Pentagon's Fourth PURSUE Release Includes New UAP Videos and Historical Files Dating to the 1940s

The Department of War (DOW) released its fourth tranche of UAP-related files on Friday, July 10, 2026, as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The announcement was made by Sean Parnell, Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman, who stated: "Today, the Department of War is publishing the fourth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE)." Parnell added that "The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and the Department will release additional files on a rolling basis."

The release includes imagery and video collected by multi-sensor electro-optical targeting systems aboard fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and civilian aircraft. Among the specific items identified in the release is NASA-UAP-D030, comprising photographs taken by astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia during the STS-80 mission (November 19 – December 7, 1996), depicting a small triangular or cone-shaped object in low-Earth orbit. Historical documents from as early as the 1940s were also included, the majority of which had previously been released by other U.S. government agencies.

Several unresolved military sighting reports are catalogued in the release. DOW-UAP-PR030 covers a 2023 Middle East incident in which two areas of contrast transited a sensor field-of-view in opposing directions. DOW-UAP-PR108 documents a 2020 Western United States case featuring an object whose appearance has been compared to the 2004 "Tic Tac" imagery captured by F/A-18 pilot Chad Underwood. DOW-UAP-PR112 pertains to a 2019 Eastern United States sighting in which the observer—who reported 28 years of combined U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy experience—described the object as exhibiting "flight characteristics unlike anything [the observer] had seen" in that career. DOW-UAP-PR116 documents a 2020 Atlantic Ocean incident in which a witness described an object "darker, maroonish color, approximately 12-15 feet in height" that was "travel[ing] with the wind" and appeared similar to "a large, somewhat deformed balloon."

Reporting by Micah Hanks of The Debrief assesses that the footage, while noteworthy, does not provide definitive evidence of anomalous technology. Several objects are characterized as consistent with balloons or inflatable clusters, and at least some visual anomalies are attributed to known sensor artifacts such as optical refraction spikes. The STS-80 imagery has historically been explained as ice particles outgassed from the spacecraft. Hanks states: "To date, none of the videos or other documentation made available at the DOW website as part of its PURSUE releases provides clear examples of any objects attributable to unknown aircraft, or objects exhibiting unusual or advanced technologies."

Parnell confirmed in his Friday statement that the DOW and its agency partners "are actively working on the next release of UAP files," expected to appear on the DOW's PURSUE page in the coming weeks. This fourth release continues a rolling declassification program that represents a significant expansion of publicly available U.S. government UAP documentation under the PURSUE framework.