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May 8, 2026 · U.S. Department of War

PURSUE Release 01: 160 declassified UAP files from the U.S. Department of War

The first tranche of the Trump administration's PURSUE program — the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters — published through a unified Department of War portal. 117 PDFs, 29 sensor videos, 14 photographs. FBI investigative records, AARO mission reports and sensor footage, NASA Apollo transcripts and imagery, State Department diplomatic cables.

These files have been kept from the American people for too long. It's time the American people see it for themselves.
— Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of War, announcing PURSUE Release 01, May 8, 2026
PDFs
117
Sensor videos
28
Photographs
14
Total files
159

The ten headline cases

Curated for newcomers — the cases that explain why PURSUE matters.

With 160 files, knowing where to start is half the work. These ten cases were singled out by AARO itself, by independent defense reporters, or by the historical novelty of the records — and together they map the texture of the release.

1September 2023

Western US Event: seven federal employees report orbs and a 'translucent kite'

AARO itself calls this case 'the most compelling' in its holdings — the closest the U.S. has come to publicly endorsing a UAP case as inexplicable.

Read the case
2September 2023

FBI: bronze ellipsoid materializes and disappears at a US test site

An FBI composite sketch + multiple 302 interviews documenting a bronze ellipsoid that materialized and vanished at a U.S. test site.

Read the case
3October 2023

DoW video PR34: object executes multiple 90° turns over the Aegean Sea

Three minutes of sensor video showing an object executing multiple sharp 90° turns at speed over the Aegean.

Read the case
42013

DoW video PR38: 'eight-pointed star' formation, Middle East, 2013

The oldest sensor video in the release — an 'eight-pointed star' formation over a Middle East operating area.

Read the case
5December 1972

Apollo 17: three dots in triangular formation, lunar sky, 1972

First public release of a NASA still showing three dots in triangular formation in the Apollo 17 lunar sky.

Read the case
6January 27, 1994

State Department cable: 747 + 3 Americans witness 'enormous' bright light at 41,000 ft

Diplomatic cable corroborating a multi-witness encounter at 41,000 ft over Kazakhstan — including three named U.S. citizens.

Read the case
7May 14, 2020

Range Fouler: 'solid white object' makes erratic movements above the Persian Gulf

U.S. Navy Range Fouler — a 'solid white object' with erratic movement above the water, close to active training.

Read the case
82026

Most recent: U.S. Army sensor tracks unknown object, January 2026

Most recent video in the release — a 1:49 Department of the Army IR sensor track from 2026.

Read the case
91947–1968

FBI 62-HQ-83894: the master 'flying disc' file, 1947–1968

Eighteen sections of the FBI's master 'flying disc' case file, 1947–1968 — including Oak Ridge nuclear-facility overflight reports.

Read the case
101944–1945

Foo Fighters: U.S. Army WWII reports from the 415th Night Fighter Squadron

Earliest record in PURSUE — U.S. Army Air Forces 'foo fighter' reports from 1944-1945, predating Kenneth Arnold by 2½ years.

Read the case

In the live archive

These eleven entries are individually browsable in the Disclosure Archives database, cross-tagged with pursue-release-01 and department-of-war.

Document Release
Featured

PURSUE Release 01: Department of War declassifies 160 UAP files

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.'

The Pentagon, Virginia — United States#AARO#Multiple Witnesses#Video Evidence#PURSUE Release 01
Sighting
Featured

FBI: bronze ellipsoid materializes and disappears at a U.S. test site

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.

Western United States (undisclosed test site), Western United States — United States#Multiple Witnesses#PURSUE Release 01#Department of War#FBI
Sighting
Featured

Western US Event: seven federal employees report orbs and a 'translucent kite'

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.'

Western United States (undisclosed test site), Western United States — United States#AARO#Multiple Witnesses#PURSUE Release 01#Department of War
Official Statement

State Department cable: 747 + 3 Americans witness 'enormous' bright light at 41,000 ft

A 1994 U.S. State Department diplomatic cable from Kazakhstan, declassified in PURSUE Release 01, records a Tajik Air 747 captain plus three U.S. citizens on board observing what the cable describes as a 'bright light of enormous intensity' at 41,000 feet over Kazakh airspace.

Kazakhstan airspace, Central Asia — Kazakhstan#Multiple Witnesses#Civilian Aviation#International#PURSUE Release 01

Every file in PURSUE Release 01

The complete file catalogue, grouped by topical cluster. All 160 files are works of the U.S. Federal Government (17 U.S.C. § 105) and are in the public domain. Each file links to a hot-linkable mirror; the official Department of War medialink URL is the canonical source.

Western US Event & FBI September 2023 sightings
The headline modern case: seven federal employees, an FBI composite sketch of a bronze ellipsoid, and three redacted FBI 302 interviews from a 2023 incident at a western US test site.
6 files
  • Western US Event — AARO summary slides
    AARO· Briefing: May 8, 2026· Western United States
  • FBI September 2023 Sighting — Composite Sketch
    FBI· April 30, 2024· United States
  • FBI September 2023 — Serial 3 (redacted)
    FBI· September 2023
  • FBI September 2023 — Serial 4 (redacted)
    FBI· September 2023
  • FBI September 2023 — Serial 5 (redacted, US-person 302 interview)
    FBI· September 2023
  • USPER Statement about UAP Sighting (redacted)
    FBI· Late 2025
FBI 62-HQ-83894 — Flying Disc master case file (1947-1968)
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.
18 files
AARO Mission Reports & Range Fouler Debriefs (DOW-UAP-D series)
Standardized U.S. military Mission Reports (MISREPs) and U.S. Navy Range Fouler Debriefs documenting service-member UAP encounters from 1996-2025. Each report has structured GENTEXT narrative plus sensor metadata.
41 files
  • D3 — Arabian Gulf, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Arabian Gulf
  • D4 — Arabian Gulf, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Arabian Gulf
  • D5 — Arabian Gulf, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Arabian Gulf
  • D6 — Arabian Gulf, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Arabian Gulf
  • D7 — Arabian Gulf, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Arabian Gulf
  • D8 — Djibouti, 2025
    AARO· 2025· Djibouti
  • D10 — Middle East, May 2022
    AARO· May 2022
  • D12 — Iraq, May 2022
    AARO· May 2022· Iraq
  • D14 — Iraq, May 2022
    AARO· May 2022· Iraq
  • D16 — Syria, July 2022
    AARO· July 2022· Syria
  • D18 — Iraq, December 2022
    AARO· December 2022· Iraq
  • D19 — Syria, February 21, 2023
    AARO· Feb 21, 2023· Syria
  • D20 — Southern United States, 2020
    AARO· 2020· Southern United States
  • D23 — UAE, October 2023
    AARO· October 2023· United Arab Emirates
  • D25 — Greece, January 2024
    AARO· January 2024· Greece
  • D27 — UAE, October 2023
    AARO· October 2023· United Arab Emirates
  • D28 — East China Sea, 2024
    AARO· 2024· East China Sea
  • D32 — Syria, October 2024
    AARO· October 2024· Syria
  • D33 — Greece, October 2023
    AARO· October 2023· Greece
  • D35 — Greece, October 2023
    AARO· October 2023· Greece
  • D38 — Range Fouler, Middle East, May 2020
    AARO· May 2020· Persian Gulf
  • D42 — Range Fouler, Japan, 2023
    AARO· 2023· Japan
  • D44 — Range Fouler, Arabian Sea, October 2020
    AARO· October 2020· Arabian Sea
  • D48 — Department of the Air Force, September 1996
    AARO· September 1996
  • D49 — Launch Summary, Vandenberg, February 2000
    AARO· February 2000
  • D50 — Email correspondence, INDOPACOM, April 2025
    AARO· April 2025
  • D51 — Email correspondence, Pacific time zone, March 2023
    AARO· March 2023
  • D52 — Email correspondence, August 2024
    AARO· August 2024
  • D54 — Mediterranean Sea
    AARO· Mediterranean Sea
  • D55 — Syria, November 2016
    AARO· November 2016· Syria
  • D56 — Range Fouler, Arabian Sea, August 2020
    AARO· August 2020· Arabian Sea
  • D57 — Gulf of Aden, September 2020
    AARO· September 2020· Gulf of Aden
  • D58 — Range Fouler, October 2020
    AARO· October 2020
  • D60 — Persian Gulf, August 2020
    AARO· August 2020· Persian Gulf
  • D61 — Persian Gulf, August 2020
    AARO· August 2020· Persian Gulf
  • D62 — Strait of Hormuz, September 2020
    AARO· September 2020· Strait of Hormuz
  • D63 — Strait of Hormuz, October 2020
    AARO· October 2020· Strait of Hormuz
  • D64 — Iran, November 2020
    AARO· November 2020· Iran
  • D65 — Persian Gulf, July 2020
    AARO· July 2020· Persian Gulf
  • D74 — Syria, November 2023
    AARO· November 2023· Syria
  • D75 — Gulf of Aden, July 2024
    AARO· July 2024· Gulf of Aden
AARO Unresolved UAP video reports (DOW-UAP-PR series)
Twenty-eight pieces of sensor footage (IR / FLIR / full-motion video) from U.S. military platforms — the headline visual material of the release. Each video has a companion mission report in the AARO Mission Reports cluster.
28 files
NASA — Apollo, Skylab, Gemini
Crew transcripts and technical debriefings from Apollo 11, 12, 17, Skylab, and Gemini 7 — plus six lunar still images, including the much-circulated Apollo 17 three-dot triangular formation.
15 files
  • D1 — Apollo 12 Transcript, 1969
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • D2 — Apollo 17 Transcript, 1972
    NASA· 1972· Lunar
  • D3 — Gemini 7 Transcript, 1965
    NASA· 1965· Low Earth Orbit
  • D4 — Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing, 1969
    NASA· 1969
  • D5 — Apollo 17 Crew Debriefing for Science, 1973
    NASA· 1973
  • D6 — Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing, 1973
    NASA· 1973
  • D7 — Skylab Technical Crew Debriefing, 1973
    NASA· 1973
  • VM1 — Apollo 12, 1969 (lunar still)
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • VM2 — Apollo 12, 1969 (lunar still)
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • VM3 — Apollo 12, 1969 (lunar still)
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • VM4 — Apollo 12, 1969 (lunar still)
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • VM5 — Apollo 12, 1969 (lunar still)
    NASA· 1969· Lunar
  • VM6 — Apollo 17, 1972 (three dots in triangular formation)
    NASA· 1972· Lunar
  • Gemini 7 air-to-ground transcripts (1965)
    NASA· 1965· Low Earth Orbit
  • Gemini 7 audio excerpt (1965)
    NASA· December 5, 1965· Low Earth Orbit
FBI photographic evidence (Photo A1-A8, B1-B24)
Thirty-two pieces of FBI-held photographic evidence: eight loose photographs (A1-A8) and 24 documented photo records (B1-B24) associated with the September 2023 Western US event.
32 files
State Department diplomatic cables
U.S. State Department diplomatic cables on UAP encounters from foreign theaters — including the 1985 Papua New Guinea cable and the 1994 Kazakhstan cable describing a multi-witness 41,000-ft encounter.
4 files
  • Cable 1 — Papua New Guinea, January 1985
    DoS· January 1985· Papua New Guinea
  • Cable 2 — Kazakhstan, January 1994 (747 + 3 Americans at 41,000 ft)
    DoS· January 1994· Kazakhstan
  • Diplomatic file 59-214434 SP 16, July 1963
    DoS· July 1963
  • Diplomatic file 59-214434 SP 16 (alternate copy), July 1963
    DoS· July 1963
Early War Department & FBI records (1944-1963)
Pre-1960 records: WWII foo-fighter reports, post-Roswell flying-disc memos, FBI investigations from Detroit and Germany, and the U.S. Army's three boxes of incident summaries from the late 1940s and 1950s.
15 files
  • WWII foo fighters — 415th Night Fighter Squadron records, 1944-1945
    DoW· 1944-1945· European theater
  • DoW General 1946-7, Vol. 2 (flying-disc memos)
    DoW· 1946-1947
  • DoW General 1948, Vol. 1 (post-Roswell formal reporting)
    DoW· 1948
  • DoW intelligence dissemination records, 1948-1955 (Netherlands)
    DoW· 1948-1955· Netherlands
  • DoW numerical file 5-2500 (Azerbaijan, 1955)
    DoW· 1955· Azerbaijan
  • DoW 319.1 Flying Discs, 1949 (military-witnessed FSR reports)
    DoW· 1949-1950
  • DoW Incident Summaries, Box 7, 1-100
    DoW
  • DoW Incident Summaries, Box 7, 101-172
    DoW
  • DoW Incident Summaries, Box 7, 173-233
    DoW
  • FBI Detroit, April 1958
    FBI· April 1958· Detroit, MI
  • FBI Germany, November 1957
    FBI· November 1957· Germany
  • NASA-circulated COMETA report ('UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare For?', 1999)
    NASA· 1999
  • Supplementary file 059uap00011
    DoW
  • Supplementary file 059uap00012
    DoW
  • Supplementary file 059uap00013
    DoW

About this release

On May 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of War — the cabinet department renamed from the Department of Defense by executive order in September 2025 — published the first tranche of declassified UAP records through a newly launched government portal called PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters).

The release was an interagency effort coordinated through the Department of War's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), with files drawn from the FBI, NASA, the U.S. State Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Energy, and the service branches of the U.S. military. All files were released as unresolved cases — incidents for which the U.S. government does not have a definitive explanation. AARO continues separate statutory reporting on resolved cases under its Title 50 authorities.

Disclosure Archives mirrors the full catalogue here and links every file to its canonical Department of War medialink URL. All files are public-domain works of the U.S. Federal Government under 17 U.S.C. § 105.

Wikipedia maintains a concurrent summary of the release at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_UAP_files.