The United States Department of Defense released a fourth batch of declassified files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on 10 July, adding 40 records to a public archive that now spans incidents from 1949 to 2025. The material, published through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), includes 19 videos, 14 documents, three still images and four audio recordings. The Pentagon stated that all cases in this tranche are classified as unresolved, meaning that available data do not permit a definitive identification of the observed objects.

Viewed from Washington, the release is the latest step in an executive-branch effort to address long-standing congressional and public pressure for transparency around military UAP encounters. The PURSUE programme was established by an executive order from President Donald Trump earlier in 2026, tasking the Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other agencies with locating, reviewing and declassifying relevant records. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department would continue to publish files as they are discovered and cleared, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described the initiative as “unprecedented transparency” that allows the American people to examine the evidence directly.

Among the newly disclosed items are infrared sensor videos from US military platforms in the Atlantic, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, as well as photographs taken by NASA astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-80 in 1996. One 2019 report details an encounter in which a naval aviator with 28 years of service said he had never seen an object with such flight characteristics. A separate file recounts a 2015 incident at the Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Texas, where security personnel tracked a diamond-shaped object moving at low speed without visible means of propulsion. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) notes that factors such as sensor resolution, distance and brief observation windows often prevent conclusive analysis.

Analysts in Washington and European capitals note that the releases are calibrated to satisfy demands for openness without endorsing any particular explanation. The Pentagon explicitly states that the unresolved designation does not imply the objects are extraterrestrial, and no evidence of off-world technology is presented. The archive draws on holdings from the FBI, CIA, Department of Energy and NASA, reflecting a government-wide effort to centralise UAP records. The first three batches were published on 8 May, 22 May and 12 June 2026, and the Pentagon has indicated that further tranches will follow on a rolling basis as the interagency review continues.