34 events in the archive
The United States is the deepest single record in the archive: Navy F/A-18 FLIR encounters, ODNI annual reports, AARO mission summaries, House and Senate hearings, the FBI Vault UAP file, and major civilian sightings from Roswell forward. Entries below are sorted newest first.
34 entries · sorted newest first
Eighteen sections and serials of the FBI Headquarters master investigative case file on 'flying discs,' covering the Roswell era through the late 1960s. Includes Oak Ridge nuclear-facility overflight reports. The largest single PDF in PURSUE is 101 megabytes.
The Trump administration launches PURSUE — the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters — and the Department of War publishes 160 declassified UAP-related files in the first tranche: 117 PDFs, 29 sensor videos, and 14 photographs spanning 1944 to 2026. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the goal is 'maximum transparency.'
This document is email correspondence describing the content of a mission report and requesting clarification on its content. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.
The most recently dated video in PURSUE Release 01 — DOW-UAP-PR49, captured in 2026 by a U.S. Department of the Army sensor — runs 1 minute 49 seconds and shows infrared tracking of an unresolved aerial object.
The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) convened a private workshop in August 2025 in the Washington, D.C., area to address the standardization of UAP data collection, management, and analysis. The event was coordinated by AARO and hosted by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), and brought together participants from government agencies, academic institutions, and civilian research organizations. A white paper detailing the workshop's proceedings and recommendations was published on AARO's official website in February 2026 and was subsequently reported by The Debrief on February 26, 2026. The workshop represents a notable shift in AARO's posture under current director Dr. Jon T. Kosloski compared to the more security-focused, limited-engagement approach of AARO's inaugural director, Sean M. Kirkpatrick. Key recommendations produced by the workshop included the development of standardized metadata templates incorporating AI tools with human oversight, open-ended public narrative reporting mechanisms, and the release of de-identified public UAP data to reduce stigma and build trust. Department of War spokesperson Sue Gough confirmed to The Debrief that AARO intends to use public reports to enhance UAP trend analysis, though no timeline was given for a public reporting mechanism.
The House Oversight Committee Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, chaired by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), holds a public hearing titled 'Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Eyes on the Sky, Secrets in the Dark,' featuring testimony from former military and intelligence officials.
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office releases the first volume of its congressionally directed historical record of U.S. government involvement with UAP. The 63-page report concludes that no verifiable evidence has been found of extraterrestrial technology in U.S. government possession.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate published a Frequently Asked Questions page addressing the agency's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Independent Study, commissioned in 2023. The page clarifies the study's scope, team composition, methodology, and conclusions, confirming that the 16-member independent study team — led by astrophysicist David Spergel — was charged exclusively with identifying how scientific data and tools could be applied to UAP going forward, not with reviewing past UAP incidents. The FAQ also states that NASA has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and no data supporting the hypothesis that UAP represent alien technologies. The document provides institutional context for NASA's UAP engagement: the nine-month study was conducted under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), required financial disclosures and ethics briefings from all members, and was overseen by Daniel Evans, Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Research at NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The FAQ further notes that NASA does not actively search for UAP, has not established a dedicated UAP program, and that study funding was consistent with other external review groups convened through NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) process. The page also references NASA's commitment to cooperating with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), citing President Trump's direction for whole-of-government transparency.
On June 9, 2022, NASA announced it was commissioning an independent study team to examine unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) from a scientific perspective. The study focused on identifying existing data holdings, determining how best to collect future data, and assessing how NASA's scientific capabilities could advance understanding of UAP. The effort was organized under NASA's Science Mission Directorate in consultation with the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and was governed by terms of reference consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The UAP Independent Study Team held a public meeting on May 31, 2023, broadcast live and open to public participation. On September 14, 2023, the team published its final report containing a series of recommendations for advancing the scientific study of UAP. The initiative reflects NASA's stated commitment to scientific transparency and rigor, and represents the first formal, agency-wide scientific study of UAP conducted by a civilian space agency. Contact for UAP inquiries was designated as Daniel A. Evans of NASA.
Newly released FBI 302 interviews and an FBI Lab composite sketch describe an ellipsoid bronze metallic object, 130-195 feet in length, that materialized out of a bright light, was observed by multiple credentialed witnesses at a U.S. test site, and disappeared instantaneously.
Over two days in 2023, seven separate U.S. federal government employees reported close-range encounters with multiple unidentified phenomena at a site in the western United States — including orbs launching other orbs, a large stationary glowing orb at close range, and a large semi-transparent object described as a 'translucent kite.' AARO calls it 'among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings.'
Former intelligence officer David Grusch, retired Navy Cmdr. David Fravor, and retired Navy Lt. Ryan Graves testify under oath before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. Grusch states that the U.S. government operates a long-running classified program to retrieve and reverse-engineer non-human craft.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduce the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2023 as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation proposes a nine-member presidentially appointed Review Board modeled on the JFK Records Review Board.
The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 codifies the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), absorbing the predecessor Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group and giving it statutory authority and a public reporting mandate.
The House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation holds the first open congressional hearing on UAP in fifty-three years. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray testify.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence delivers to Congress a nine-page 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' covering 144 reports collected primarily by U.S. Navy aviators between 2004 and 2021. The report concludes that the U.S. government cannot identify 143 of the 144.
The Pentagon publicly releases three U.S. Navy gun-camera videos — 'FLIR1' (2004), 'GIMBAL' (2015), and 'GO FAST' (2015) — and confirms that the objects depicted remain unidentified. The release marks the first formal U.S. government acknowledgment of authentic military UAP imagery.
Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean publish a front-page New York Times investigation revealing the existence of the Department of Defense's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The story includes a release of the 'FLIR1' video and on-the-record statements from former AATIP director Luis Elizondo.
F/A-18F crews assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 11, operating from Naval Air Station Oceana, report routine encounters with UAP off the U.S. East Coast. Two of the three Pentagon-released videos — 'GIMBAL' and 'GO FAST' — are recorded during this period.
The oldest sensor video in PURSUE Release 01 — a 1-minute-46-second AARO clip from 2013 — shows what military observers described as an 'eight-pointed star formation' of objects over a Middle Eastern theater of operations.
Dozens of residents around Stephenville, Texas, report large, fast-moving, brightly lit objects in the night sky. A subsequent FOIA release of FAA radar data confirms anomalous tracks consistent with witness reports.
United Airlines ground personnel, mechanics, and pilots at Chicago O'Hare International Airport report a metallic, disc-shaped object hovering at low altitude above gate C-17, then ascending rapidly through the cloud deck. The Federal Aviation Administration confirms the report but declines to investigate.
Aircrews from the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group report repeated radar contacts and a daylight visual encounter with a small, white, smooth, Tic Tac–shaped object during a training exercise in the Pacific. One of three Pentagon videos later released by the Department of Defense (FLIR1) documents a portion of the event.
Thousands of witnesses across Arizona report a large V-shaped formation of lights moving slowly southward over the state, followed by a separate set of stationary lights over Phoenix. The Air Force later attributes the second event to flares dropped during a training exercise; the first remains unexplained.
Capt. Kenju Terauchi reports two small craft and a much larger, walnut-shaped 'mothership' alongside a Japan Airlines 747 cargo flight transiting Alaskan airspace. The objects are corroborated by FAA ground radar at Anchorage Center.
Three Texas residents report a close-range encounter with a diamond-shaped object emitting intense heat, escorted overhead by approximately twenty-three twin-rotor military helicopters. All three subsequently report serious medical injuries.
A New Hampshire teenager and two Exeter, New Hampshire, police officers report a large, silent, brightly lit object hovering at low altitude over a residential field. The Air Force initially attributes the sighting to a high-altitude refueling mission, then revises the case to 'unidentified.'
Eleven members of an extended family in rural Kentucky report being besieged through the night by small, silver-coated humanoid figures. The Hopkinsville Police, Kentucky State Police, and U.S. Air Force investigate.
Across two consecutive weekends, multiple radar installations and visual observers track unidentified objects above the restricted airspace surrounding the U.S. Capitol and White House. The Air Force convenes its largest press conference since World War II to address the events.
FBI Detroit field office investigative files 100-DE-26505 and 100-DE-18221, covering early-Cold-War flying disc and UFO reports across Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Released by the Department of War in PURSUE Release 01.
Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Capt. Thomas Mantell is killed when his P-51 Mustang crashes during the pursuit of a large, slow-moving object reported above Godman Field. The Air Force eventually attributes the object to a Skyhook research balloon.
The Roswell Army Air Field public information officer issues a press release stating that the 509th Bomb Group has come into possession of a 'flying disc' recovered from a nearby ranch. Within twenty-four hours the Army retracts the statement and identifies the debris as a weather balloon.
Civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reports nine crescent-shaped objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier at speeds he estimates at more than 1,200 mph. His description gives rise to the term 'flying saucer' and is widely treated as the start of the modern UFO era.
PURSUE's earliest entry — wartime Department of War records from 1944-1945 documenting the 'foo fighter' encounters reported by U.S. Army Air Forces pilots over the European theater, with corroborating Air Ministry analysis.
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