Release 7: UAP Documents Spanning 1949–2026

On October 23, 2026, the Department of War published Release 7 through its Pursue project. This document-only release contains 28 PDFs and no videos. Together, the files span more than seven decades: historical Air Force reports, BAASS and DIA-era program records, correspondence about returning space-vehicle fragments, and two 2026 records describing a reported triangular object.

The collection is not a single investigation and its documents do not carry the same evidentiary weight. It includes firsthand accounts, secondhand summaries, internal plans, technical proposals, administrative records, and heavily redacted reports. That distinction matters when interpreting what the release does—and does not—establish.

Early Air Force reports: observations and possible explanations

The 1950s files record a wide range of reports, from radar contacts to lights and visual sightings. They also show that investigators considered conventional explanations rather than treating every report as proof of an extraordinary object.

• A 1957 B-52 crew reported a radar return that remained on a gunnery scope for several minutes before disappearing as the aircraft turned (DOW-UAP-D155).
• A 1956 Guam report describes a blinking light seen by an F-86D pilot. Investigators found that a lighted weather balloon had been launched earlier, although the pilot said the object appeared to maneuver with and accelerate past his aircraft (DOW-UAP-D156).
• A 1953 radar report from French Morocco listed anomalous propagation, possible shipborne jamming, and birds as explanations for changing radar returns (DOW-UAP-D160). Other files record lights reported from Alaska, a pilot’s account from Sweden, and a sighting report from Indiana (DOW-UAP-D161–D164).
• The Catalina Island records vary in their conclusions. One 1955 report judged a brief, bright object probably to be a meteor (DOW-UAP-D177). A 1952 report relays three Boy Scouts’ account of a silent silver object that appeared to climb and disappear, while noting that the observers had no instruments and limited experience (DOW-UAP-D179). A 1949 card records six objects but concludes there was insufficient information to evaluate the sighting (DOW-UAP-D181).

Other reports in this group include an Italian witness’s description and drawing, a Canadian case file, Berlin air-traffic-control log extracts, and a 1953 Catalina Island report that considered an astronomical explanation (DOW-UAP-D157–D159, DOW-UAP-D178). These records preserve what people reported and what investigators considered; they do not resolve every sighting.

BAASS and DIA records: plans, databases, and investigations

The largest group documents work conducted by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) under a Defense Intelligence Agency contract from 2008 to 2010. The files describe a broad research program, not a set of independently verified discoveries.

The 2008 Project Capella report proposed a structured data warehouse for reports of unusual aerial phenomena and related events (DOW-UAP-D167). A companion project-management plan organized work across technical areas such as propulsion, control, materials, power generation, and signature reduction (DOW-UAP-D168). A separate packet prepared for BAASS by MUFON includes technical essays proposing possible ways to explain lift and propulsion; these are hypotheses and research proposals, not demonstrated technologies (DOW-UAP-D166).

BAASS monthly reports from 2009 describe staffing, database development, a reporting and investigation partnership with MUFON, and field work that included Brazil, the Northern Tier, and Utah (DOW-UAP-D169–D171, DOW-UAP-D173). A March 2009 report says the BAASS data warehouse contained 234,364 reports dating from 593 BCE to that time. The same report cautions that the collection included duplicate reports and that its categories were affected by reporting and selection bias.

The Utah Ranch investigation report records witness interviews, environmental measurements, experiments, and the installation of seven game cameras to document reported lights and creatures (DOW-UAP-D174). Its accounts of unusual animals and lights are witness reports, not confirmed identifications. In an appendix, three submitted hair samples produced a canine sequence that the report says is common in domestic dogs; the result did not identify an unknown species.

A 2010 BAASS capabilities report applies calculations and computer simulations to selected cases, including the “Tic Tac” encounter, and to simplified object shapes (DOW-UAP-D175). These are analyses built from stated assumptions and modeled scenarios. They are not direct measurements of the object or proof of a particular propulsion system.

Space-vehicle fragments: policy is not proof of UAP recovery

Two records concern interagency procedures for fragments from space vehicles. A 72-page correspondence file includes draft guidelines assigning NASA, the Department of Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the State Department roles in identifying, analyzing, and returning fragments from U.S. and foreign space vehicles (USG-UAP-D002).

A separate 1963 memorandum records one official’s account of a conversation about the policy. It quotes the view that NASA might be used as a “cover” while returning pieces (EOP-UAP-D002). Read alongside the accompanying guidelines, the subject is the handling of space-vehicle debris and public inquiries. These documents do not, on their own, establish the recovery of an extraterrestrial craft.

The 2026 triangular-object reports

An AARO memorandum and an FBI FD-302 describe what appears to be the same 2026 observation, rather than two independent events (DOW-UAP-D176; FBI-UAP-D043). The AARO memo recounts witnesses’ description of a matte-black triangular shape that rose above a ridge, hovered, and then moved rapidly into a canyon. The witnesses reportedly described silence and a uniform thermal appearance.

The AARO document explicitly cautions that the account reflects the reporter’s interpretation, not a conclusive determination of the object’s features or performance. It also says no instrumented speed measurement was obtained and that a follow-up ground survey found no wreckage or physical disturbance. Names and other details are redacted; the FBI record is heavily redacted as well. The descriptions are striking, but the documents themselves leave important details unverified.

The release also includes a 298-page personnel record for Howard M. McCoy (DOW-UAP-D180). It is an administrative personnel file, distinct from the incident reports and technical studies.

What this release adds

Release 7 brings together historical observations, program records, field-investigation notes, technical modeling, and administrative correspondence. It provides useful context for how UAP reports were collected and studied across different periods. It does not establish that the reported objects were extraterrestrial or that proposed advanced technologies were real.

The most reliable way to read the collection is to separate the original observation from later interpretation: note who reported an event, what was actually recorded, which explanations were considered, and where the record acknowledges missing or uncertain evidence.

Documents included

• Air Force and Project 10073 records: DOW-UAP-D155–D164, DOW-UAP-D177–D179, and DOW-UAP-D181
• BAASS, MUFON, and DIA-era records: DOW-UAP-D166–D171, DOW-UAP-D173–D175
• AARO witness memorandum: DOW-UAP-D176
• Howard M. McCoy personnel record: DOW-UAP-D180
• Space-fragment correspondence: EOP-UAP-D002 and USG-UAP-D002
• FBI FD-302: FBI-UAP-D043

Primary source: Department of War UAP Release 7 — published October 23, 2026.