Unveil Today

For decades, classified government files on unidentified anomalous phenomena gathered dust in locked vaults across Washington. On May 8, 2026, that era officially ended. The U.S. Department of War, acting on a direct presidential directive, launched the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters — known as PURSUE — and published the first tranche of 162 never-before-seen files to the open internet, accessible to anyone with a browser.

The files — pulled from the FBI, NASA, the Pentagon, and the State Department — include infrared images, astronaut transcripts, military sensor reports, and incident accounts spanning incidents over Iraq, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and the continental United States. The release is being described by officials as the most ambitious UAP disclosure effort in American history, and it is just the beginning.

Trump’s Truth Social Post That Unlocked the Archives

The chain of events began on February 19, 2026, when President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social directing the Secretary of War and relevant agencies to begin identifying and releasing government files related to alien life, extraterrestrial phenomena, and UAPs. The post ended with a characteristic flourish: “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

Within weeks, the Department of War had assembled an interagency task force coordinating with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), NASA, the FBI, and dozens of other agencies. The scope of the task was staggering — tens of millions of records, many existing only on paper, spanning multiple decades of government activity.

 

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.”

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, May 8, 2026

The model used is deliberately similar to the DOJ’s release of the Epstein Files — a rolling, public-facing archive that bypasses the traditional Freedom of Information Act bottleneck. New material will be posted every few weeks as it is found, reviewed, and declassified.

 

What’s Inside: 162 Files, No Clearance Required

The first release, cleared on May 8, 2026, contains 120 PDF documents, 28 videos, and 14 images. Of the 162 files, 108 carry redactions — the Pentagon specifies these conceal only witness identities, facility locations, and unrelated military sites. No redactions were made concerning the actual nature of any encountered phenomena.

 

 

The FBI Infrared Images: Black Objects Over American Skies

Among the most striking elements of the release are several FBI infrared photographs captured over the western United States in 2025. These images — designated FBI Photo B2, A5, B7, B18, and B20 — show dark, unidentified objects suspended in flight, captured in thermal imaging that renders the sky as a hot white plane and the objects as cold black silhouettes.

 

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on May 6, 2026 — just two days before the public release — that his agency had transferred its first classified batch of UAP documents to the Pentagon-led interagency committee. The FBI’s public statement committed to supporting the “rolling declassification effort with the same rigor and integrity” it brings to national security matters.

 

 

Apollo 17, 1972: “Jagged, Angular Fragments” in Deep Space

The NASA contribution to the release focuses on the Apollo program — specifically Apollo 12 (1969) and Apollo 17 (1972). The Apollo 17 material is particularly striking: transcripts reveal that crew members described seeing “very bright particles or fragments” and “jagged, angular fragments” tumbling in the darkness outside their spacecraft, rotating at distance in ways that defied easy explanation.

 

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman issued a statement applauding the transparency initiative, pledging that the agency would “remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered.” Notably, the 2024 Pentagon report found no verifiable evidence linking any UAP sighting to extraterrestrial activity — but that report also acknowledged significant data gaps across decades of unstructured reporting.

 

Iraq. Greece. UAE. Japan. Africa — A Global Pattern of Unresolved Encounters

The international dimension of the release is significant. Pentagon sensor data and military reports now confirm documented sightings across multiple continents and strategic zones — including theaters of active U.S. military operation.

 

 

 

The Greece 2023 incident is particularly anomalous: the accompanying report described an object executing multiple 90-degree turns at approximately 80 miles per hour — a maneuver profile inconsistent with any known drone or aircraft technology. A separate Middle East report from 2022 shows a military operator flagging an object flying across their sensor display; the 2013 incident from the same region shows an eight-pointed area of contrast captured via infrared — a signature still unexplained.

 

Three Scenarios: What PURSUE Actually Signals

 

 

The Skeptic’s Corner: What AARO’s Former Director Said

Not everyone is treating the release as confirmation of the extraordinary. Sean Kirkpatrick, the physicist and former intelligence officer who led the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) until 2023, has consistently cautioned that the records he reviewed during his tenure contained no evidence of recovered extraterrestrial technology.

Kirkpatrick argues that many UAP videos can be explained by the physics of modern infrared sensors — hot objects like jet engines produce thermal blooms that appear elongated and anomalous on-screen, creating the appearance of exotic craft. The Department of War itself acknowledged this in the PURSUE documentation, stating that many unresolved cases reflect insufficient data rather than inherently anomalous capability.

 

“No redactions have been made to any files released under President Trump’s directive concerning information about the nature or existence of any encounter reported as a UAP or related phenomena.”

— U.S. Department of War, May 8, 2026