Inside PURSUE, the Government's New Public UFO Archive

The Department of War this week unveiled a new transparency project called PURSUE, the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, with the first declassified files expected to land tomorrow. The portal is part of a sweeping White House directive to release government records on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.

For the public, the rollout means a steady drip of formerly classified images, videos, and reports over the coming weeks. For weather watchers, it is also a reminder that many things people see in the sky have natural, terrestrial explanations.

What the PURSUE Portal Is

PURSUE was launched at the direction of President Donald J. Trump and is being run by the Department of War with support from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The site, hosted at war.gov/UFO, archives only unresolved UAP cases, meaning the government cannot make a definitive call on what was observed. New documents will be posted in tranches every few weeks.

The first official release, dated May 8, 2026, includes statements from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and a slideshow of imagery from past military UAP encounters. Each entry lists the agency, release date, incident date, location, and type, allowing journalists, researchers, and curious readers to filter the archive.