Summary
CBS News covers PURSUE Release 05 (Friday, Aug 7 2026), the fifth tranche of the department-of-war’s UAP file rollout posted to war.gov/UFO. The 41 new files (docs, images, videos) come from the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, State Department, and Executive Office of the President, spanning 1950 to 2026. The headline record is six cellphone-of-screen videos from a September 2021 Gulf of Oman encounter aboard a Special Operations AC-130J gunship: onboard IR/sensor operators logged ~25 “cold orb” UAPs at 250–1300 MPH in varying formations, some appearing to react to the aircraft’s main-cannon fire during a live-fire exercise; aaro could not resolve the case. Other records include an unresolved 2025 CENTCOM-area object over a populated Middle East city, two “black-hot” infrared objects tracked by a U.S. Government Special Agent in the western U.S., and eight FBI Form 302 witness interviews with artist renderings. The most striking historical account: a former military pilot describes recurring high-altitude white lights on transatlantic flights starting October 2023, plus a much earlier sighting — a huge, silent equilateral-triangle object, ~500 feet, blacking out the stars over Bagram, Afghanistan at 4:30 AM in 2002, corroborated by a second pilot. DoW says further releases will continue “on a rolling basis.”
Key Claims
- Release 05 contains 41 files from the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, State Department, and Executive Office of the President; oldest record from 1950, most recent from 2026.
- Six videos document a single Sept 2021 Gulf of Oman encounter by Special Operations forces aboard an AC-130J gunship, filmed as cellphone footage of onboard IR/sensor screens.
- Accompanying intel report: crew “observed approximately 25 instances of UAPs” during a live-fire exercise, described as “cold orbs flying at lower altitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in different formations as well as maneuvering aggressively,” some appearing to “react to the aircraft firing its main cannon.”
- The Gulf of Oman gunship encounter could not be resolved by AARO.
- A 2025 CENTCOM-submitted clip shows an object over a populated Middle East city, unresolved.
- A 2026 western-U.S. case: a U.S. Government Special Agent used a handheld IR sensor after a radio-frequency detection report and photographed two black-hot, slow-moving objects traveling together for ~5–10 minutes (FBI report).
- Release includes eight FBI Form 302 witness-interview forms, most paired with FBI artist renderings.
- A former military pilot (2024 FBI interview) reported recurring high-altitude white lights on transatlantic routes starting October 2023 at 37,000 ft, roughly 10 sightings total.
- The same pilot described a 2002 Bagram, Afghanistan incident: at ~4:30 AM, an estimated ~500-foot, silent, equilateral-triangle object crossed overhead west-to-east at ~150 knots and no altitude change, blacking out the stars; a second pilot present also saw it.
- DoW says Friday’s release “won’t be the last,” with releases continuing “on a rolling basis.”
Notable Quotes
“The UAPs were observed as cold orbs flying at lower altitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in different formations as well as maneuvering aggressively. UAPs also appeared to react to the aircraft firing its main cannon.” — intelligence report, Gulf of Oman AC-130J incident
“At approximately 4:30 AM local time, [redacted] noticed that the stars were getting blacked out over Bagram. It appeared as if something huge went overhead, from west to east, and was an equilateral triangle shape.” — FBI 302 report, 2002 Afghanistan account
“[The pilot] also observed the triangle, and when it passed over stated, ‘did you see that?‘” — FBI 302 report