What the UAP Document Archive Project Is
Most UFO coverage works from press releases and secondhand summaries. We're trying to do something slower: read the actual documents. Since 2026, several governments have started declassifying and publishing genuine UAP records — thousands of pages between them, plus hours of video and radar footage. We've gathered the official releases we can get hold of and we're going through them properly, case by case, document by document, and writing up what's really there rather than what the headlines say is there.
This page is the index for that project. Below you'll find what each collection is, roughly how much material it contains, and links to the deep-dive pages and articles we've already published from it. It'll grow as we work through more of the archive — think of it as a living catalogue rather than a finished product.
The Collections
2026 US DoD UAP Releases (PURSUE)
Four bulk releases from the Department of War, Department of Energy, Department of State, FBI and NASA, published under PURSUE — the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. Together they run to several hundred individual documents and dozens of declassified videos, covering incidents from Cold War nuclear sites through to 2015's Pantex Plant sighting and 2023's western US "orbs launching orbs" event.
Why it matters: this is the first time the US government has released primary UAP case files at this scale, with document reference numbers, dates and originating agencies attached — rather than summaries or talking points.
Honest highlight: most files are dull — routine radar logs and correspondence. The interesting minority includes the Pantex ground radar chase, the Newfoundland KC-97 "unable to explain" committee finding, and a still-partially-redacted account from a senior US intelligence official.
Official source: war.gov/ufo →UK MOD & National Archives UFO Files
Two related UK collections: a multi-volume MOD report on UAP with supporting annexes and transcriptions, and the older DEFE and AIR series files held by The National Archives at Kew — the Ministry of Defence's own UFO desk records, released gradually since 2008 and covering decades of RAF radar and pilot reports.
Why it matters: Britain's official UFO files include some of the best-documented radar-visual cases anywhere in the world, including the long-running Lakenheath-Bentwaters 1956 incident, all handled through ordinary MOD paperwork at the time rather than any dramatic disclosure process.
Honest highlight: the National Archives files are genuinely public and free to browse yourself — no FOIA request needed, just patience with 1950s typewritten memos.
Official source: The National Archives →Brazilian Air Force Releases: Varginha & Operação Prato
Brazil's National Archive holds the full military inquiry into the 1996 Varginha incident (the "Brazilian Roswell") and the complete file from Operação Prato — the Brazilian Air Force's 1977–78 intelligence mission sent to investigate beam-of-light attacks on villagers in Pará. Together the two cases run to well over 130 documents, sketches and photographs.
Why it matters: these aren't leaked rumours — they're signed military reports. Operação Prato's own mission conclusion states the objects observed were "intelligently directed". The Varginha inquiry (IPM 18/97) runs to hundreds of pages of formal testimony.
Honest highlight: Brazil is arguably ahead of the US and UK here — its air force put an official conclusion in writing decades ago, rather than leaving cases formally "unresolved" indefinitely.
Official source: Arquivo Nacional →NSA UMBRA Files
A collection of NSA signals-intelligence records classified UMBRA — one of the agency's highest handling caveats — covering Cold War-era UFO-related intercepts. The files were kept secret for 45 years and were only forced into the open by a court case in 2026.
Why it matters: UMBRA-level classification is reserved for the most sensitive signals intelligence the NSA handles. That the agency classified UFO-adjacent material at this level, rather than dismissing it, is itself notable.
Honest highlight: the material is mostly Cold War MiG scramble intercepts and radar chatter rather than anything conclusive — fascinating as history, not proof of anything.
Scan the skies yourself
Kit we've tested and reviewed in full
Every file in this archive started with someone looking up and describing exactly what they saw. A decent pair of binoculars is still the best way to turn a strange light into an actual identification — aircraft, satellite, planet, or something worth writing down properly.
Sharp, bright and quick to aim — enough to pick out navigation lights, engine count and direction of travel on a distant aircraft.
The extra aperture and magnification that turn "a light on the horizon" into something you can actually describe — which is where every good report starts.
Affiliate links: you pay the same price — we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.
Coverage So Far
These are the deep-dives and articles we've already published straight from the collections above. Each one is built from a specific document or case file, not secondhand reporting.
The Sandia Base Sighting Log (1948–50)
209 sightings of green orbs, discs and fireballs over America's atomic weapons sites, from the 116-page file DOW-UAP-D017.
The CIA's Sary Shagan Report (1973)
A green circular object over the Soviets' secret missile range, from CIA report FIRK-311/01638-77 (file CIA-UAP-D001).
The James Tuck UFO Letters (1970)
A Manhattan Project physicist quietly investigating the Los Alamos green fireballs, from file DOE-UAP-D002.
The Varginha Incident (1996)
The full 357-page military inquiry into Brazil's most famous UFO case, now online in English.
Operação Prato (1977–78)
The Brazilian Air Force's own mission files, including its signed "intelligently directed" conclusion.
The Chupa-Chupa Attacks (1977)
Victim statements — names, ages, injuries — preserved in the Brazilian Air Force's own case file.
The 1978 Amazon Pilot Encounters
Two pilot reports, records 129 and 130 — how Brazil's official UFO file ends.
The Pantex Plant Incident (2015)
A diamond-shaped object over America's only nuclear weapons assembly plant, from the DOE-UAP-D005 file.
The Newfoundland KC-97 Incident (1955)
Radar and visual contact the Air Force's own committee called "unable to explain" — from the fourth PURSUE release.
The Senator Russell Sighting (1955)
A sitting US Senator's CIA-debriefed sighting over Soviet territory, declassified in 2026.
RAF Lakenheath 1956
Three independent radar systems and an RAF night fighter — the UK's most puzzling official radar-visual case.
Pentagon's Fourth UFO File Release
What's actually in the July 2026 batch — our full read-through of the latest release.
The NSA's Secret UFO Files
45 years classified — what the UMBRA-level release actually contains.
What the Pentagon's Files Mean for the UK
A British perspective on the US releases, and how they connect to the UK's own MOD files.
What's Coming
We're planning a recurring "document of the week" feature, working through the remaining unpublished files in each collection — starting with the unopened portions of the UK MOD volumes and the parts of the July 2026 US release we haven't covered yet. We'll also be building out dedicated sub-pages for each collection as coverage grows, rather than keeping everything on this one index.
If there's a specific document, case or release you want us to prioritise, the fastest way to reach us is through our about page.