Government and military
Records made public through FOIA, declassification, the National Archives and the PURSUE releases. 76 events, newest first.
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Open Released files as a timeline
Government23 Oct 2026
The Department of War posted its seventh batch of records under PURSUE, the program it says is releasing unresolved UAP files on a rolling basis after a presidential directive. Items include 1950s Air Force reports and a 2010 Utah ranch investigation report.
Photo: United States Department of War, Public domain
Government22 Jul 2026
The House adopted Rep. Eric Burlison's UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the FY2027 defense bill. It would set up a review board with subpoena power and require agencies and contractors to send UAP records to the National Archives. The bill then went to the Senate.
Photo: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0
Government8 May 2026
The Department of War posted a first tranche of declassified UAP videos, photos and documents on war.gov/UFO under the interagency Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), saying more would follow on a rolling basis. It noted many items had not been analyzed.
Government31 Mar 2026
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who chairs a House Oversight task force on declassification, wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listing 46 UAP video files, citing whistleblowers who said AARO held more footage. She asked for delivery by April 14, 2026.
Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 4.0
GovernmentMar 2026
In an interview with commentator Benny Johnson, Vice President JD Vance said he had been 'obsessed' with the government's UFO files on taking office but got busy with other issues. He said he did not think UFOs were aliens but 'demons', and that a release of files was being worked on.
Photo: Emily J. Higgins, Public domain
GovernmentFeb 2026
President Trump said in a Truth Social post that he was directing the Secretary of War and other agencies to begin identifying and releasing government files on alien and extraterrestrial life and UAP. The Department of War cited this direction when it began PURSUE releases in May 2026.
Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain
Military1 Nov 2025
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said drones flew over Kleine-Brogel air base, widely reported to store U.S. nuclear weapons, over the nights of Nov. 1-2, 2025. A jammer failed and pursuers lost a drone. He called it a likely spy operation but named no one responsible.
Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Dewberry, Public domain
Government19 Feb 2025
The House Oversight Committee said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's new Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets had asked the administration for briefings on records about UAP and unidentified submerged objects, alongside files on the JFK assassination and other topics.
Photo: US House of Representatives, Public domain
Government11 Feb 2025
House Oversight Chairman James Comer named Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to lead a six-month task force on declassifying federal records. Its announced remit put UAPs alongside the JFK, RFK and MLK assassination files, the Epstein files, COVID-19 origins and 9/11.
Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government11 Feb 2025
Rep. Tim Burchett introduced H.R. 1187 in the 119th Congress. It would have the President direct agencies to declassify and post their UAP records online within 270 days, with progress reports to Congress. It repeats a bill he first filed in May 2024 and was referred to the Oversight Committee.
Photo: U.S. House of Representatives, Public domain
Government15 Dec 2024
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a recently declassified radio-wave tracking system to identify drones reported over New York and New Jersey and their operators, noting state and local police lacked authority to track them.
Photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio/Jeff McEvoy, Public domain
Government22 Dec 2023
The FY2024 defense bill, signed Dec. 22, 2023, kept a reduced version of the Schumer-Rounds UAP Disclosure Act, ordering agencies to send UAP records to a new National Archives collection. Conferees dropped the proposed independent review board and the push to obtain privately held material.
Photo: David Samuel, User:Hellodavey1902, CC BY-SA 3.0
Government13 Dec 2023
In a Senate floor colloquy, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Mike Rounds criticized House negotiators for dropping their proposed independent UAP records review board from the defense bill, warning that declassification would stay with the agencies that had long withheld the records.
Photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio/Jeff McEvoy, Public domain
Government31 Aug 2023
The Defense Department launched aaro.mil, a public site for its UAP office meant to carry declassified photos and videos of resolved cases, reports and FAQs. A secure reporting form for government personnel was promised for later.
Photo: U. S. Department of Defense, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Public domain
Government14 Jul 2023
The House passed its FY2024 defense bill on July 14, 2023 with an amendment from Rep. Tim Burchett directing the Pentagon to release records on publicly known UAP sightings, provided release would not harm national security.
Photo: House Creative Services, Public domain
Government13 Jul 2023
Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds filed the UAP Disclosure Act as an amendment to the Senate defense authorization bill. Modeled on the JFK records law, it would have created a UAP records collection at the National Archives and an independent review board.
Photo: Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Mike Rounds, United States Senate, Public domain
Government19 Apr 2023
AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick testified in open session to the Senate Armed Services emerging threats subcommittee and showed two declassified MQ-9 videos, including a spherical object over the Middle East that he said could not be identified from the available data.
Photo: Defense.gov, Public domain
Government26 Sep 2022
The Canberra Times reported Defence talking points, released under freedom of information, saying Australia had no plans to work with the U.S. on UAP and saw no evidence they were extraterrestrial. Defence listed natural phenomena, sensor issues or human-made technology as likely causes.
Photo: Nick Dowling at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
GovernmentSep 2022
Answering a FOIA request from The Black Vault, the Navy's FOIA office withheld all UAP-designated videos in full, saying release would give adversaries information on Navy operations and capabilities. It said three earlier videos were released only because they had already leaked.
Photo: United States Navy, Public domain
Government17 May 2022
A House Intelligence subcommittee held an open hearing on UAP with Under Secretary of Defense Ronald Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, who showed newly declassified video. It was described as the first open congressional hearing on the subject in about 50 years.
Photo: U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Public domain
GovernmentApr 2022
The Defense Intelligence Agency released nearly 1,600 pages on AAWSAP, the program it funded through Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, including contractor studies on topics like wormholes and antigravity. The release followed FOIA requests from Vice and The Black Vault.
Photo: MSGT KEN HAMMOND, Public domain
GovernmentMar 2021
In a March 2021 Fox News interview, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said the intelligence community knew of many UAP incidents around the world, only some of which had been declassified.
Photo: Office of the Director of Intelligence, Public domain
Military1 Feb 2021
Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division told The War Zone that tests tied to Salvatore Pais's patent claims ran from 2016 to 2019, cost about $508,000, and ended without proving the claimed 'Pais Effect'. Related FOIA records showed a patent did not mean working technology.
Photo: NASA astronaut, Public domain
GovernmentJan 2021
The Black Vault posted about 2,780 pages of CIA UFO-related records from a CD-ROM it bought from the agency, which the CIA described as its entire UFO collection. The site's founder noted that claim could not be independently verified, and many pages are redacted.
Military12 May 2020
The Naval Safety Center released eight aviation hazard reports to The War Zone under FOIA. Seven described 2013-2014 encounters between Super Hornets and unidentified objects in training airspace off Virginia and North Carolina; one 2019 report concerned a balloon.
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain, Public domain
