Welcome to this week’s Intelligence Brief… this week, a new report argues that U.S. federal officials are warning about possible concerns over forms of anti-tech extremism in America. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) why some U.S. officials are looking at the potential rise of radical views on technology as a potential security threat, 2) current attitudes toward the regulation of AI by the U.S. administration, 3) the U.S. government’s evolving definitions of domestic terrorism, and 4) some possible real-world examples officials have cited behind their growing concerns.

Quote of the Week

“The chaotic atmosphere that may result from emergent AI technology in the next five years may fuel large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity.” 

– New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau Report

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

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Is Anti-Tech Extremism on the Rise?

This week, a concerning new report based on Freedom of Information Act Requests and other data has revealed new concerns about what U.S. officials characterize as “anti-technology extremists.”

The concerns were reportedly detailed in more than 1,000 pages of documents originating from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other federal sources, as well as fusion centers—hubs for the sharing of intelligence between federal and state law enforcement agencies—located across the country.

The apparent shift among U.S. officials regarding this alleged concern was first reported by Wired this week, according to records it obtained, marking a growing concern over the potential unforeseen consequences of the proliferation of machine intelligence across various sectors of industry and society.

Military Techno-Industrial Complexities

U.S. federal law enforcement agencies have reportedly expressed concerns about the possibility of anti-AI extremism and potential threats to national security, according to the investigation published by Wired this week.

Citing one report attributed to the New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, “The chaotic atmosphere that may result from emergent AI technology in the next five years may fuel large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity, especially in large urban areas such as New York City.”

At the heart of much of the issue is the rise of AI implementation under the current U.S. administration, where new efforts to implement machine intelligence in America’s military, as well as within the business sector, are being urged by President Trump.

Experts fear that such factors could become flashpoints amid political tensions, which could help to foment public opposition to AI and its use in government.

For now, the U.S. administration has engaged in little regulation of the technology, and late last year, one Trump executive order specifically focused on removing AI regulations imposed by some states related to security concerns. Trump similarly postponed signing an order that allowed the U.S. federal government early access to new AI models for a period of 90 days before their public release.

Domestic Troubles

Another key factor related to the renewed concerns among U.S. officials involves the recent National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which outlines new categories associated with threats from groups the administration identifies as holding “anti-Americanism” and/or “anti-capitalist” views.

Such views were reflected in the public version of a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy released earlier this month, which also identifies violent left-wing extremists and anti-fascist groups amid narco-terrorists and terrorists linked to religious extremism.

Amid such shifts regarding ideologies and groups the U.S. identifies as potential security concerns, the notion that anti-AI extremism might be similarly viewed as a focus of law enforcement agencies holds real potential, especially with growing resistance to AI already apparent in various areas of society.

Such concerns stem from a range of issues, including fears related to workforce displacement as more jobs are handled by AI systems, as well as worries about the misuse of AI, or even the potential that it could one day represent an unintended threat to humanity.

Real World Examples?

According to the Wired investigation revealed this week, real-world examples may already be appearing. One involves how the New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau points to the arrest and trial of Ziz LaSota, a cult group leader who allegedly has radical views regarding AI.

Other examples include fusion centers throughout the nation that are reportedly monitoring various public meetings and events where individuals have expressed skepticism or concern over the proliferation of AI data centers.

The original report by Wired has been made freely available due to its basis on information obtained using FOIA requests, and can be read here.

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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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

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

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• Get all the latest stories from The Debrief, with more breaking stories at the end of this week’s newsletter.

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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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Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, a series of fast-moving controversies has placed the U.S. Intelligence Community under scrutiny, following viral (and contested) claims of an alleged CIA raid on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and explosive testimony from a former intelligence officer alleging a federal coverup of COVID-19’s origins. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how prime time TV and social media-driven narratives about intelligence activity have quickly spread—and been challenged by officials, 2) the competing claims surrounding alleged CIA retaliation and oversight disputes raised during congressional testimony, 3) how the agency’s own shifting stance on COVID-19’s origins continues to fuel debate between policymakers and the scientific community, and 4) what this latest episode reveals about the growing intersection of intelligence, politics, and public trust in an era of fragmented information.

Quote of the Week

“As the CIA has already assessed, COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak, and efforts to undermine that conclusion are disingenuous.”

– Liz Lyons, CIA spokesperson

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

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U.S. Intelligence Community Pushes Back as Controversies Swirl Over CIA Claims

It’s been a bit of an odd week for the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Over the last 48 hours, renewed interest in the CIA’s Project MK-ULTRA has emerged amid claims of an alleged raid that targeted the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), as well as new allegations from a former intelligence officer who testified before lawmakers on Wednesday about an alleged federal cover-up involving the origins of COVID-19.

Now, senior officials within the Intelligence Community (IC) are pushing back, challenging narratives that have made their way into news feeds via social media and widely shared video clips.

So what are the recent claims at the heart of these new controversies, whose uniting thread involves a three-letter agency long linked to illegal and/or unethical covert operations, many of which remain partially hidden behind the veil of official secrecy? Read on, dear subscribers, as we attempt to make sense of the latest IC controversies that have erupted over the last few days.

A Raid at the ODNI?

This week, claims involving an alleged CIA raid on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) surfaced on social media.

The supposed incident was initially reported in a post by Fox News host Jesse Watters, in a now-deleted posting on X. Shortly thereafter, news was widely circulated that the spy agency had seized several dozen boxes of files containing records related to JFK and Project MK-ULTRA, which were reportedly being processed by the ODNI in advance of their public release.

The alleged incident prompted Congressman Anna Paulina Luna to fire back with plans to subpoena the agency if the files weren’t returned. “The CIA has 24 hours to return the documents to Tulsi Gabbard’s office or else I will make a motion to issue a subpoena,” Luna wrote in a posting on X. “These documents have been requested by Congress.”

Later that evening, after the news had entered the prime-time news cycle, DNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman responded with her own post on X, challenging the claims.

“This is false,” Coleman wrote, adding “the CIA did not raid the DNI’s office.”

The claims seemed a bit odd from the outset, especially since the DNI has oversight authority above the CIA. This has been the case since the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which outlined that the DNI leads the IC, and that the CIA Director, therefore, is required to report to the DNI.

That’s not to say that the CIA hasn’t been accused of operating outside of the law in the past. Nor was the situation involving the alleged seizure of JFK and MK-ULTRA files from the ODNI the only controversy America’s spy agency found itself embroiled in this week.

A CIA COVID-19 Coverup?

On Wednesday, a CIA whistleblower provided testimony before lawmakers claiming that there had been a federal cover-up involving the origins of COVID-19.

Speaking before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, James Erdman III, a former intelligence officer, described himself during introductory statements as a “career CIA operations officer” who was “on joint-duty assignment at the ODNI Director’s Initiatives Group, or the DIG, between March 2025 and April 2026. I was responsible for leading the DIG’s investigation into COVID origins, anomalous health incidents, and unidentified anomalous phenomena.”

Erdman, in other words, had a pretty diverse and interesting assignment during his time at the ODNI’s DIG. However, his reasons for speaking before lawmakers on Wednesday were very specific: “I’m here today to discuss the COVID coverup,” he told members of the Senate this week, along with its national security implications and “CIA refusal to comply with lawful oversight, as well as how we remedy these problems.”

In addition to his background with the IC, Fox News recently described Erdman as a “military veteran who co-founded the grassroots advocacy group Feds For Freedom, an organization that emerged during the COVID-19 vaccine mandate battles involving federal workers and members of the military,” though conceding that “public information online about Erdman’s early life is sparse” and that much of what is available appears on the Feds For Freedom website.

“Intelligence community leaders and senior analysts downplayed the possibility that the COVID pandemic originated as a result of a lab incident,” Erdman told lawmakers on Wednesday, adding that analysts who presented evidence supporting a lab origin for the virus became the targets of retaliation by the spy agency.

“CIA managers retaliated against them for their refusal to agree with management’s middle-of-the-night anonymous rewrite of the analysis, which changed the assessment to a non-call judgment,” Erdman said in testimony he provided. Erdman also reinforced the claims of an alleged removal of documents from the ODNI by CIA personnel, which ODNI representatives have disputed.

Another major focus of Wednesday’s hearing had been Dr. Anthony Fauci, of whom Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Committee’s Chairman, asked how the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases could “objectively comment on a discussion of COVID origins when he approved the very funding that may have caused the Pandemic Virus?”

The CIA Pushes Back

Following Wednesday’s hearing, Liz Lyons, a CIA spokesperson, pushed back on the claims presented during the hearing.

“The Committee acted in bad faith by subpoenaing an Agency officer for testimony today without notifying CIA, despite having already obtained closed-door testimony from the individual previously,” Lyons wrote in a posting on X.

Lyons further charged that Erdman was “not appearing as a whistleblower in pursuit of the truth, but instead in response to the subpoena issued by Chairman Paul.”

“This proceeding amounts to nothing more than dishonest political theater masquerading as a congressional hearing,” Lyons wrote in her statement. “As the CIA has already assessed, COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak, and efforts to undermine that conclusion are disingenuous.”

The debate over COVID-19’s origins is complex and remains highly controversial. As Lyons notes, the CIA had already shifted its position early last year, claiming that COVID-19 likely originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China—a reversal from the agency’s past positions, which was made public shortly after current CIA Director John Ratcliffe was sworn into office.

Clashing with IC assessments are views from the scientific community, which continue to argue that there is little evidence that genetic engineering could be responsible for the virus, and that most reliable scientific evidence suggests the zoonotic transmission hypothesis remains most likely.

Despite the ongoing debate, it is noteworthy that, following the CIA’s apparent shift in its views regarding COVID’s origins in January 2025, an agency spokesperson conceded that “CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”

Altogether, this week’s developments underscore a few things, including how quickly the complexities of U.S. intelligence issues can become entangled with politics, public distrust, and the tangled web of fragmented information.

While the debate over issues like the origins of COVID-19 will no doubt continue, events over the last 48 hours at least serve as a reminder that transparency and accountability in intelligence matters are rarely straightforward—and that definitive answers often emerge only slowly, if at all.

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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Welcome to this very special TGIF edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, the U.S. Department of War has finally launched a new and highly anticipated transparency initiative with the release of its first batch of long-classified UAP documents under the “Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters” (PURSUE) program, an effort officials say will unfold over the coming weeks and months. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how the new initiative aims to declassify decades of government-held UAP records across multiple agencies, 2) what Friday’s release actually revealed—including updated FBI files, military imagery, and NASA photographs with fewer redactions, 3) why much of the material offers limited new insight despite heightened expectations, and 4) what this rolling disclosure effort could mean for future transparency surrounding unresolved UAP cases.

Quote of the Week

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

– Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of War

If you enjoy the news and perspectives offered by The Debrief, make sure that you aren’t missing our stories by making us one of your “preferred sources” on Google News. You can simply follow this link to add The Debrief to your list of favorites, and you can read more about Google’s preferred sources in our article here.

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• Get all the latest stories from The Debrief, with more breaking stories at the end of this week’s newsletter.

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Pentagon Launches UAP Transparency Initiative as First Batch of Files Is Released

Just in time for the weekend, the U.S. Department of War (DOW) has released a “new” batch of government documents involving UFOs, or what the Pentagon has now been calling “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP) for the last several years.

The release comes as part of a newly established program that the White House has dubbed the “Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters,” or PURSUE, which officials describe as an ongoing effort to identify, review, and declassify decades of UAP-related records held across multiple federal agencies.

Friday’s release is understood to be just the first phase of a broader transparency initiative under the Trump administration, with future releases expected as soon as within the next few weeks.

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement accompanying the release. “It’s time the American people see it for themselves.” He added that the effort reflects “an earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.”

Echoing Hegseth’s statements, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard described Friday’s disclosure as only the beginning. “Today’s release is the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort,” she said.

So what, exactly, was revealed by the DOW this week, and what (if anything) does the latest document release provide in terms of new insights into the longstanding mystery of unidentified flying objects?

The Latest Release of “New” UFO Files

As many had expected in the days leading up to this week’s release, a good portion of the documentation in the “new” batch of files revealed at the DOW website on Friday has appeared online or elsewhere in the past.

However, that isn’t to say there wasn’t plenty of new material, both in documents that were previously only available in partial form or with heavy redactions, and in documents that have never been seen before.

Friday’s release includes a wide range of materials, from military imagery and previously classified FBI files to historical NASA photographs dating back to the Apollo era.

Much of the legitimately new material focuses on unresolved UAP cases—incidents in which the government has been unable to determine the nature of the observed phenomena due to insufficient data or other limitations. Officials say they are encouraging private-sector analysts and independent researchers to examine the newly available records.

So what else did we learn with this initial rollout of the Trump Administration’s new PURSUE effort? Here’s a look at several of the highlights from the information detailed in the new release, and what can be expected in the weeks ahead.

The FBI’s UFO Files

Among the more notable elements of the release are updated versions of previously available FBI files, including the well-known 62-HQ-83894 case file, which documents UFO-related reports between 1947 and 1968. According to the DOW, the newly released version includes additional pages and fewer redactions than earlier public versions.

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

Officials emphasized that remaining redactions were limited to protecting sensitive information, such as the identities of witnesses or the locations of government facilities. “No redactions have been made… concerning information about the nature or existence of any encounter reported as a UAP,” the department said.

AARO Imagery and Analysis

The release also includes imagery and video previously assessed by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), as well as modified NASA photographs featuring “highlighted areas of interest” that appear to show unexplained objects. However, officials caution that these enhancements do not represent analytical conclusions and may reflect artifacts or unknown visual anomalies.

One incident report included in the release describes sightings of unusual orange “orbs” observed by federal law enforcement personnel in 2023. According to the summary, the objects appeared to emit smaller reddish spheres and were deemed among the most compelling cases in AARO’s holdings due to the credibility of the witnesses. No accompanying imagery or technical data was included.

Ongoing “Disclosures”

Despite the breadth of the materials, the initial release appears to offer limited new insight into the underlying nature of UAP. Instead, the PURSUE platform primarily serves as a centralized repository for government records, many of which were previously only partially available.

Still, officials say the effort represents a meaningful step toward greater transparency. “Under this Administration, we will pursue the truth and share our findings with the American people,” the DOW said in a statement.

Lawmakers have indicated that additional disclosures may follow soon. Taking to social media, Representative Anna Paulina Luna called the release “a great first step,” noting that a second tranche of documents, including previously requested video footage, could arrive within weeks.

For now, though, the first PURSUE release offers a clearer, albeit still incomplete, look into decades of U.S. government engagement with unexplained aerial phenomena. With more expected as the initiative continues, it remains to be seen whether an even deeper look into Washington’s involvement with aerial mysteries awaits, or if much of what is yet to come will simply be a somewhat fresher look at things we’ve already seen in decades past.

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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