Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, anticipation is building around a possible new Pentagon disclosure involving dozens of UAP videos and records expected to be released under the Department of War’s PURSUE transparency initiative. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) the growing signs that a new “Release 02” may be imminent, 2) what lawmakers and leaked descriptions reveal about the footage currently held by AARO, 3) why several of the reported incidents involving “transmedium” objects and spherical UAP are drawing renewed attention, and 4) how the forthcoming release could intensify debate over what the Pentagon knows—and may still be withholding—about unexplained encounters involving U.S. military personnel around the world.

Quote of the Week

“The lack of disclosure regarding the very real threat posed by UAPs in and around U.S. restricted airspace is concerning.”

– Rep. Anna Paulina Luna

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Pentagon Preparing New UAP Release as Lawmakers Push for Greater Disclosure

This week, many speculate that a new batch of Pentagon videos and records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) could be made public soon as part of the Department of War’s ongoing PURSUE transparency initiative, with some observers anticipating the next release by the end of the week.

The forthcoming installment, expected to appear under what may become PURSUE “Release 02,” is reportedly set to include dozens of videos currently held by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Many of the videos were first publicly referenced in a March 31, 2026, letter from Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, in which Luna requested the release of 46 videos tied to unresolved UAP incidents.

Right now, there are several promising indications that the next release will be on the way very soon.

Here’s a look at what we know.

Subtle New Activity at the Department of War’s PURSUE Page  

Although no new files had appeared at the Department of War’s PURSUE webpage as of Noon Eastern on Thursday, there was one very subtle change that came to our attention at The Debrief.

Specifically, this involved the page’s original “Release 01” designation in the site navigation headings near the top of the page, from which the “01” had quietly disappeared from the site’s navigation bar.

While there are other potential explanations for this, a likely interpretation is that it signals preparations that may be underway for an imminent new “Release 02.”

Descriptions of New UAP Videos

Additionally, descriptions of the forthcoming videos that have already been made available to the public suggest the release could potentially include some of the most unique military UAP footage disclosed to date.

Back in March, an itemized listing of UAP videos currently believed to be in the holdings of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was included in a letter from Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Based on the information conveyed in Luna’s letter, we can discern several things about the UAP videos that are currently expected to be released.

For instance, many of the videos reportedly involve spherical objects, a shape category that military personnel and AARO officials have repeatedly identified in recent years. One video allegedly depicts a sphere maneuvering through clouds over Afghanistan in 2020, while another reportedly shows a pulsing orb over water. Additional videos are said to feature erratic movement patterns and unexplained flight characteristics.

Other footage reportedly includes elongated “cigar-shaped” objects similar to the now-famous “Tic Tac” UAP first observed by U.S. Navy aviators during exercises off the California coast in 2004.

“Transmedium” Objects in the New PURSUE Release?

One of the most intriguing categories expected in the release involves “transmedium” objects, which are described as operating both in the air and underwater. According to descriptions contained in Luna’s letter, at least two videos involve unidentified submerged objects (USOs), including one incident from March 2022 in which spherical objects were reportedly observed moving “in and out of water” near a U.S. submarine.

AARO defines UAP broadly as anomalous detections occurring across multiple domains, including airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and transmedium environments.

In advance of “Release 02,” you can get a complete rundown of everything we currently know about the forthcoming videos in our recent article over at The Debrief, which gives a breakdown of all the new footage, as well as cases that are already well-known, but for which “Release 02” may help provide additional context.

New Support For AARO

Arguably, one of the most promising indicators that the new release will be on the way very soon—possibly within just a few hours—comes from social media, where Representative Luna has recently suggested that the declassification process is already underway.

This much was conveyed specifically in a May 15 posting on X, where the Florida Republican shared a photograph of herself alongside current AARO director Jon Kosloski and Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), writing that they had completed a review of “40+ videos set for declassification.”

“We are standing with the NEW and very QUALIFIED Director of AARO who now has my full support,” Luna wrote, adding that additional releases could arrive “in the coming weeks.”

Whether all 46 requested videos will ultimately be released remains unclear. However, with anticipation building around PURSUE’s next tranche of disclosures, the forthcoming release is likely to renew debate over what the Pentagon knows—and what it may still be withholding—about unexplained objects observed by U.S. military personnel around the world.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.

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A new batch of Pentagon videos and other records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is expected to soon be released by the Department of War, with many anticipating their arrival by week’s end.

The next installment in an ongoing series of Pentagon disclosures is anticipated to include up to 46 new UAP videos reportedly held by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

Although the existence of the videos has been discussed publicly on several occasions by lawmakers in recent weeks, a complete listing of the collection of AARO UAP videos, along with preliminary titles and descriptions of some of the footage, was initially disclosed earlier this year in a letter from Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

“The continued lack of transparency surrounding these anomalies and the potential national security threat they pose is troubling,” Luna’s letter, dated March 31, 2026, reads.

According to Luna, the existence of “additional video records of potential UAP sightings” came to the attention of Luna’s Task Force as a result of whistleblowers who participated in a September 29, 2025, hearing related to UAP transparency. “To continue its investigation, the Task Force requests certain video files related to UAP sightings,” Luna explained to Hegseth in the letter.

Indications of a Forthcoming Release?

The imminent arrival of the videos, originally requested for release by Luna “as soon as possible but no later than April 14, 2026,” is now anticipated by as early as Friday.

On Thursday, the official page on the Department of War’s website for the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) featured no additional videos or documents beyond those included with the original release, which appeared on May 8, 2026, when the page went live.

However, the heading originally titled “Release 01” that appears in the page’s navigation bar is now missing the “01,” seemingly indicating that preparations for a new batch, tentatively titled “Release 02,” are likely underway.

Update: Thursday, May 21, 2026: Some visitors to the Department of War website also reported throughout the day that, for a short period, the site’s file listing showed up to 140 blank pages. As of 7:23 p.m. Eastern, only the original number of files associated with “Release 01” is available on the site.

What To Expect in the PURSUE “Release 02”

Based on the original list of videos detailed in Luna’s letter from March, along with some descriptions and imagery associated with the videos that have been disseminated prior to their complete authorized release, a few details about what the videos are expected to reveal can be discerned.

One video that Luna and her Task Force have requested reportedly depicts a formation of four unidentified objects flying over an unspecified region in Iran, observed on August 26, 2022.

Another video, reportedly captured in 2021 over Syria, appears to show an object that seemingly displays “instant acceleration,” a capability that would require overcoming several fundamental laws of physics.

While unusual—or even seemingly impossible—physical maneuvers can often be attributed to camera motion and other artifacts arising from the conditions under which such videos are obtained, there are indications that there could be other intriguing footage in the forthcoming batch, a few of which may display a key capability that has increasingly been attributed to some UAP during military observations.

Unidentified Submerged Objects and “Transmedium” UAP

According to AARO, UAP sometimes represent more than just aerial phenomena, with its official definition including “sources of anomalous detections in one or more domains (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers.”

Intriguingly, at least some of the files expected in the forthcoming release include videos that purportedly show objects exhibiting what the military characterizes as “transmedium” capabilities, with the objects, described as “USOs” (unidentified submerged objects), reportedly observed both in and out of water.

In at least one of the two USO videos, several spherical objects observed in near proximity to a U.S. submarine on March 25, 2022, are reportedly observed both “in and out of water” in the AARO footage.

Another video, dubbed “UAP USO formation Wiley 2X Zinc,” reportedly shows a different formation of unidentified objects that may be displaying transmedium capabilities.

Spheres Take Center Stage

Several of the videos requested by Luna and other lawmakers reportedly feature what appear to be spherical objects, a common shape class that has been frequently reported by military personnel in recent years, as well as historical reports involving aerial phenomena.

One video, obtained on November 23, 2020, appears to show a spherical object operating in airspace over Afghanistan as it moves “in and out of clouds.” Another spherical object, filmed in 2022, reportedly displays “erratic movement” frequently attributed to such objects, while in a separate video, a spherical UAP is said to have been observed “pulsing” as it passed over a body of water.

Finally, in an incident that occurred on April 12, 2021, a series of three videos was obtained by U.S. personnel depicting a spherical object of unknown origin.

AARO officials have previously expressed interest in this class of objects. In one incident in 2022, an MQ-9 Reaper UAS operating in the Middle East recorded video of a spherical object using its onboard electro-optical sensor. “The object’s characteristics and behavior are consistent with other ‘metallic orb’ observations in the region,” according to a short summary of the footage included in a 2025 AARO mission brief available at its website.

Tic Tacs, Flying Cigars, “Fast Movers”

Spherical objects aren’t the only objects that make appearances in the videos AARO has obtained. Several other varieties of UAP that are commonly recognized from historical accounts are reportedly featured in the videos, which include elongated “cigar” shapes such as the “Tic Tac,” a designation first attributed to an unusual object captured by an FA/18 Super Hornet Pilot during training exercises off the Baja California Coast in November 2004.

One of the new videos describes a “cigar-shaped or fat spherical UAP” observed on October 15, 2022, while another appears to describe a case in which a United States Coast Guard EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft observed a Tic Tac-shaped object with its high-definition forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor system.

Another video that could be in the forthcoming release involves a trio of “fast moving UAPs” that were observed by U.S. personnel on October 29, 2020. The term “fast mover” is recognized as slang for “fighter jet,” while similar terminology, such as the variant “Fastwalker,” is also occasionally used in relation to UAP sightings.

New Details on the Eglin Air Force Base UAP?

Some of the videos expected in the forthcoming release may offer additional details about UAP incidents that are already well known and for which case resolutions have been produced during AARO’s investigations.

One video in the forthcoming tranche, designated “IIR 1 665 SO301 23/Eglin AFB,” appears to refer to a January 26, 2023, incident involving a U.S. military pilot who observed four objects flying in a diamond formation over the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of the sighting, the pilot claimed that several of his aircraft’s onboard capabilities malfunctioned, requiring them to manually capture imagery of the object.

In a case resolution report on the incident following AARO’s assessment, investigators concluded that the UAP “very likely was an ordinary object and was not exhibiting anomalous or exceptional characteristics or flight behaviors,” concluding that the object the pilot filmed may have been a lighting balloon.

However, AARO’s resolution report added that it had only “moderate confidence in this assessment due to the limited data provided,” a conclusion that drew criticism from even some of the more skeptical UAP investigators.

“The lighting balloon hypothesis always felt like something someone at AARO liked, but wasn’t really supported by much evidence,” skeptic Mick West told The Debrief following the publication of AARO’s report on the incident.

Another of the videos in the forthcoming release was captured by a U.S. Air Force F-16C pilot (callsign AESIR11) during a widely publicized incident that occurred on February 12, 2023, where an object was shot down over Lake Huron with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.

According to former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick, this incident had been one of several involving objects that were later determined to have been hobbyist balloons that were shot down in early 2023, as Kirkpatrick revealed during a recent presentation he gave at the Center for Naval Analyses on April 27, 2026.

Looking Ahead: Cooperation with AARO Continues

Luna has also conveyed to her followers on social media in recent days that the review process required for the release of the new videos was underway, with cooperation from AARO officials.

In a posting on her official X account on May 15, 2026, Luna appeared in a photograph alongside current AARO director Jon Kosloski and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), writing that they had just completed the review of “40+ videos set for declassification” by the Department of War, which could be expected “in the coming weeks” as of the time of posting.

“We are standing with the NEW and very QUALIFIED Director of AARO who now has my full support and has proven through action that he is working in good faith on declass efforts,” Luna wrote.

It remains to be seen whether all the videos Luna has requested will be released, although a few glimpses of footage allegedly from the forthcoming batch have already appeared on social media in recent days.

Should the requested tranche of AARO UAP videos arrive in time for the unofficial, but widely anticipated deadline, The Debrief will provide additional reporting on the release of those records, along with any new information they may contain.

For the time being, the records released under the PURSUE initiative are available on the Department of War’s website.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

The Department of War (DOW) released a batch of U.S. government documents related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on Friday, as part of the rollout of its new Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation,” said U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a statement accompanying the release on Friday, adding that “it’s time the American people see it for themselves.”

“This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency,” Hegseth said.

“Today’s release is the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a statement on Friday.

According to supplemental information made available at the new PURSUE web page, which was featured on a portion of the DOW’s website that can be found here, the new release follows an announcement by President Donald Trump earlier this year, where he revealed on his Truth Social website that he would be directing Hegseth and Pentagon officials to oversee the release of UAP-related materials.

“In response to President Donald J. Trump’s directive for transparency on U.S. government information regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), the Department of War (DOW), with support from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), is overseeing government wide efforts to expeditiously find, review, identify, declassify and publicly release unresolved UAP-related records and historical documents in the federal government’s possession,” read a statement accompanying the new release, which appeared at the website of the DOW on Friday morning.

Characterizing the new effort under PURSUE as “an unprecedented, historic undertaking,” the statement added that the DOW’s efforts under Trump’s directive require “coordination between dozens of agencies and the review of tens of millions of records, many existing only on paper, spanning many decades.”

Friday’s release, which includes a trove of U.S. military imagery depicting what appear to be unidentified aerial objects, as well as NASA imagery from the Apollo era, and a collection of files from agencies that include the FBI, DOW, Department of State, and NASA from over the years, are said to be the first of an ongoing series of releases under the President’s PURSUE initiative.

“Given the scope of this task, the Department of War will be releasing new materials on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks,” the DOW statement reads.

Historical Documents and Unresolved Cases

The recent releases feature cases that were previously unresolved, which the DOW characterizes as incidents involving purported UAP for which “the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena,” citing insufficient data and other factors that may account for this.

The DOW says that it “welcomes the application of private-sector analysis, information and expertise” in the further evaluation of the UAP records it has released. “DOW will continue to conduct separate reporting on resolved UAP cases, as mandated by statute.”

“Under this Administration, we will pursue the truth and share our findings with the American people,” the DOW statement reads.

It remains unclear whether any formal directives or other Presidential actions were behind the new release of UAP records. Last year, a similar release of long-classified records was secured with the issuance of a formal Executive Order by President Trump, which led to the release of some new files related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, although many of the files in that release had previously been made available.

Along similar lines, some of the UAP-related documents made available in the new DOW release appear to have been publicly available in various formats previously, including several documents related to past FBI inquiries into reports of aerial phenomena.

Fewer Redactions on Previously Available UAP Files

Significantly, the new versions appearing on the DOW’s PURSUE page are reportedly released with fewer redactions than previous versions made available by the FBI.

A summary accompanying Friday’s re-release of the FBI’s 62-HQ-83894 case file, which features “investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968,” notes that the originals released by the FBI were incomplete.

“This file is partially posted on [the] FBI vault with more redactions and some pages missing. Included here is the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions,” the DOW summary states.

Although some of the newly released files do feature redactions, the DOW states that these were only made “to protect the identity of eyewitnesses, the location of government facilities, or potentially sensitive information about military sites not related to UAP.”

“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,” the DOW’s website states.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday that his agency “remains committed to supporting this rolling declassification effort with the same rigor and integrity we bring to every national security matter.”

“As these files continue to be reviewed and released, the American people can be confident that their security remains our highest priority,” Patel said.

NASA Administrator Jared Issacman said he applauded the new effort, which he said will “bring greater transparency to the American people on unidentified anomalous phenomena.”

“At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn,” Issacman said on Friday. “We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered.”

What the New Records Reveal

In advance of the release, expectations about what the Trump Administration might reveal ranged from the otherworldly to the likelihood that little new information would be made available.

Based on Friday’s release, very little of the documentation appearing at the DOW’s website provides significant new insights into the nature of UAP, and the new web page appears to be poised mostly to serve as a one-stop clearinghouse for various past U.S. government records related to the subject.

Several images and videos included with the initial PURSUE release constitute UAP imagery that had been assessed by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), and which are currently characterized as unresolved UAP reports.

Also notable from the new release are the inclusion of a series of historic NASA images that have been modified to include “highlighted areas of interest” which emphasize what appear to the unexplained objects. Among the images are photos from the Apollo era, including lunar photography “in which unidentified phenomena are visible,” according to the newly modified PURSUE versions of these images.

It remains unclear whether the “areas of interest” in these images are merely photographic artifacts, reflections, or if they represent genuine physical objects, although the PURSUE versions of these historic NASA images are accompanied by a statement emphasizing that the highlighted portions “do not constitute an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the nature or significance of the subject matter.”

In one incident report included with the release, a series of events that reportedly occurred over two days in 2023 describes observations of unusual orange “orbs” that appeared to emit or release smaller reddish orbs.

The sightings, observed by three teams of federal law enforcement special agents, are reportedly deemed significant by AARO based on “contextual factors” that include the credibility of the reporters, which the PURSUE release states “combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO’s current holdings.”

Despite its apparent significance, no technical information, including imagery or other data, apparently accompanied the report.

What’s Next

In a statement that appeared on her X account, Representative Anna Paulina Luna called Friday’s release “a great first step,” adding that “Additional releases are expected in the coming weeks.”

“A second tranche of documents, including additional requested video footage, is anticipated within approximately 30 days,” Luna wrote, seemingly in reference to several videos depicting UAP that she and other lawmakers have reportedly learned of, which they have requested to be released to the public.

On Friday, a DOW statement accompanying the first PURSUE release also affirmed that additional collections of UAP records will be made available in the days ahead.

“DOW will continue to conduct separate reporting on resolved UAP cases, as mandated by statute,” the statement read.

“Under this Administration, we will pursue the truth and share our findings with the American people.”

The complete contents of PURSUE Release 01 can be found at the DOW’s official UFO web page.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.