2026
Pentagon publishes sixth batch of PURSUE files
The Department of War released a sixth tranche of UAP records on its PURSUE website, totaling 72 files: 15 videos, 56 documents and one audio recording. The batch includes a 2025 infrared video of six small spherical objects over a U.S. military platform and audio of Capt. Edward Ruppelt's 1952 Air Force briefing on UFO investigations. It follows earlier tranches published on May 8, May 22, June 12, July 10 and August 7.
SourcesEarthSkyAARO seeks access to large private UFO archive
AARO moved to pursue a sole-source subscription to the National UFO Historic Records Center (NUFOHRC), a private archive led by historian David Marler. A Defense Department official said no other organization holds comparable historical depth, and that the effort would focus on pre-1990 records to support the congressionally mandated review of government UAP involvement since 1945. The proposed contract has a one-year base period with four optional one-year extensions.
SourcesDefenseScoopFifth PURSUE release includes 2026 sighting records
The Department of War published a fifth tranche of UAP files under the PURSUE program. Newsweek reported that it includes thermal video of two infrared anomalies observed by government special agents, civilian accounts of red lights over the western United States, and witness forms with identifying details redacted. The department said further files would be released on a rolling basis.
SourcesNewsweekODNI issues guidance on UAP disclosures despite NDAs
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released preliminary guidance directing the Department of War and the intelligence community to let current and former employees and contractors disclose UAP information to designated officials notwithstanding their nondisclosure agreements. Disclosures may go to AARO or the PURSUE Task Force, and agencies were told to name PURSUE designees within 30 days.
Trump directs NDA waivers for UAP witnesses
Senior administration officials told Fox News Digital that President Trump had directed the Department of War and the intelligence community to allow former employees and contractors to share UAP information with AARO or the PURSUE Task Force without breaching nondisclosure agreements. Rep. Eric Burlison welcomed the directive in a July 29 statement and said his office had asked to see its text.
AARO releases its FY2025 annual report
AARO's FY2025 consolidated annual report, covering June 2024 to May 2025, said the office received 319 new UAP reports and resolved 370 cases, all attributed to conventional causes such as balloons, birds, satellites, aircraft and drones. The report said 44 space-domain observations were consistent with sunlight reflected from satellites and noted an open Navy case off Virginia involving about 100 reported airborne objects. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called the report another step toward transparency.
Interagency UAP Governance Board meets; science council formed
ODNI, the FBI and the Defense Department convened a new interagency UAP Governance Board to coordinate investigations and the declassification of UAP information. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb announced a UAP Science Advisory Council to advise the board using unclassified data. The council is an outside advisory group, not a government body.
Pentagon launches PURSUE with first file release
The Department of War, with ODNI, published more than 160 UAP-related records at war.gov/ufo under the new Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The files range from a 1948 report to recent military sightings and include Apollo-era imagery. Secretary Pete Hegseth said the files had "long fueled justified speculation," and DNI Tulsi Gabbard called it the first in an ongoing release effort.
Rep. Luna requests AARO's UAP videos
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, chair of the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, wrote to Secretary Hegseth requesting UAP video files held by AARO. Luna said whistleblowers had told the task force that AARO possesses additional video records of potential UAP sightings.
SourcesHouse OversightHegseth pledges compliance; AARO caseload tops 2,000
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would be in "full compliance" with the president's UAP disclosure directive while cautioning that it would be a deliberative process. AARO's caseload was reported at more than 2,000 cases, roughly 1,000 of which lacked enough data for analysis.
SourcesDefenseScoopTrump directs agencies to release UAP files
President Trump posted on Truth Social that he would direct the Defense Secretary and other agencies to identify and release government files on alien and extraterrestrial life, UAP and UFOs. The announcement came hours after he criticized former President Obama's podcast remarks about aliens. Trump told reporters, "I don't know if they're real or not."
2025
FY2026 NDAA enacted with new UAP provisions
President Trump signed the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes UAP provisions for a fifth straight year. The law requires the AARO director to brief Congress on UAP intercepts by NORAD and NORTHCOM since 2004, requires an accounting of classification guides applied to UAP reports, and streamlines data sharing with AARO. The broader UAP Disclosure Act was not included.
House task force holds UAP whistleblower hearing
The House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets heard from Air Force veterans Jeffrey Nuccetelli and Dylan Borland, Navy Senior Chief Alexandro Wiggins, journalist George Knapp and POGO's Joe Spielberger. Wiggins testified that he saw a Tic Tac-shaped object emerge from the ocean in 2023. Rep. Eric Burlison showed video he said depicted an MQ-9 firing a Hellfire missile at an orb off Yemen in October 2024.
National Archives adds new UAP records
The National Archives announced new records in its Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection (Record Group 615), transferred from ODNI, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the FAA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NARA said it will keep adding records on a rolling basis as agencies transfer them under the FY2024 NDAA.
2024
AARO FY2024 report logs 757 new cases
AARO's FY2024 consolidated annual report said the office received 757 new UAP reports and resolved 292 cases as balloons, birds, drones, satellites or aircraft. It said 21 cases merited further analysis. AARO Director Jon Kosloski testified at a Senate hearing on November 19.
House hearing: "UAP: Exposing the Truth"
Two House Oversight subcommittees, chaired by Reps. Nancy Mace and Glenn Grothman, held a joint UAP hearing. Witnesses were former Defense Department official Luis Elizondo, retired Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, former NASA UAP study team member Michael Gold and journalist Michael Shellenberger.
SourcesThe Black VaultJapanese lawmakers form UAP parliamentary group
A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers launched a parliamentary group to press the government to track and investigate UAP as potential security threats. It was chaired by Yasukazu Hamada, with Shinjiro Koizumi as secretary general and Shigeru Ishiba as an adviser.
SourcesSouth China Morning PostAARO historical review finds no evidence of alien technology
AARO released Volume 1 of its Historical Record Report, reviewing U.S. government UAP investigations from 1945 to October 2023. The report said no government investigation or official review had confirmed that any sighting represented extraterrestrial technology. It also said it found no verifiable evidence for claims of government or private reverse-engineering programs.
2023
FY2024 NDAA creates National Archives UAP collection
President Biden signed the FY2024 NDAA, whose sections 1841 to 1843 directed the National Archives to create a UAP Records Collection. The provisions came from the Schumer-Rounds UAP Disclosure Act, though the final version dropped its review board and eminent domain powers.
NASA study team publishes UAP report
NASA released the final report of its independent UAP study team, chaired by astrophysicist David Spergel, which called for systematic, well-calibrated data collection. NASA also named Mark McInerney as its first Director of UAP Research.
SourcesNASAGrusch, Fravor and Graves testify to House panel
A House Oversight subcommittee heard from former intelligence officer David Grusch, retired Navy Cmdr. David Fravor and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves. Grusch testified that he had been told in his official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program. Graves said UAP sightings by pilots off Virginia Beach were routine.
ODNI annual report counts 510 UAP reports
ODNI released its 2022 annual report, which counted 510 UAP reports as of August 2022. Of the newer cases, 163 were characterized as balloons, 26 as drones and 6 as clutter, with 171 uncharacterized. The report said UAP remain a flight safety hazard and a possible adversary collection threat.
2022
Pentagon establishes AARO
The Defense Department announced the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which replaced earlier UAP efforts as the department's lead office for UAP. Its mission is to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in space, air, sea and transmedium domains near military areas.
SourcesDepartment of DefenseFirst public congressional UFO hearing in over 50 years
A House Intelligence subcommittee heard from Under Secretary of Defense Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray. Bray said reports had grown to about 400 and showed a 2021 Navy video of a spherical object, saying, "I do not have an explanation for what this specific object is."
SourcesCBS News
2021
Harvard's Galileo Project launches
Astrophysicist Avi Loeb announced the Galileo Project, a privately funded scientific effort to search for evidence of extraterrestrial technology using telescopes and open, peer-reviewed data. It launched with $1.755 million in donations and plans to image UAP and study interstellar objects.
ODNI preliminary assessment on UAP
ODNI's preliminary assessment reviewed 144 U.S. government reports from 2004 to 2021 and explained only one, a large deflating balloon. It said 18 incidents showed unusual movement or flight characteristics needing further analysis, and that limited high-quality data hampered firm conclusions.
SourcesODNI
2020
Pentagon approves UAP Task Force
Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist approved the creation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, led by the Navy. The Defense Department said its mission was to detect, analyze and catalog UAP that could pose a threat to national security.
SourcesDepartment of DefensePentagon officially releases three Navy videos
The Defense Department formally released three unclassified Navy infrared videos, known as FLIR, GIMBAL and GOFAST, recorded in 2004 and 2015. A spokeswoman said the release was meant to clear up misconceptions about whether footage already circulating was real.
SourcesForbes
2017
New York Times reveals Pentagon UFO program
The New York Times reported on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, a Pentagon effort funded at about $22 million from 2007 to 2012 with support from Sen. Harry Reid. The program was run by intelligence officer Luis Elizondo, who resigned in protest over what he described as internal opposition to the research.
SourcesNPR
Entries describe what officials, agencies and witnesses stated. Reporting that something was said is not a finding that it is true. For individual sightings, see All cases.