Sean Kirkpatrick
Former AARO Director
- Document Release
Pentagon Releases Third PURSUE Batch: CIA Zimbabwe File, Colorado Springs "Potato" Object, and Spherical UAP Video from CENTCOM Theater
The U.S. Department of War released its third batch of UAP files on June 13, 2026, under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The release includes a previously undisclosed CIA document describing a disc-like object observed over Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe in 2008, reports of a translucent "potato"-shaped object seen near Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs in 2024, and footage of apparent luminous orbs assessed by analysts to likely be sky lanterns. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that WAR.GOV/UFO had received over 1.7 billion hits worldwide since its May 8, 2026 launch and confirmed that the Department of War and agency partners are actively preparing the next release. The article, written by Micah Hanks of The Debrief, also highlights a video from the second PURSUE batch — designated DOW-UAP-PR061, "Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0" — which captured on April 12, 2021 from a U.S. military drone operating within USCENTCOM's area of responsibility appears to show a small, light-colored spherical object descending, changing direction, and moving into shadowed terrain. Hanks argues this video, while not extraordinary, is consistent with AARO's own "target package" for genuine UAP as characterized by former AARO director Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick in April 2023, and raises the broader question of whether higher-quality UAP data that informed AARO's technical signature data remains classified and unreleased.
- Document Release
Pentagon's PURSUE Initiative Prepares "Release 02" of Up to 46 AARO UAP Videos
A new tranche of up to 46 UAP videos held by the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is expected to be released imminently under the Department of War's Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) initiative. The release follows a March 31, 2026, letter from Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth formally requesting the footage, which was originally due no later than April 14, 2026. On May 15, 2026, Luna confirmed she and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) had completed a review of the videos alongside AARO director Jon Kosloski. The forthcoming batch — anticipated to be designated "Release 02" — includes footage of spherical objects, cigar-shaped UAP, fast-moving objects, and at least two videos depicting what the military characterizes as "transmedium" or unidentified submerged objects (USOs). The collection also appears to include additional footage related to the January 26, 2023, Eglin Air Force Base diamond-formation incident and the February 12, 2023, Lake Huron shootdown event. The article, published by The Debrief on May 21, 2026, represents the most detailed public accounting of the expected contents of the release prior to its official publication.
- Official Statement
Christopher Mellon Calls on Trump Declassification Task Force to Release Withheld Unclassified UAP Videos
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon published an op-ed in The Debrief on April 5, 2025, arguing that the Department of Defense is improperly withholding a large volume of unclassified UAP imagery from Congress and the public. Mellon contends that a restrictive classification guide created by the DoD's UAP Task Force — developed in the aftermath of the 2017–2018 Navy UAP video releases — has been applied to material that does not legitimately qualify for classification under Executive Order 13526, and that no official at DoD or in the Intelligence Community has been designated to advocate for or execute the release of unclassified UAP information. Mellon's piece is directed at Representative Anna Paulina Luna's Congressional Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, as well as the broader Trump administration, urging both to compel a review and release of unclassified UAP videos held by military and intelligence agencies. He references specific prior commitments — including a 2022 pledge by Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray before the House Intelligence Committee — that have not resulted in any meaningful public disclosures beyond a handful of videos on the AARO website. Mellon also notes an encouraging development: AARO, under the direction of Dr. Jon Kosloski, has agreed to locate and submit for declassification review a specific F-18 UAP video he recalled from years prior.