Breaking: The Department of War has published its fifth UFO files release — 41 new documents, images, and videos posted today, August 7, 2026, under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The headline items: six videos of a 2021 Gulf of Oman encounter in which a Special Operations AC-130J gunship crew tracked roughly 25 unidentified aerial phenomena during a live-fire exercise, and a newly declassified FBI interview describing a silent, 500-foot equilateral triangle that blacked out the stars over Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2002.
This is the fifth release since President Trump’s February directive ordering the government to find, declassify, and publish its UAP-related records, and the Department of War says it won’t be the last — more files are coming “on a rolling basis.”
What’s in Release 05
The 41 new records come from the Department of War, FBI, CIA, State Department, and the Executive Office of the President. The oldest document dates to 1950; the most recent is from this year. The release includes raw sensor and cellphone video, FBI FD-302 witness interview forms, artist renderings, and at least one intelligence information report (IIR) analyzing an unresolved encounter.
The Gulf of Oman Gunship Encounter
The centerpiece of today’s release is a September 2021 incident in which Special Operations forces aboard an AC-130J gunship recorded cellphone video of their onboard sensor screens during a live-fire exercise over the Gulf of Oman. According to the accompanying intelligence report, the crew “observed approximately 25 instances of UAPs” during the exercise.
“The UAPs were observed as cold orbs flying at lower altitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in different formations as well as maneuvering aggressively. UAPs also appeared to react to the aircraft firing its main cannon,” the report states. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office — the Pentagon’s UAP investigative arm — was unable to resolve the case.
Watch: Gulf of Oman Gunship Footage
Three of the six DVIDS-hosted clips from the September 2021 encounter, released today as part of Release 05:
View on DVIDS (Official DoD Archive)
View on DVIDS (Official DoD Archive)
View on DVIDS (Official DoD Archive)
A Triangle Over Bagram, and Lights on a Transatlantic Flight
One of the most striking documents is an FBI 302 form recording a 2024 interview with a former military pilot. The pilot described serving in Afghanistan in 2002: “At approximately 4:30 AM local time, [redacted] noticed that the stars were getting blacked out over Bagram. It appeared as if something huge went overhead, from west to east, and was an equilateral triangle shape. The object was moving silently, at a consistent speed and altitude, possibly 150 knots, with no lights visible.” He estimated the object at roughly 500 feet, and said a second pilot who witnessed it alongside him asked, “did you see that?” The FBI produced an artist’s rendering of the object, released as part of the file.
The same pilot told investigators he began seeing strange lights during commercial flights years later, first spotting them on a Massachusetts-to-Ireland route in October 2023 at 37,000 feet, with the lights appearing to sit at 50,000 feet or higher — dim, brightening, then fading out over 10 seconds to a minute. He says he saw the phenomenon roughly ten more times after that first sighting.
Other Notable Files
Additional highlights from Release 05 include a 2025 clip submitted by U.S. Central Command showing an object crossing the frame over a populated area in the Middle East; infrared video from a U.S. Government Special Agent in the western United States this year showing two slow-moving “black-hot” objects tracked with a handheld sensor for five to ten minutes; a 2022 video described as a rotating red orb over the northeastern United States; and a declassified 1996 photograph from Space Shuttle Columbia showing an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. In total, the release includes eight FBI 302 witness-interview forms, most paired with official artist renderings.
Watch: Additional Release 05 Footage
Two more clips from today’s release, also hosted on DVIDS:
View on DVIDS (Official DoD Archive)
View on DVIDS (Official DoD Archive)
What the Department of War Is Saying
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth framed the release as part of a broader transparency push: “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 fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.” The department says the effort spans “tens of millions of records,” many still on paper, and will continue in tranches every few weeks.
Download the Release 05 Files
The full document and video bundles are hosted directly by the Department of War and are free to download and review.
What We’re Watching Next
The Department of War has already confirmed more releases are coming, with no fixed schedule beyond “every few weeks.” Five tranches have now been released since May 8, 2026, each larger and more detailed than expected. We’ll keep tracking the pace, the content, and whether any single case moves from “unresolved” to something more definitive.
Sources for this article:
CBS News: Full Report
Source Document: Gulf of Oman IIR
Source Document: Bagram Triangle FD-302
This is a developing story. UAP Disclosure Reads will update as new information becomes available.
