Pentagon Releases First Batch of 162 UAP Files Under PURSUE Programme

The Department of War posted 162 declassified UAP files to a new public-facing site at war.gov/UFO on 8 May 2026, the first tranche under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. Material spans Apollo-era astronaut reports to encounters in Iraq in 2022 and Syria in 2024.

The Department of War on 8 May 2026 posted 162 declassified files relating to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena to a new public site at war.gov/UFO, opening the first publicly accessible tranche under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, or PURSUE. The release fulfils the directive President Donald Trump signed on 20 February 2026 ordering federal agencies to identify and release UAP-related records.

The official release was issued through Department of War public affairs. Material drawn into the initial batch includes astronaut reports from the Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 missions, FBI documents, State Department cables, and military encounter reports from theatres including Iraq in 2022 and Syria in 2024. According to NPR and CBS News, the Apollo 12 set includes five photographs from the lunar surface showing unidentified objects above the lunar horizon, and an Apollo 17 photograph from December 1972 showing what is described as three dots in a triangular formation.

What PURSUE is

The press release names PURSUE as an interagency effort coordinated by the Department of War and including the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Energy, the Department of War’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and additional components of the United States intelligence community. The collection sits at war.gov/UFO. The Department of War said additional files will be released on a rolling basis as they are reviewed and declassified, with new tranches posted every few weeks.

The release statement says the files have been reviewed for security purposes but that many of the materials have not yet been analysed for the resolution of any anomalies, language that places the burden of interpretation on the public rather than on AARO or any single agency.

On-the-record statements

The Department of War release carries on-the-record quotes from four senior officials.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

"The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government's understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fuelled justified speculation, and it's time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration's earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency."

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

"The American people have long sought transparency about the government's knowledge of unidentified anomalous phenomena. Under President Trump's leadership, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is actively coordinating the Intelligence Community's declassification efforts with the Department of War to ensure a careful, comprehensive, and unprecedented review of our holdings to provide the American people with maximum transparency. Today's release is the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort."

FBI Director Kash Patel

"The FBI is proud to stand alongside President Trump and our interagency partners in this landmark release of UAP records. For the first time in history, the American people have unfettered access to declassified government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon, a level of transparency that no prior administration has delivered. The FBI remains committed to supporting this rolling declassification effort with the same rigor and integrity we bring to every national security matter."

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman

"I applaud President Trump's whole-of-government effort to bring greater transparency to the American people on unidentified anomalous phenomena. At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn. 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 the initial tranche contains

According to NPR, CBS News, CNN and the Al Jazeera wire summary, the 162 files include:

Apollo astronaut reports and photographs, with named coverage of Apollo 11, 12 and 17 incidents.
An internal military memo describing one possible small UAP observed in Iraq in 2022.
A report describing multiple glares or light from an unknown origin observed in Syria in 2024.
FBI documents and State Department cables of unspecified date range.
Drone-pilot reporting of a bright light in the sky followed by a vanishing event, cited by the Department of War as an illustrative case in its public statement.

The Department of War characterises the release as covering material across the full federal record, drawn from the FBI, the Department of War, NASA and the State Department, with additional intelligence community components contributing through ODNI coordination.

What is not yet released

Representative Anna Paulina Luna’s 31 March 2026 letter to Secretary Hegseth requested 46 specific UAP video files identified by whistleblowers, with a 14 April delivery deadline. The 14 April deadline passed without delivery and is logged in the timeline. According to Al Jazeera and CBS News reporting, Luna stated on social media on 8 May that the 46 videos are expected to be released in a later Pentagon tranche. The 162-file initial release does not include them.

The Department of War’s stated position is that PURSUE is a rolling release, and that the agency will publish further tranches every few weeks. No date has been set for the second tranche. The press release does not enumerate which categories of material remain under classification review.

Reactions

Congressional response

Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee thanked President Trump for "keeping his word" on transparency and said publicly that "transparency won't all happen at once, it will take some time," according to wire coverage of the release. Representative Luna welcomed the release while reiterating that the 46-video list remains outstanding.

Independent caution

Several outlets carrying the story, including PBS News, included expert commentary urging caution. The substance of that caution is that UAP videos and photographs have historically been misinterpreted and mischaracterised by viewers without access to the underlying sensor parameters, encounter geometry, or the specifications of the platform that captured the imagery. The Department of War's framing places interpretation on the public, but does not provide the metadata that professional analysis would require.

Where this fits in the disclosure timeline

The 8 May release closes a thirteen-week loop that opened on 20 February 2026, when President Trump signed the directive ordering federal agencies to identify and declassify UAP-related records on a 300-day production schedule. Trump told audiences in Phoenix on 18 April and at a NASA event on 3 May that releases would begin “very, very soon.” The first releases have now begun.

Three open tracks remain. First, the Luna 46-video list, identified by whistleblowers and not included in the 162-file tranche. Second, the Comer-Burlison closed-door briefing track, with the 27 April briefing deadline having passed without a public outcome. Third, the AARO 2025 annual report, which has not been posted to the AARO Congressional Press Products page as of this writing.

The Department of War has committed to a rolling release schedule. Whether the 162-file tranche reflects the substantive material identified during the 300-day review, or only the lower-classification edge of it, will be tested by the contents of the next tranche and the timing of any production against the Luna list.

Material under review

NHI Archive is logging each file in the 162-tranche as it is read, with metadata cross-referenced against existing case records, sightings entries and government records collections on this site. Direct viewer access to the war.gov/UFO repository will be added to the United States entry in the Government Documents hub once the file inventory has been catalogued.