Recent news
What’s happened lately in UFO and UAP disclosure, in plain terms. Every item links to its sources and to the case files behind it.
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File release
Pentagon publishes its seventh batch of UAP files
The Department of War posted its seventh PURSUE release, 28 PDF files that Interesting Engineering said bring the online archive to about 478 records. The centrepiece is an AARO memo and a signed FBI statement from two federal agents who reported a dark, silent, triangular craft rising over a ridge near a western national security site in June 2026. The files do not identify it; other records cover older sightings in Sweden, Saudi Arabia and at Utah's Skinwalker Ranch.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, Silent black triangle over a western US security site, AAWSAP, BAASS and the Utah ranch, Catalina Island reports, 1949-1955
Sources: CBS News (via News9), Interesting Engineering, VICE
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Science
NASA chief says he is keeping an open mind on UAP
In a NewsNation interview aired on 25 September, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency should approach UAP reports with an open mind and should have a role if anything extraterrestrial were ever confirmed. He said his own instinct favours natural phenomena or advanced technology being tested by an adversary, while noting that life elsewhere, such as in the oceans of Europa or Enceladus, cannot yet be ruled out.
Case files: NASA's UAP independent study report
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File release
Sixth PURSUE release adds AAWSAP studies and Colorado police videos
The sixth PURSUE release added about 71 files dated 1952 to 2025, by CBS News's count. They include 37 reference documents from the DIA's 2008-2012 AAWSAP programme, which the Pentagon cautioned should not be read as validating the concepts discussed, four October 2023 phone videos from Colorado law enforcement, a 2025 Central Command clip of six small spheres, a 1952 talk by Edward Ruppelt and Blue Book records on the Tremonton film.
Case files: Tremonton Film, Utah, PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, AAWSAP, BAASS and the Utah ranch, Colorado police cellphone videos, Six agile spheres over the Middle East
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Policy
Pentagon waives secrecy-agreement penalties for UAP disclosures to PURSUE
The Department of War announced legal relief allowing current and former service members, civilian staff and contractors to share UAP-related defence information with official PURSUE representatives without civil or administrative penalties under non-disclosure or special access agreements. The department said the waiver covers only disclosures made to PURSUE, does not authorise public release, and that anything shared will be reviewed for security concerns and possible declassification.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, David Grusch testifies to House Oversight
Sources: DefenseScoop, Newsweek, EarthSky
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Science
Gallup: 78% of Americans think the government knows more about UFOs
A Gallup survey of about 1,200 US adults, conducted 1-19 July and published in late August, found 37% believe some UFOs have been alien spacecraft, while 49% think all sightings have human or natural explanations. A record 78% said the government knows more about UFOs than it is telling, up from 68% in 2019. Gallup put the margin of error at plus or minus 4 points.
Sources: Gallup, KTVU FOX 2
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Science
Scientists say released PURSUE videos lack data to judge object speeds
Jacob Haqq-Misra and NASA Goddard's Ravi Kopparapu, both members of the White House UAP Science Advisory Council, posted a preprint analysing 112 PURSUE sensor videos. They found that none includes the range, platform speed and camera data needed to turn on-screen motion into real speed, so the clips can neither confirm nor rule out unusual performance. The paper, not yet peer reviewed, calls for release of flight logs and sensor metadata.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases
Sources: arXiv, The Debrief, The Boston Globe
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Policy
Rubio rejects cover-up claims but says unknown objects fly over US bases
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, interviewed on The Katie Miller Podcast, dismissed claims of a government cover-up, arguing that the president would go public with pictures and video if officials had proof of something extraordinary. He also said objects that are not American have been seen over US military installations, that he does not know what they are, and that the matter deserves investigation.
Case files: Trump directs agencies to release UFO and alien files
Sources: Axios, NewsNation
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File release
Fifth PURSUE release brings 41 files, from Gulf of Oman video to FBI sketches
The fifth PURSUE release contained 41 files from the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, State Department and Executive Office of the President, spanning roughly 1950 to 2026. Highlights included six videos of a 2021 Gulf of Oman encounter involving an AC-130J gunship that AARO has not resolved, a 2025 Central Command clip, and FBI interview forms with artist renderings, among them a 2002 triangle report at Bagram, Afghanistan and a 2023 Colorado Springs account.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases
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Policy
ODNI issues guidance on UAP non-disclosure waiver for intelligence staff
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued preliminary guidance putting President Trump's UAP non-disclosure waiver into effect across intelligence agencies. Current and former employees may share UAP information with AARO or designated PURSUE representatives despite earlier secrecy agreements. Agencies got 30 days to name a PURSUE contact and notify staff, and the memo does not permit public release of classified material. Rep. Eric Burlison's office published it on 1 August.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases
Sources: DLA Piper, Office of Rep. Eric Burlison (house.gov)
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Congress
House adds UAP Disclosure Act to its defense bill
The House adopted Rep. Eric Burlison's UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to its fiscal 2027 defence authorisation bill, which then passed 216 to 212. The amendment would create a permanent UAP records collection at the National Archives, an independent Senate-confirmed review board with subpoena power, and a statutory timeline for agencies to transfer records, with disclosure duties extended to government contractors. The provision still needs Senate agreement before it can become law.
Case files: The Schumer–Rounds UAP Disclosure Act and what survived
Sources: Office of Rep. Eric Burlison (house.gov), Office of the Clerk, U.S. House, House Republican Cloakroom
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Policy
Trump directs agencies to waive UAP secrecy agreements for witnesses
Senior administration officials said President Trump had told the Department of War and intelligence agencies to waive prior non-disclosure agreements so former employees and contractors with UAP knowledge can speak with AARO or PURSUE officials. One official said it was not a declassification order and that the government did not know whether witnesses held significant new information. Rep. Eric Burlison welcomed the move and urged ODNI to publish implementing guidance.
Case files: Trump directs agencies to release UFO and alien files
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AARO
AARO publishes delayed fiscal 2025 UAP report
AARO published its fiscal 2025 annual report, covering June 2024 to May 2025, months later than the usual cycle. It logged 319 new reports and resolved 114 of them plus 256 older cases, all attributed to ordinary causes such as balloons, birds, drones and satellites. The office said it found no evidence of advanced foreign technology, kept nine cases for further study and is investigating a Navy report of many objects off Virginia.
Case files: AARO FY2025 Consolidated Annual Report on UAP, From AOIMSG to AARO: the Pentagon's permanent UAP office
Sources: DefenseScoop, The Black Vault
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File release
Fourth PURSUE release mixes Project Sign records and shuttle photos
The fourth PURSUE release added 40 files of video, documents, images and audio. They included a 1948 Project Sign progress report, Air Force sketches of the 1948 Chiles-Whitted sighting, a 2015 Energy Department report of a diamond-shaped object over the Pantex nuclear plant near Amarillo, three 1996 Space Shuttle Columbia photos of a small object, and a 2020 Atlantic clip that EarthSky said may show drifting balloons.
Case files: Chiles–Whitted Encounter, Alabama, Project Sign and the 'Estimate of the Situation', PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, New Mexico green fireballs
Sources: EarthSky, The Christian Post
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Science
White House names Avi Loeb to lead UAP science council
The White House picked Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb to chair a UAP Science Advisory Council of more than a dozen scientists and advocates. It reports to an interagency UAP Governance Board, overseen by ODNI, which first met on 16 June, and will advise on resolving UAP cases using unclassified data. The AP reported that some astronomers and former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick questioned Loeb's methods and experience.
Sources: PBS NewsHour (Associated Press), DefenseScoop
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File release
Third PURSUE release spans 1940s studies to 2026 FBI reports
The third PURSUE release published 72 files from the FBI, CIA, Pentagon and NASA, ranging from the 1940s to 2026. They included a 1946 study of about 210 incidents, records of the 1952-53 CIA-sponsored scientific panel, recent FBI accounts of glowing spheres in the US northeast, and a 2022 Fort Carson report that tentatively linked a shimmering object to sunlight on snow and cloud. The Pentagon described the cases as unresolved.
Case files: The Robertson Panel, PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, Western US 'orbs launching orbs', Cheyenne Mountain 'potato'
Sources: NBC San Diego, The Canberra Times (AAP)
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File release
Second PURSUE release features Sandia Base reports and infrared videos
The Pentagon's second PURSUE release centred on military infrared videos, NASA mission audio and a 116-page file listing 209 reports of green orbs, discs and fireballs near Sandia Base, New Mexico, between 1948 and 1950. EarthSky noted it also held the first public footage of the object shot down over Lake Huron in February 2023. Outlets reported differing file counts. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the public should see the material.
Case files: Three objects shot down over Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron, PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, Four objects in formation off Iran, New Mexico green fireballs
Sources: The Maitland Mercury (AAP), EarthSky
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File release
Pentagon launches war.gov/UFO with first 162 PURSUE files
The Department of War opened war.gov/UFO with 162 files under PURSUE, an effort involving the White House, ODNI, the Energy Department, NASA and the FBI. The first batch mixed State Department cables, FBI records and NASA transcripts with recent military sensor imagery, including a 1972 Apollo 17 photo the Pentagon said has no consensus explanation. Officials made no findings, saying many files had only been screened for security.
Case files: PURSUE: the Pentagon's UAP file releases, Trump directs agencies to release UFO and alien files
Sources: Associated Press (via OPB), Al Jazeera
Updated 2026-10-24. Follow the RSS feed.