Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth is the U.S. Secretary of Defense, serving under President Trump. He was named as the point person for the administration’s UAP file release initiative in February 2026.

Role in UAP Disclosure

• Named by Trump as point person for identifying and releasing government files related to UAP and extraterrestrial life (src-uap-trump-disclosure-2026)
• Publicly committed to “full compliance” with the executive order
• Stated the Pentagon is “digging in” on implementation
• Cautioned it would take “a little time to make sure we assess what this should look like”
• Coordinating with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on disclosure efforts

Significance

Hegseth’s role as point person places the Defense Secretary at the center of uap-disclosure, making him the highest-ranking Pentagon official to publicly commit to UAP transparency efforts. His measured approach suggests the Pentagon is navigating classification concerns, interagency coordination, and national security sensitivities.

2026 Timeline

• Feb 2026 — Named point person for Trump’s UAP directive; alien emoji on Truth Social post (src-uap-trump-disclosure-2026).
• Mar 7, 2026 — Told reporters: “We’ll see. I get to do the review and find out along with you.” (src-trump-uap-files-delay-2026-03)
• Under DoW rebrand — Official title is now “Secretary of War” in department-of-war communications.
• Mar 31, 2026 — Recipient of Rep. anna-paulina-luna’s letter demanding 46+ specifically named UAP videos by April 14 (src-luna-46-uap-videos-demand-2026-03).
• Apr 14-15, 2026 — Deadline missed; Luna publicly rebukes the Pentagon with “How convenient.” DoW spokesperson Susan Gough says the Department “will respond directly” (src-pentagon-uap-deadline-missed-2026-04, src-war-department-uap-release-2026-04).
• Apr 17, 2026 — Trump publicly recommits to UAP file release “very, very soon” at the turning-point-usa Action Conference in Phoenix; deputy press secretary anna-kelly formally re-confirms DoW tasking. Hegseth’s earlier “no timeline” statement is reproduced in Newsweek’s coverage (src-trump-tpusa-ufo-tease-2026-04).
• Apr 29, 2026 — Delivers FY27 DoW posture testimony to the house-armed-services-committee (alongside Chairman dan-caine). Formally institutionalizes aaro as the U.S. government’s UAP “focal point” for detect/track/identify/mitigate, commits to continued classified/unclassified Congressional briefings and public document releases. Names “drone dominance” and “autonomous warfare” as FY27 priorities; identifies Golden Dome for America as the homeland aerial-threat-defense program. Announces realignment of the AHI Cross-Functional Team to OUSW(R&E) with ~$3M in HAVANA Act payments disbursed since Trump’s inauguration. Acknowledges operation-epic-fury as ongoing (src-hegseth-fy27-posture-testimony-2026-04).
• May 8, 2026 — Issues the Release 01 statement for the pursue portal launch at war.gov/UFO: “The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.” DoW is the lead agency for PURSUE; odni (tulsi-gabbard) coordinates IC contributions; fbi (kash-patel) and nasa (jared-isaacman) are co-principals. PURSUE handles unresolved cases; AARO retains statutory resolved-case reporting (src-dow-uap-files-release-2026-05, src-pursue-portal-launch-2026-05, src-trump-uap-apollo-photos-2026-05, src-war-department-uap-declassification-2026-05).
• May 22, 2026 — On the day of pursue Release 02 (src-pentagon-second-batch-ufo-release-2026-05 + src-newsweek-pursue-release-02-2026-05), reprises the “long fueled justified speculation” framing for the second tranche: “These files, hidden by classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.” Newsweek adds Hegseth’s “in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency” line. Release 02 surfaces the 1948–1950 Sandia NM cluster (USAF + AFSWP / project-grudge), a 1973 cia document on sary-shagan, a glowing-orbs helicopter pursuit Form 302, Pentagon footage of the 2023 Lake Huron shootdown, and an Apollo 12 medical-debrief audio.
• Jun 12, 2026 — On pursue Release 03, reiterates the “unprecedented transparency” / “in lockstep with President Trump” framing (src-newsweek-pursue-release-03-2026-06). Discrepancy: CBS attributes the rollout to a Trump-signed executive order (src-cbs-pursue-release-03-2026-06), which conflicts with the prior framing of the initiative as flowing from Trump’s Feb 19, 2026 Truth Social directive (src-uap-trump-disclosure-2026).

Pre-PURSUE counter-UAS guidance (Dec 2025)

Hegseth, as Secretary of War, signed the foundational JIATF-401 homeland counter-UAS guidance on December 8, 2025; publicly announced via DoW press release January 26, 2026 (src-jiatf-401-counter-drone-homeland-guidance-2026-01). The guidance operates under 10-usc-130i, directs installation-commanders to issue site-specific SOPs within 60 days, and seeds the materiel marketplace concept.

See also: donald-trump, aaro, uap-disclosure, department-of-war, anna-paulina-luna, house-armed-services-committee, pursue, jiatf-401