U.S. Navy UFO Incident Summaries (Nos. 1–233) – PURSUE Files

Three boxes of U.S. Navy “Check-List – Unidentified Flying Objects” incident summaries, released in PURSUE Release 01

⚠ Note on validity: These are summary forms for hundreds of separate reports. The release does not include an overall Navy conclusion, and many individual summaries record ordinary explanations such as balloons, aircraft or astronomical objects.

Navy incident summaries
Agency	U.S. Navy (Office of the Chief of Naval Operations)
Contents	233 numbered incident summaries with UFO checklists, witness lists and statements
Source	National Archives Record Group 38
Released	Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
Files	3 (PDF)
Previously public?	Not widely — held at the National Archives but rarely cited; first official online publication
Official releaseHistorical

These three files hold 233 numbered incident summaries kept by the U.S. Navy. Each uses a standard form, “Check-List – Unidentified Flying Objects,” recording the date, place, observers, shape, color, speed and maneuvers of what was seen, and many include witness lists, statements or narrative reports. They come from National Archives Record Group 38, the records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, which included naval intelligence.^[1]

The records

38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_1-100

Open 38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_1-100 (PDF) on war.gov →

Each of these incident summaries includes a “Check-List – Unidentified Flying Objects” that contains details about the incident. Many summaries also include witness lists or statements and other narrative reports or descriptions.
— Official PURSUE description

38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172

Open 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172 (PDF) on war.gov →

Same official description as above.

38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_173-233

Open 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_173-233 (PDF) on war.gov →

Same official description as above.

Analysis

Why it matters. The Navy’s role in early UFO investigation is much less documented than the Air Force’s Project Blue Book. This collection shows the Navy kept its own standardized record of reports from ships, aircraft and shore stations.

Known explanations. With hundreds of separate cases, there is no single answer. Navy and Air Force analysts of the period typically traced most reports to weather and research balloons, aircraft, meteors, Venus and other bright planets, with a small fraction left unexplained. Researchers can now check each case against Blue Book’s files to see whether the services reached the same conclusions.

New or previously released? These records were held at the National Archives but have rarely been cited; this is their first official online publication.

Released files

PURSUE ID	Title	Type
38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_1-100	38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_1-100	PDF
38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172	38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172	PDF
38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_173-233	38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_173-233	PDF

References

^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 01 (May 8, 2026): 38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_1-100, 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172, 38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_173-233, with official descriptions. war.gov/ufo.

Source: U.S. Department of War, PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters), war.gov/ufo. Official records are U.S. government works in the public domain; summaries and analysis on this page are by UFO UAP Wiki.