Overview
The U.S. Department of War announced the launch of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), a new inter‑agency platform designed to collect, evaluate, and declassify reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The system will serve as a single point of entry for both military and civilian observations, with the goal of delivering timely, vetted information to the President, congressional oversight committees, and the public. In a briefing held at the Pentagon on Tuesday, officials described PURSUE as “the most comprehensive effort to date to bring transparency and rigor to the UAP record.”
How PURSUE Works
PURSUE operates on a secure cloud‑based architecture that integrates existing reporting channels—such as the Air Force’s UAP Task Force database, the Navy’s “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Reporting” portal, and the civilian “UAP Citizen Submission” portal managed by the National Archives. Submissions are automatically tagged with metadata (time, location, sensor type, and confidence level) and routed through a triage process staffed by analysts from the Department of War, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After an initial technical assessment, reports deemed “potentially credible” are forwarded to a multidisciplinary review board for further analysis and, where appropriate, declassification. The board includes experts in aerospace engineering, atmospheric science, and intelligence, ensuring that each case is examined from multiple perspectives.
Data Sources and Security
The system draws on both classified and unclassified sources, a step that marks a departure from earlier, siloed reporting mechanisms. Military pilots, radar operators, and satellite analysts can upload sensor data directly, while civilian witnesses may submit video, audio, or written accounts through a vetted portal that requires multi‑factor authentication. To protect sensitive information, PURSUE employs end‑to‑end encryption and a tiered access model: senior officials in the White House and the Senate Intelligence Committee receive briefings on fully declassified findings, whereas the broader public receives summaries that have been cleared of any national‑security content. “We have built a pipeline that respects both the need for openness and the imperative to safeguard intelligence sources,” said Brig. Gen. Lisa M. Ortega, Deputy Director of the Department of War’s Emerging Threats Division.
Implications for Policy and Public Awareness
By centralizing UAP data, PURSUE is expected to streamline the policy‑making process surrounding aerospace safety, air‑space management, and potential national‑security threats. Lawmakers have previously called for a more systematic approach after a series of high‑profile sightings in 2023 and 2024. The regular briefings promised by PURSUE could enable the Executive Branch to assess whether UAP incidents warrant new regulations, such as updated flight‑deck reporting requirements for commercial airlines or revised protocols for civilian drone operators. Moreover, the system’s public‑facing component aims to address growing public demand for transparency, a sentiment reflected in recent polls showing that over 60 % of Americans support government disclosure of UAP information.
Next Steps and Outlook
PURSUE will enter an initial 90‑day pilot phase beginning next month, during which the Department of War will process approximately 1,200 submissions already queued from military logs and civilian tip lines. Upon completion of the pilot, a joint congressional‑executive review will evaluate the system’s effectiveness and recommend any necessary adjustments. Analysts anticipate that the first fully declassified report could be released as early as the fourth quarter of 2026, providing the public with a concrete example of how the new framework operates. As the initiative unfolds, experts caution that while PURSUE represents a significant administrative advance, the scientific interpretation of UAP data will remain a complex, interdisciplinary challenge. Nonetheless, officials expressed confidence that the system will “bring unprecedented clarity to an issue that has long hovered at the edge of national discourse.”
