The U.S. Department of War published its seventh release of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files on October 23, 2026, under a disclosure program called PURSUE — the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. The batch added 28 new records, according to CBS News and Anadolu Agency, bringing the department's total public UAP archive to 478 documents across seven releases, according to Interesting Engineering.
The release follows an executive order from President Trump directing wider public access to government UAP records, Anadolu Agency reported, citing Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell's statement that additional files will continue to be released "on a rolling basis."
The Triangular Craft Report
The most widely reported document in the batch is a memorandum from the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), labeled DOW-UAP-D176, describing a sighting by federal law-enforcement agents. According to CBS News, agents stationed in the western U.S. reported seeing a large, dark, triangular object near an unspecified national-security site in June 2026.
The object was described as matte black, with no visible exhaust, lights, engines or cockpit. Witnesses said it rose vertically in what CBS News quoted the record as calling "absolute acoustic silence," maintained a steady thermal signature with no detectable heat source, and then accelerated to speeds associated with fighter jets. No wreckage or ground disturbance was found afterward, CBS News reported.
Interesting Engineering, citing the same files, put the object's speed at roughly 1,800 mph and its size at a 9-to-15-foot wingspan, about 6 feet in depth and roughly 2 feet thick. The outlet said the sighting took place at a sensitive, redacted facility in the western United States and was reported by two senior military observers who described the object climbing about 200 feet, shifting sideways, then plunging downward before disappearing.
FBI and AARO Accounts Disagree
A separate FBI document in the release, labeled FBI-UAP-D043, describes the same general encounter but diverges from the AARO memorandum on key details, according to IBTimes UK. The FBI record states the entire sighting lasted about three seconds and refers to the object as a possible "unmanned aerial system" or "delta-wing drone," without confirming that identification. The AARO memorandum instead describes a longer sequence — roughly ten seconds climbing, twenty seconds hovering, then two to three seconds descending — for a total exceeding 30 seconds.
AARO vs. FBI accounts of the triangular object| Detail | AARO (DOW-UAP-D176) | FBI (FBI-UAP-D043) |
|---|
| Duration | More than 30 seconds (climb, hover, descent) | About 3 seconds |
|---|
| Wingspan estimate | 13 to 15 feet | 9 to 15 feet |
|---|
| Characterization | Unexplained object with no sound, exhaust or visible controls | Possible unmanned aerial system / delta-wing drone |
|---|
IBTimes UK reported that the documents do not explain why the two timelines and classifications differ, leaving open whether the discrepancy stems from differing recollections, differences in how each agency prepared its report, or another cause. Both agencies agree the object showed no engine noise, exhaust trail or heat signature detectable by available equipment.
Other Material in the Release
Beyond the triangular-craft case, the seventh release includes a declassified report on alleged paranormal activity at Utah's Skinwalker Ranch, historical sighting records from the 1940s and 1950s — including a metallic elliptical object reported over Sweden in 1953 and a sighting in Saudi Arabia in 1957 — plus multiple historical flying-saucer reports from California's Catalina Island, according to Interesting Engineering. The batch also contains documents on how NASA and the Defense Department coordinated in the past when handling suspected fragments of space vehicles.
What Remains Unknown
None of the released documents offer a confirmed explanation for the triangular object. Interesting Engineering described the case as one that investigators have yet to resolve, and no source reviewed for this article reported that AARO or the FBI has concluded the object was a drone, a natural phenomenon, or anything else. Officials have not said when the eighth batch of files will be published.
Questions
- What did the Pentagon release on October 23, 2026?
- The Department of War published its seventh batch of declassified UAP files under the PURSUE program. CBS News and Anadolu Agency reported 28 new records were added, and Interesting Engineering reported this brought the total public archive to 478 documents.
- What is the triangular craft case described in the files?
- Federal agents reported seeing a silent, matte-black triangular object near a national-security site in the western U.S. in June 2026 that climbed, hovered, and accelerated to high speed with no visible exhaust or engine noise, per CBS News and Interesting Engineering.
- Do the FBI and the Pentagon agree on what happened?
- No. An AARO memorandum describes a sighting lasting more than 30 seconds with a wingspan of 13 to 15 feet, while an FBI document describes a roughly 3-second sighting and raises the possibility the object was an unmanned drone, according to IBTimes UK.
- What else is in this release besides the triangle sighting?
- The batch also includes a report on alleged paranormal activity at Skinwalker Ranch, 1940s-50s sighting records from Sweden, Saudi Arabia and California's Catalina Island, and NASA-Defense Department coordination records on space-vehicle fragments, per Interesting Engineering.
- Does the release confirm the object was extraterrestrial technology?
- No source reviewed reported such a conclusion; officials describe the case as unresolved, and no agency has confirmed the object's origin.
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