Last Updated on 08/05/2026 by TodayWhy Editorial
On May 8, 2026, the United States Department of Defense made history by releasing the first tranche of what it described as “new, never-before-seen” files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) — a term that has largely replaced the culturally loaded acronym UFO in official government communications.
The release marks one of the most significant transparency moves in modern American history regarding unexplained aerial encounters, and it is only the beginning. The Pentagon has confirmed that more files will follow on a rolling basis, posting new tranches every few weeks as additional materials are discovered and declassified.
TodayWhy covers everything you need to know: what was released, what the files reveal, what remains unanswered, and where to access the documents yourself.
What Is the PURSUE Program?
The declassification effort operates under the official name PURSUE — the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. It is a multiagency initiative overseen by the Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) at the direct order of President Donald Trump.
The program coordinates the efforts of multiple federal agencies, including:
- The Department of Defense (DoD)
- The White House
- The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
- The Department of Energy
- NASA
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- The Department of State
All declassified materials are hosted publicly at war.gov/UFO — no security clearance required.
How Did This Happen? The Executive Order Behind the Release
In February 2026, President Trump publicly directed the Pentagon and all relevant federal agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).”
Shortly after the May 8 release, Trump posted on Truth Social, characterizing the effort as one of “complete and maximum transparency,” and encouraged the public to review the files and “decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?'”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the release in equally dramatic terms: “These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation. It’s time the American people see it for themselves.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also praised the initiative, stating: “We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered.”
What Was Released? A Breakdown of the 162 Files
Scale and Scope
The initial tranche includes 162 files detailing more than 400 individual UAP incidents from locations around the globe, spanning from the late 1940s to early 2026. The materials include:
- Declassified videos (approximately two dozen, totaling 41 minutes of footage)
- Infrared still images from U.S. military systems
- Internal military memos and incident reports
- FBI case files with fewer redactions than previously released versions
- State Department diplomatic cables
- NASA archival imagery from Apollo missions
The Videos
The roughly 24 declassified videos were recorded between 2020 and 2026 and show reported encounters from locations across the world. Most consist of infrared camera footage tracking white objects that appear as small specks moving through the air. Notable highlights include:
- A 2023 video from Greece showing an object making multiple “90-degree turns” at approximately 80 miles per hour
- A video from the Indo-Pacific showing an object described as resembling a football
- Footage from Syria showing two semi-transparent, irregularly shaped orange areas, each appearing for approximately two seconds
FBI Files: 1947–1968
A large FBI case file — identified as 62-HQ-83894 — runs hundreds of pages and contains eyewitness testimonies and public reports about UFO sightings spanning from 1947 to 1968. The Pentagon noted that the FBI had previously released portions of this file, but Friday’s version includes fewer redactions and “several newly declassified pages.”
Included in this file is a historical memo from the FBI’s Dallas field office, in which an agent reports that a U.S. Air Force major contacted the bureau to state “that an object purporting to be a flying disc was recovered near Roswell, New Mexico” — a reference to the famous 1947 Roswell incident.
Modern Military Incident Reports
The bulk of the modern documents feature incident reports from active military personnel describing encounters with strange objects or unexplained phenomena in locations including:
- Iraq (2022): internal military memos describing “one possible small UAP”
- Syria (2024): reports of “multiple glares or light from an unknown origin”
- Greece (2023): a pilot described seeing a “triangular and metallic UAP” flying at 25,000 feet over the Mediterranean
- Africa (2025): a U.S. military operator reported encountering a UAP while operating within African airspace
- The United States (December 2025): an infrared still image captured of an unidentified object over the western United States
- Additionally: incidents in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Aden, Japan, Kuwait, and elsewhere
State Department Cables
State Department files feature diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies around the world, sent from posts in Papua New Guinea, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Mexico, and Tajikistan, among others, detailing various UAP incidents. The dates on these cables range from 1985 to late 2025.
One notable cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan in 1994 relayed the experience of a commercial air pilot and crew who reported seeing a strange object at 41,000 feet.
Cold War-Era Documents
A large portion of the historical incidents cluster in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in Cold War-era hotspots like Germany and locations near the Soviet Union. Many of the reported sightings during this period were concentrated near active military operations — a pattern that analysts say has continued into the present day.
The Apollo Missions: What Astronauts Saw
One of the most compelling sections of the release involves NASA archival materials from the Apollo lunar missions.
Apollo 11 (1969)
In a post-mission debriefing, astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported seeing “little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart,” while attempting to sleep. He also described seeing “what appeared to be a fairly bright light source” which the crew tentatively attributed to a possible laser.
Apollo 12 (1969)
Astronaut Alan Bean reported “flashes of light” that he described as “sailing off into space.” A newly released photo of the Apollo 12 landing site also features a highlighted area of interest slightly above the horizon where unidentified phenomena are visible.
Apollo 17 (1972)
Archival imagery from the Apollo 17 mission shows three lights above the lunar terrain, highlighted in a yellow box in the released materials. The Pentagon stated it is re-examining the Apollo imagery to better understand what the footage may depict, although the photographs themselves are not new.
What Do the Files Actually Prove?
Here is the critical point: the files do not confirm extraterrestrial life, alien spacecraft, or any government cover-up of contact with non-human beings.
The Pentagon was careful to include a caveat with the release: “While all of the files have been reviewed for security purposes, many of the materials have not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies.”
The documents present hundreds of unexplained incidents — genuine mysteries that military and intelligence professionals were unable to resolve at the time of their recording. But unresolved does not mean extraterrestrial. The files reflect the state of human knowledge and investigative capability at the time each incident was reported.
For those hoping for a smoking gun proving alien visitation, former President Barack Obama — whose comments about aliens being “real” in a February podcast appearance briefly went viral — offered a notable corrective on the same day the files were released. Clarifying his remarks, Obama stated: “One of the things you learn as president is government is terrible at keeping secrets. If there were aliens, or alien spaceships, or anything under the control of the United States government that we knew about… I promise you, some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend.”
Why Are So Many Sightings Near Military Sites?
Analysts reviewing the files noted that a significant proportion of the reported UAP sightings occurred near active military operations. This geographic pattern has two competing explanations:
- Sensor bias: Military hardware — including advanced infrared cameras, radar arrays, and satellite systems — is concentrated near military installations and operational areas. Anomalies are more likely to be detected where detection equipment is most dense.
- Strategic interest: If any advanced craft — whether foreign adversarial technology or genuinely unknown — were monitoring U.S. military activity, they would logically appear near military sites.
Neither explanation has been confirmed. The files simply document what was observed and where.
What Comes Next?
The May 8 release is explicitly labeled as a first tranche. The Pentagon confirmed it will continue “releasing new materials on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks.”
The sheer volume of government records that potentially fall under the PURSUE program’s mandate — spanning multiple agencies, multiple decades, and multiple classification levels — means that the public disclosure process could continue for months or years.
Where to Access the Files
All released materials are publicly available at: war.gov/UFO
No login, subscription, or security clearance is required. The site uses a distinctive dark-themed design with white typewriter-style text, and is updated as new tranches are posted.
Key Takeaways
- On May 8, 2026, the Pentagon released 162 never-before-seen UAP files under the PURSUE program.
- The files span from 1947 to early 2026 and cover more than 400 individual incidents worldwide.
- The release includes videos, infrared images, military memos, FBI case files, State Department cables, and NASA Apollo mission imagery.
- Notable incidents include 90-degree-turn UAPs in Greece, a triangular metallic UAP over the Mediterranean, and unidentified objects over the western United States in late 2025.
- The files do not confirm extraterrestrial life or government contact with alien beings.
- More tranches are coming — new materials will be posted every few weeks at war.gov/UFO.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is the PURSUE program?
A: PURSUE stands for Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. It is a multiagency U.S. government initiative ordered by President Trump to declassify and publicly release UFO/UAP-related government records.
Q: Where can I read the released UFO files?
A: All released files are publicly accessible at war.gov/UFO — no clearance or login required.
Q: Do the declassified files prove alien life exists?
A: No. The files document hundreds of unexplained incidents but contain no confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial beings or spacecraft. Many of the materials have not yet been formally analyzed.
Q: Were the Roswell files included?
A: Yes. The release includes a historical FBI memo referencing the 1947 Roswell incident, in which a U.S. Air Force major informed the FBI that a “flying disc” had been recovered in New Mexico.
Q: Will more UFO files be released?
A: Yes. The Pentagon confirmed it will continue releasing new materials on a rolling basis, with new tranches posted every few weeks as additional files are discovered and declassified.
Q: What is a UAP vs. a UFO?
A: UAP stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena and is the current official government term. It is broader than UFO (Unidentified Flying Object), encompassing objects observed in the sky, underwater, and potentially in space. The two terms are often used interchangeably in public discourse.
Last updated: May 9, 2026. Sources: U.S. Department of War (war.gov), CNN, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, Al Jazeera, Navy Times.