Lexicon · Concept

PURSUE

PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) is a U.S. government program launched in May 2026 that publishes declassified UAP records from various federal agencies in installments, in a public collection.

PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) is the United States government's program for declassifying and releasing UAP records. It was created following an order issued by President Donald Trump in February 2026, which directed federal agencies to locate records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and declassify them. The program's central records collection launched on May 8, 2026, on the Department of War's war.gov/UFO site.

What it contains

PURSUE brings together UAP-related material from several government agencies, including the Department of War, the FBI and the State Department, and publishes it in installments on an ongoing basis. The first release contained 162 files on more than 400 cases from 1947 to 2026, including 51 military infrared videos. The collection also includes sensor footage, astronaut transcripts, FBI reports, diplomatic cables and historical records. Together with the later releases, the number of published files grew to several hundred within a few months.

Reception

The administration presented the program as the largest step in UAP transparency. Researchers and politicians advocating UAP transparency, including Anna Paulina Luna, had long pushed for the release of such material. According to critics, a significant portion of the material has not yet been analyzed, and PURSUE is primarily a records collection, not a scientific investigation. Congressional advocates are therefore also pushing for legislation that would make a full review of the records mandatory, so that disclosure would not depend on the administration in office.

Official and skeptical positions

The released documents do not prove the existence of extraterrestrial life or a government cover-up, but they provide details on numerous cases that investigators were unable to explain. According to skeptics, most unexplained cases primarily indicate a lack of data, not an extraordinary phenomenon.

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