The United States UFO files, officially known as the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), also referred to as the UFO files or the UAP files, are a collection of declassified United States government records concerning UFOs, also called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), released by the administration of Donald Trump beginning on May 8, 2026. The files were published through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), a government website created to release reviewed UAP-related material to the public. The first release included reports, photographs, videos, witness accounts, military records, astronaut transcripts, and other historical materials connected to unresolved sightings and investigations dating from 1944 and 1945 to recent years. The initial release followed years of renewed U.S. government and congressional attention to UFOs, including the public disclosure of the Pentagon UFO videos, the creation of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), congressional hearings, and pressure from members of Congress who argued that the government should disclose more information about UFOs and alleged extraterrestrial matters. In February 2026, Trump directed federal agencies to identify and declassify records connected to UFOs and extraterrestrials. The first release of records did not confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life. The Pentagon described the released materials as unresolved cases for which the government could not make a definitive determination based on available evidence, while some scientists and skeptics said many of the files were ambiguous, previously public, or potentially explainable as camera artifacts, balloons, debris, or unreliable eyewitness accounts. The second release of files was on May 22, 2026. The third release was on June 12 of that same year, the fourth on July 10, and the fifth on August 7.
Background
Belief that the U.S. Government is concealing information related to non-human intelligence, aliens or extraterrestrials visiting Earth is a long-running conspiracy theory. Beginning in 2017, the New York Times and other outlets disclosed the Pentagon UFO videos and secret government programs to investigate "unusual, seemingly inexplicable phenomena", as The Washington Post described them. Bipartisan pressure in Congress combined with military interests around unexplained UFO encounters for multiple years had increased related to reports of incidents by defense and intelligence officials, radar operators, and pilots. Congress had previously created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in 2022 to "investigate anomalous incidents observed across air, maritime, space and other domains", reported Military.com. In 2022, NASA conducted an inquiry into the potential of space aliens visiting Earth and found no evidence to support such a notion. Two years later, in 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense officially disclaimed it had any information pertaining to the existence of extraterrestrial life or that it had recovered technology belonging to space aliens. Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton have all stated their disbelief in any anomalous explanation for UFOs and denied the existence of any U.S. government secrecy surrounding the topic. U.S. government agencies have released videos of aircraft, which, according to The Washington Post, "appeared to defy the laws of physics". Congressional hearings in the past decade included testimony from government, military, and intelligence witness of UFO events, while skeptics claimed the U.S. military and intelligence reports and data were unreliable. In February 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to identify and declassify to the public files connected to UFOs, UAPs, and extraterrestrials. The move followed agitation by several Republican members of the U.S. Congress, such as Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett, who claimed the U.S. government was withholding secrets about space aliens. The month following Trump's directive, Luna demanded Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth send her some videos of UFOs by a deadline she established; according to the Associated Press, Luna's demand "came and went, and no videos were produced".
Conspiracy theories
Some conspiracy theories claim that governments and political figures around the world are concealing evidence that unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are operated by extraterrestrial or "non-human" intelligence or created using alien technology. Since the 1980s, many conspiracy theories have argued that governments around the world are in contact or cooperating with extraterrestrials, with some also claiming that governments are knowingly allowing cattle mutilations and alien abductions. Mainstream scientists, government investigators, and skeptics state that there is little to no evidence supporting conspiracy theories about alien visitation. Despite allegations of cover-ups, conspiracy theories involving alien spacecraft generally lack verifiable proof, instead relying on speculation, anecdotal accounts, and misidentified surveillance technology.
Initial release The May 8, 2026 release was the first PURSUE collection of declassified U.S. government records on unresolved UFO cases, including reports, photographs, videos, and historical documents. Officials described it as the beginning of a rolling disclosure process, with additional materials to be posted as they were reviewed and declassified.
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