PURSUE TRANCHE 02
On May 22, 2026, the Department of War published Release 02 of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters - 64 files (51 videos, 7 audio recordings, 6 PDFs) at war.gov/UFO/. The Pentagon described much of the footage as notably clearer than Release 01, and the batch widens the archive with NORTHCOM, CENTCOM, and domestic sensor video, seven NASA mission audio recordings (Mercury through Apollo), and historical paper files from the DOE, CIA, and ODNI - including a first-hand narrative filed by a serving senior U.S. intelligence official in late 2025. Since its launch the war.gov/UFO portal has logged over one billion visits.
RELEASE 02 SUPERCUT · ALL 50+ CLIPS · SOURCE FILES: war.gov/UFO/ · VIA NewsNation
We plot the 7 most significant cases from this release on the globe and break down 11 highlights below. The full release is 64 files — videos, audio, and documents.
HIGHLIGHTS
11 STANDOUT ITEMSUSAF Air National Guard F-16C weapon-system footage of the object shot down over Lake Huron — the third of three North American shootdowns in the week after the Chinese surveillance balloon.
↳ U.S. officials later assessed the February 2023 shootdown targets as most likely benign objects; the Lake Huron object was never recovered.
An MQ-9 Reaper achieved a weapons-quality lock on a UAP that then performed an instantaneous acceleration and an abrupt change of direction. One of the clearer color sensor clips in the release.
Four oblong objects flying in formation, traveling rapidly over the ocean (a UAP/USO formation). Analysts noted the varying tracks are inconsistent with drifting balloons.
Infrared footage (IIR-1-655-S0053-23) of an indistinct object that appears to tilt sideways and then vanish, captured by a sensor aboard a U.S. military platform.
A small spherical object filmed crossing a countryside landscape. The location was not disclosed in the release metadata.
↳ Globe pin uses a representative coordinate pending the original release metadata.
The program's first full-color (non-thermal) clip: a black sphere, probably filmed by a drone. Nearly all prior PURSUE video had been monochrome infrared.
↳ Analysts note the behavior is consistent with a drone-imaged balloon.
Multiple orb-like UAP maneuvering independently near a U.S. submarine; the mission narrative notes that the varying directions of travel 'indicate these are not balloons.'
Historical file documenting 209 reported green-orb and disk sightings around the Sandia Base atomic-weapons complex during the late-1940s 'green fireball' wave.
First-hand narrative filed by a serving senior U.S. intelligence official describing oval, orange objects that emitted light in all directions during a military helicopter encounter, leaving the crew 'virtually speechless.'
Seven mission audio recordings — Mercury-Redstone 4, Mercury-Atlas 7, 8 and 9, and Apollo 12 and 17 — capturing astronaut callouts of unexplained particles and visual phenomena.
Declassified CIA reporting on a UAP sighting inside the Soviet Union, part of the historical paper-file portion of the release.
SENSOR ARCHIVE BY COMMAND
NORTHCOM / DOMESTIC
F-16C Air National Guard weapon-system footage of the Lake Huron shootdown.
IR clip of an object that tilts sideways then vanishes.
A small sphere crossing a countryside landscape.
CENTCOM / MARITIME
MQ-9 Reaper weapons-quality lock; instantaneous acceleration. First full-color clip.
Four oblong objects traveling rapidly in formation over the ocean.
NASA AUDIO
Mercury-Redstone 4, Mercury-Atlas 7/8/9, and Apollo 12 & 17 mission audio.
HISTORICAL ARCHIVES — DOE / CIA / ODNI
209 green-orb and disk reports around the atomic-weapons complex.
Declassified report on a Soviet-territory UAP sighting.
Senior-official first-hand narrative: oval, orange, light-emitting objects.
ALREADY ATTRIBUTED
MUNDANE EXPLANATIONS WITHIN THE RELEASE OR FROM POST-RELEASE ANALYSISU.S. officials assessed the three February 2023 North American shootdown targets as most likely benign, non-threatening objects (commercial or hobbyist balloons). The Lake Huron object was never recovered.
AARO maintains that the majority of clips in the release resolve to drones, balloons, birds, or sensor artifacts, with no credible evidence of extraterrestrial technology.
Independent analysts note the object's behavior is consistent with a drone-imaged balloon; clearer color imagery does not by itself indicate anomalous performance.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and DNI Tulsi Gabbard framed the PURSUE releases as the first of many rolling tranches expected every few weeks. Former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick has cautioned that records reviewed during his tenure contained no evidence of recovered extraterrestrial technology.