Last updated: October 23, 2026
Key takeaways
- Seven PURSUE releases from May 8 to October 23, 2026 are out. The first six hold 450 official files; Release 07 (October 23) adds an FBI report of a silent black triangle.
- The records include military sensor video, FBI and CIA reports, NASA material, and AAWSAP technical papers.
- Every case is labeled unresolved. None is confirmed as non-human.
- The gaps between releases are growing: 14, 21, 28, 28 and 42 days.
Jump to: Release timeline | Biggest cases | What it proves | What comes next | FAQ
The Pentagon UFO files are no longer a rumor. Since May 8, 2026, the Department of War has published its records through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), and the official database at war.gov/UFO listed 450 files through Release 06, and Release 07 arrived on October 23, 2026. This recap pulls seven releases into one place: what came out, what stood out, and what the evidence does and does not show.
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The PURSUE release timeline: seven drops in 168 days
The program began with a presidential directive in February 2026. Every release so far landed on a Friday. Counts below come from the official database filters.
| Release | Date | Files | Headline material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release 01 | May 8, 2026 | 158 | Multi-agency opening tranche from the FBI, NASA, and the Department of War, spanning 1944 to the present. See our full breakdown of what was published and what is missing. |
| Release 02 | May 22, 2026 | 64 | A large early dossier of mid-century sighting reports, reported by outside trackers to center on a Sandia Base file. |
| Release 03 | June 12, 2026 | 72 | FBI, CIA, NASA and Department of Defense records plus orb-like video. Read our third batch coverage. |
| Release 04 | July 10, 2026 | 40 | 14 documents, 19 military sensor videos, 3 NASA photographs and 4 NASA audio recordings. See the fourth batch top ten cases. |
| Release 05 | August 7, 2026 | 41 | Gulf of Oman AC-130J videos (2021) and the Bagram, Afghanistan triangle interview (2002). Read Release 05 in full. |
| Release 06 | September 18, 2026 | 75 | Project Blue Book Tremonton film file, Ruppelt transcript and audio, AAWSAP technical papers, and Colorado law-enforcement reports. See Release 06 coverage. |
| Release 07 | October 23, 2026 | 10 documents (Axios) or 28 new records (Starlust) | FBI report of a silent black triangle that moved 1.5 miles in 3 seconds, with an AARO memo, plus a 2010 Skinwalker Ranch record, Sweden 1953 and Saudi Arabia 1957 sightings. Read Release 07 in full. |
Track every event on our UAP disclosure timeline and browse the documents library.
The biggest cases across all seven releases
Newest: the FBI black triangle (Release 07)
Release 07 (October 23, 2026) added an FBI report, with an AARO memo, of a silent black triangle seen in the western United States in June 2026 by two FBI special agents and a corroborating third official. The report describes a 13-15 foot wingspan, a 200-300 foot climb, a hover of about 20 seconds, then about 1.5 miles in roughly 3 seconds. Only a rendition was released, not photographs. Read the full Release 07 breakdown.
Gulf of Oman, 2021: six videos from an AC-130J crew (Release 05)
A Special Operations AC-130J gunship crew tracked roughly 25 unidentified aerial phenomena during a live-fire exercise. Six videos are in the database. This is the strongest modern sensor evidence in the set.
Bagram, Afghanistan, 2002: the silent triangle (Release 05)
A newly declassified FBI interview describes a silent, equilateral triangle about 500 feet across that blacked out the stars over Bagram.
Tremonton, Utah, 1952: the Project Blue Book film file (Release 06)
The database includes the Blue Book case file (DOW-UAP-D102) and the film itself (DOW-UAP-PR159), dated July 2, 1952. It is one of the best-known films of the early UFO era, now available from the original archive.
Ruppelt, 1952: the Blue Book chief on tape (Release 06)
A transcript (DOW-UAP-D154) and audio (DOW-UAP-PR160) from March 26, 1952 capture the head of Project Blue Book discussing the problem in his own voice.
AAWSAP papers: what the government was studying (Release 06)
Roughly three dozen Defense Intelligence Reference Documents from the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program, dated 2010 and 2011, cover topics such as aneutronic fusion propulsion, negative mass propulsion, MHD air-breathing propulsion and hypersonic tracking. Some of these papers were reported to be publicly available before, so the value is the official confirmation of what the program commissioned. For the story behind AAWSAP, see our review of Skinwalkers at the Pentagon.
Middle East, Iraq and Yellow Sea videos (Release 06)
Release 06 also adds unresolved reports from Iraq and the Middle East (2022 and 2025) and from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea (2023), plus Colorado law-enforcement videos and transcripts from October 2023 and January 2024.
What the Pentagon UFO files prove, and what they do not
The honest summary is narrower than the headlines. The files show that the government holds decades of sighting records, military sensor footage and technical research. They show that trained personnel report objects they cannot identify. They do not contain a confirmed craft, a confirmed biological sample or an official statement of non-human origin. The word used throughout is “unresolved.” The most useful way to read the releases is as an evidence base to be tested, not as a verdict. Add the new whistleblower protections to that picture, covered in our report on the Pentagon waiver for UAP whistleblowers.
What comes next: the Disclosure Clock
The Pentagon has not announced Release 07, and the intervals between drops have lengthened from two weeks to six. We track the pace and the odds of meaningful disclosure on the live Disclosure Clock below. Read the full method on the UFO Disclosure Clock page.
Related reading: Rep. Eric Burlison on the UAP SCIF and the Bariloche, Argentina incident in the declassified files.
Pentagon UFO files: frequently asked questions
How many Pentagon UFO files have been released so far?
The official PURSUE database at war.gov/UFO lists 450 files across six releases: 158, 64, 72, 40, 41 and 75, in order. Counts can shift slightly as the Department of War updates the database.
Do the Pentagon UFO files prove aliens exist?
No. None of the six releases contains confirmed evidence of non-human intelligence. The Department of War labels the cases “unresolved,” which means the data was not sufficient to identify the objects, not that they were identified as extraterrestrial.
When is the next PURSUE release?
The Pentagon has not announced a date for Release 07. Releases have come roughly every two to six weeks, and the gap has been widening, so any specific date you see online is speculation.
What is the most important Pentagon UFO file so far?
That depends on the standard. For video, many researchers point to the 2021 Gulf of Oman AC-130J footage in Release 05. For history, the Project Blue Book Tremonton film file in Release 06 stands out. For technology, the AAWSAP papers show what the government was studying.
Where can I read the original Pentagon UFO files?
Every file is hosted in the official PURSUE database at war.gov/UFO. Filter by release (R01 to R06) to browse documents, videos and audio.
Sources for this article
Department of War PURSUE database (war.gov/UFO), release pages R01 to R06; our own reviews of the primary-source files linked above.
