)), at which the Client may make the disclosure, [with counsel present / with counsel present for the unclassified portion, counsel not holding a clearance];
confirm in writing, at or after the meeting, the date and the fact that the Client made an authorized disclosure through the mechanism;
provide the procedures established under §3373b(b)(2)(B) for enforcing the prohibition on reprisals, and identify the office to which the Client should report any reprisal; and
state whether AARO will refer the disclosure to the PURSUE team or to the congressional committees under §3373b(a)(4)(B), so that the Client is aware of where the information will go.

The Client is also [a current or former Department of War employee, service member, or contractor with access to UAP-related national defense information and therefore within the Department’s September 14, 2026 PURSUE waiver]. Please advise whether the Client’s disclosure to AARO will also be treated as a communication to PURSUE, or whether a separate communication is required.

The Client relies on §3373b(b)(1), under which an authorized disclosure “shall not be subject to a nondisclosure agreement,” is deemed to comply with orders and regulations under Executive Order 13526 and chapter 18 of the Atomic Energy Act, and “is not a violation of section 798 of title 18, or other provision of law relating to the disclosure of information.”

Please contact me at [phone/email] to arrange the meeting. I ask that communications about scheduling be directed to me.

Sincerely, [Name, bar admission, clearance status]

cc: [Client’s agency Inspector General / DoD Inspector General / Inspector General of the Intelligence Community]

Follow-up letter (if AARO does not respond within 30 days, or after the disclosure)

[Counsel letterhead] [Date]

Director, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

Re: Follow-up to my letter of [date] concerning an authorized disclosure under 50 U.S.C. §3373b

Dear Director:

On [date] I asked AARO to confirm the authorized reporting mechanism and to arrange a disclosure by my client. [I have received no response. / My client made the disclosure on [date] at [place]; I have received no written confirmation.] Please provide within 14 days:

written confirmation of the mechanism and procedures requested in my earlier letter [or: written confirmation that my client made an authorized disclosure on [date]];
if the disclosure concerned a program not previously reported to Congress, confirmation of the date on which AARO provided the notification that §3373b(a)(4)(B) requires within 72 hours; and
the name of the office to which my client should report any reprisal.

My client has also provided the information to [inspector general] and reserves all rights under §3373b(b)(2) and other law. I am sending a copy of this letter to that office and to [the congressional defense and intelligence committees, through their designated staff].

Sincerely, [Name]

cc: [Inspector General]; [Committee designated contacts]

Drafting notes

Records. Keep the original letter, proof of delivery, and any reply in the client file. If AARO does not answer, the follow-up letter and the parallel IG filing still show that the client sought to use the statutory channel, which is the best answer to a later claim that the disclosure was unauthorized.
Do not include substance. Neither letter should describe the program beyond the unclassified category in §3373b(a)(1).
Committees. A member’s office on the defense or intelligence committees can ask AARO whether the 72-hour notification was sent. Contact only designated committee staff, and never with classified information outside the committees’ procedures.
Related: Issue C1, C3, C4; Forms C1-2, C3-1.