Summary
21st U.S. Secretary of War who oversaw the May 8, 2026 launch of PURSUE Release 1 at war.gov/UFO — the largest institutionally coordinated U.S. government UAP transparency effort since Project Blue Book closed in 1969. As the department secretary who authorized PURSUE, Hegseth is the senior executive branch official responsible for the declassification and public release of 162 UAP files across eight agencies. A Princeton-educated Army National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay before a decade as a Fox News host.
Roles
- -21st U.S. Secretary of War (2025-present)
- -Army National Guard Officer (2003-present)
- -Former Fox News Host, Fox & Friends Weekend (2014-2024)
Organizations
Education
- -B.A., History, Princeton University, 2003
- -Army ROTC, Princeton University, 2003
Early Career
- -Commissioned as an Army infantry officer through Princeton ROTC in 2003; joined the Army National Guard and served in multiple deployments while maintaining his civilian career
- -Deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2005 as a detention facility officer; subsequently deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006 as an embedded trainer working with Iraqi security forces
- -After completing his military deployments, transitioned through policy work before joining Fox News as a contributor and weekend host, a role he held from 2014 through his 2025 Cabinet confirmation
Related Documented Cases
2023 Southeastern U.S. Metallic Oval
Tier 2September 2023 · Southeastern United States (precise location undisclosed)
2025 U.S. Supra-Velocity Orb
Tier 22025 · United States (precise location classified)
DOW-UAP-D55: Syria UAP Mission Report — November 2016
Tier 2November 2016 · Syria (specific coordinates not publicly released)
DOW-UAP-D28: East China Sea UAP Mission Report — 2024
Tier 22024 · East China Sea (INDOPACOM theater)
DOW-UAP-D38: Range Fouler Debrief — Middle East, May 2020
Tier 2May 2020 · Middle East (restricted military training range)
DOW-UAP-D42: Range Fouler Debrief — Japan, 2023
Tier 22023 · Japan (INDOPACOM theater — restricted military training range)
DOW-UAP-D44: Range Fouler Debrief — Arabian Sea, October 2020
Tier 2October 2020 · Arabian Sea (restricted military training range)
DOW-UAP-D48: Historical UAP Report — September 1996
Tier 2September 1996 · USCENTCOM Theater (specific location not publicly identified)
DOW-UAP-D49: Launch Summary — February 2000
Tier 2February 2000 · USCENTCOM Theater (specific location not publicly identified)
DOW-UAP-D8: Mission Report — Djibouti, 2025
Tier 22025 · Djibouti, Horn of Africa (AFRICOM/CENTCOM theater)
DOW-UAP-PR051: Syrian UAP Instant Acceleration (2021)
Tier 12021 · Syria, USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility
DOW-UAP-PR050: 4 UAP Formation — Iran, August 26, 2022
Tier 2August 26, 2022 · Over water near Iran, USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility
DOW-UAP-PR052: UAP USO Formation (2024)
Tier 1June 2024 · Maritime environment, USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility (specific location partially redacted)
ODNI-UAP-D001: Western U.S. Range USIC Encounter (Late 2025)
Tier 2Late 2025 · Western U.S. weapons testing range (specific facility redacted)
Multiple Spherical UAP USO near U.S. Submarine — March 25, 2022
Tier 2March 25, 2022 · Classified maritime location — U.S. submarine vicinity
Lake Huron F-16C AIM-9X Engagement — February 12, 2023
Tier 1February 12, 2023 · Lake Huron, Michigan, United States
Persian Gulf UAP Formation — 17-Minute CENTCOM Footage — January 2019
Tier 2January 2019 · Persian Gulf — U.S. CENTCOM area of operations
USCG C-144 Tic Tac UAP — Tyndall AFB — April 24, 2024
Tier 2April 24, 2024 · Near Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida — U.S. NORTHCOM / Southeast AOR
Fifth-Generation Aircraft UAP — NORTHCOM — January 20, 2023
Tier 2January 20, 2023 · NORTHCOM area of operations — United States
Spherical UAP over Afghanistan — In and Out of Clouds — November 23, 2020
Tier 2November 23, 2020 · Afghanistan — CENTCOM area of operations
Mercury-Redstone 4 UAP Audio — Gus Grissom — Liberty Bell 7 — July 21, 1961
Tier 2July 21, 1961 · Atlantic Ocean — Liberty Bell 7 suborbital trajectory, Cape Canaveral to Atlantic Ocean splashdown
Mercury-Atlas 7 UAP Audio — Scott Carpenter — Aurora 7 — May 24, 1962
Tier 2May 24, 1962 · Low Earth orbit — Aurora 7 three-orbit trajectory, Cape Canaveral to Pacific Ocean splashdown
Mercury-Atlas 8 UAP Audio — Wally Schirra — Sigma 7 — October 3, 1962
Tier 2October 3, 1962 · Low Earth orbit — Sigma 7 six-orbit trajectory, Cape Canaveral to Pacific Ocean splashdown
Mercury-Atlas 9 UAP — Gordon Cooper — Faith 7 — May 15-16, 1963
Tier 2May 15, 1963 · Low Earth orbit — Faith 7 22-orbit trajectory, Cape Canaveral to Pacific Ocean splashdown
Related Primary Documents
DOW-UAP-D55: Mission Report — Syria, November 2016
November 2016 · government report
DOW-UAP-D28: Mission Report — East China Sea, 2024
2024 · government report
DOW-UAP-D38: Range Fouler Debrief — Middle East, May 2020
May 2020 · government report
DOW-UAP-D42: Range Fouler Debrief — Japan, 2023
2023 · government report
DOW-UAP-D44: Range Fouler Debrief — Arabian Sea, October 2020
October 2020 · government report
Pentagon Briefing Slides — 2023 Western U.S. Orbs (May 2026)
May 8, 2026 · government report
DOW-UAP-D48: Historical UAP Report — September 1996
September 1996 · government report
DOW-UAP-D49: Launch Summary — February 2000
February 2000 · government report
DOW-UAP-D8: Mission Report — Djibouti, 2025
2025 · government report
PURSUE Release 2 — CIA, DOE, ODNI UAP Files Corpus (May 2026)
May 22, 2026 · government report
Western U.S. Event: AARO Summary of Seven Federal Witness Statements (2023)
2023 (incident); May 8, 2026 (release) · government report
DOW-UAP-PR050: 4 UAP Formation — Iran, August 26, 2022
August 26, 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR051: Syrian UAP Instant Acceleration (2021)
2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR052: UAP USO Formation [CALLSIGN]
Unknown · video
DOW-UAP-PR053: Cigar-Shaped or Fast Spherical UAP — CENTCOM, October 15, 2022
October 15, 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR054: Spherical UAP Erratic Movement — EUCOM, August 2022
August 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR055: Spherical UAP over Afghanistan — November 23, 2020
November 23, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR056: Spherical UAP Pulsing over Water — June 2024
June 1, 2024 · video
DOW-UAP-PR057a: Spherical UAP in Clouds — INDOPACOM, January 2023
January 2023 · video
DOW-UAP-PR057b: Platform Observes UAP — East China Sea, January 5, 2023 (INDOPACOM)
January 5, 2023 · video
DOW-UAP-PR058: INDOPACOM UAP — June 2024
June 2024 · video
DOW-UAP-PR059: Northern Arabian Gulf UAP — June 2020
June 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR060: Spherical UAP — CENTCOM, April 12, 2021 (Object 2)
April 12, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR061: Spherical UAP — CENTCOM, April 12, 2021 (Vid 0)
April 12, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR062: Spherical UAP — CENTCOM, April 12, 2021 (Vid 1)
April 12, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR063: Spherical UAP — CENTCOM, April 12, 2021 (3-File Release)
April 12, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR064: AFSOC Kabul UAP — July 2017
July 2017 · video
DOW-UAP-PR065: USCG C-144 Tyndall UAP 2 — Tic Tac IR Hot, April 24, 2024
April 24, 2024 · video
DOW-UAP-PR066: USCG C-144 Tyndall UAP 1 — Tic Tac IR Hot, April 24, 2024
April 24, 2024 · video
DOW-UAP-PR067: Multiple Spherical UAP USO near Submarine — March 25, 2022
March 25, 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR068: UAP Captured by Fifth-Generation Aircraft — NORTHCOM, January 20, 2023
January 20, 2023 · video
DOW-UAP-PR069: F/A-18 FLIR UAP — NORTHCOM, 2022
2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR070: Eglin AFB Aircrew UAP — NORTHCOM, February 13, 2023
February 13, 2023 · video
DOW-UAP-PR071: USAF ANG F-16C Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron — February 12, 2023
February 12, 2023 · video
DOW-UAP-PR072: Kazakhstan UAP — Civilian Cell Phone Footage, March 1, 2022
March 1, 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR073: Multiple UAPs near Columbus, Ohio — NORTHCOM, November 2022
November 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR074: CENTCOM UAP — Electro-Optical/Infrared HD, June 13, 2022
June 13, 2022 · video
DOW-UAP-PR075: UAP in East China Sea — INDOPACOM, June 9, 2021
June 9, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR076: CENTCOM UAP — January 3, 2021
January 3, 2021 · video
DOW-UAP-PR077: CENTCOM UAP Observation — November 2, 2020 (1 of 2)
November 2, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR078: CENTCOM UAP Observation — November 2, 2020 (2 of 2)
November 2, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR079: Three Fast-Moving UAPs — CENTCOM, October 29, 2020
October 29, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR080: CENTCOM UAP Observation — October 20, 2020
October 20, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR081: AFRICOM UAP Observation — October 18, 2020
October 18, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR082: AFRICOM UAP Observation — October 16, 2020
October 16, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR083: CENTCOM UAP Observation — October 7, 2020
October 7, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR084: CENTCOM UAP Observation — September 17, 2020
September 17, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR085: CENTCOM UAP Observation — September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR086: East Coast UAP — NORTHCOM, December 2019
December 2019 · video
DOW-UAP-PR087: CENTCOM UAP Observation — September 5, 2020
September 5, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR088: CENTCOM UAP Observation — August 31, 2020 (1 of 2)
August 31, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR089: CENTCOM UAP Observation — August 31, 2020 (2 of 2)
August 31, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR090: CENTCOM UAP Observation — August 24, 2020
August 24, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR091: Persian Gulf UAP — CENTCOM, August 21, 2020
August 21, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR092: CENTCOM UAP Observation — August 8, 2020
August 8, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR093: Gulf of Arabia Dual UAP — CENTCOM, May 5, 2020 (1 of 2)
May 5, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR094: CENTCOM UAP — High-Definition EO/IR, February 13, 2020
February 13, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR095: Gulf of Arabia Dual UAP — CENTCOM, May 5, 2020 (2 of 2)
May 5, 2020 · video
DOW-UAP-PR096: CENTCOM UAP Observation — July 3, 2018
July 3, 2018 · video
DOW-UAP-PR097: CENTCOM High-Resolution UAP — September 25, 2019, 2135Z
September 25, 2019 · video
DOW-UAP-PR098: UFOs in Formation over Persian Gulf — January 2019
January 2019 · video
DOW-UAP-PR099: CENTCOM High-Resolution UAP — September 25, 2019, 1715Z
September 25, 2019 · video
PURSUE Release 3 — CIA, DOW, FBI, ICA, NASA, and USG UAP Files Corpus (June 2026)
June 12, 2026 · government report