What happened
On 8 May 2026 the Department of War launched WAR.GOV/UFO and published the first tranche of files under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, or PURSUE, an interagency effort with the White House, ODNI, the Energy Department, AARO, NASA and the FBI. The roughly 160 files ranged from FBI 'flying disc' records of 1947 to 1968 to recent military sensor video from the Middle East, Iraq, Greece and the United Arab Emirates, and an Apollo 12 lunar photograph with a highlighted area of interest. One clip showed a diamond-shaped object recorded over Greece in 2024, reportedly moving at about 434 knots and visible only in short-wave infrared. The Pentagon said the files were unresolved cases, reviewed for security but mostly not analyzed. Secretary Pete Hegseth said the public should see for itself. A second release on 22 May added 64 files, mostly videos, plus NASA mission audio, including footage AARO said came from a classified network with no substantiated chain of custody. Further releases followed through the summer.
The official explanation
The Pentagon stressed that the releases are raw unresolved material, not evidence of anything extraordinary, and that unresolved often means insufficient data. Observers noted that some videos plausibly show birds, balloons or distant aircraft distorted by infrared optics, and that the first batch offered no conclusive evidence of alien technology. Redactions protected witnesses and unrelated military sites. AARO itself warned that many clips from the classified network lack a substantiated chain of custody, which limits what any outside analyst can conclude from them, and the department continues to report resolved cases separately.
The anomalous case
For the first time the US government is systematically publishing its own unresolved UAP files, including recent sensor video from multiple theaters that officials could not explain. The diamond-shaped object filmed over Greece was described as moving at about 434 knots and detectable only in one sensor band. Many of the newer clips were drawn from classified military networks, confirming that operators had been circulating unexplained footage internally for years, as whistleblowers said. NASA's administrator said the agency would be candid about what it does not yet understand. Representative Luna said more footage requested by her task force would follow. Advocates see the releases as vindication: the files exist, they show things the military cannot identify, and the process is ongoing.
The strongest argument that this was something genuinely unknown or classified, with each claim attributed to the person who made it.
Documents
- WAR.GOV/UFO collection official, war.gov
Sources
- Pentagon begins release of UAP files MeriTalk
- Trump administration begins to release new UFO files to the public FOX 11 Los Angeles
- Pentagon releases UFO files Deseret News
- 2nd batch of Pentagon UAP files: Over 50 videos to watch EarthSky
- Second batch of UAP files released Leonard David's Inside Outer Space
Witness reports elsewhere
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