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Newly released Department of War records, made public under the PURSUE archive on May 8, 2026, include a document titled “38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172” that contains a checklist and narrative report referencing unidentified flying objects. The document, hosted on the official war.gov domain, features a “Check-List – Unidentified Flying Objects” format that the agency says includes details about incidents, witness lists, and narrative descriptions. One of the first pages in the file contains fragmented text that appears to describe an event involving “Discs” and a “Bluish-white” construction, with a notation of “disappearance” and a signature from “NORMAN GARRETT LARKHAM.”
Document Details and Official Context
The official description of the record, provided by the Department of War, states that each of the incident summaries included in the file contains a “Check-List – Unidentified Flying Objects” that provides details about the incident. Many summaries also include witness lists or statements and other narrative reports or descriptions. The document’s official summary offers limited detail beyond this structural description, noting that the incident date and location are listed as “N/A” in the metadata.
The text excerpt from the first pages of the PDF includes the phrase “Subject: / l yi riG Discs” and references to “construction,” “Weather conditions,” and “photographs.” The text also mentions “explosion” and “disappearance,” followed by a note that “a possibility, however is either inhabited or” and the signature “/s/, NORMAN GARRETT LARKHAM.” The document’s authority line includes “NND 917033” and a serial number “00196?57,” indicating it was processed under a specific declassification or review authority.
The Department of War released this file as part of its broader PURSUE archive, which the agency has described as a repository for historical records related to unidentified flying objects. The document’s title, “38_143685_box_Incident_Summaries_101-172,” suggests it is one of several boxes of incident summaries, with this particular file covering summaries numbered 101 through 172.
Broader Context of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Per a Wikipedia summary of the topic, an unidentified flying object (UFO) is defined as “an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained.” The Wikipedia entry notes that the term was coined when United States Air Force investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes reported to consider them all saucers or discs. UFOs are also known as unidentified aerial phenomena or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). Upon investigation, most UFOs are identified as known objects or atmospheric phenomena, while a small number remain unexplained.
The document’s reference to “Discs” aligns with the historical context described by Wikipedia, which notes that early Air Force investigations encountered a wide variety of reported shapes. The term “flying saucers” became popular in the late 1940s and 1950s, a period that may correspond to the era of these incident summaries, though the document itself does not provide a specific date for the incident described.
The signature of Norman Garrett Larkham appears on the document, though no further information about this individual is provided in the source material. The fragmented nature of the text—including phrases like “Bluish-white construction” and “explosion of disappearance”—suggests that the document may be a partial or damaged copy, or that it was originally written in a shorthand or abbreviated style.
What Remains Unanswered
The Department of War record offers a tantalizing but incomplete glimpse into a historical incident involving unidentified flying objects. The official description confirms that the file contains checklists and narrative reports, but the specific details of the incident—including its date, location, and the nature of the “Discs” described—are not fully legible or are missing from the metadata. The document’s reference to “photographs” and “weather conditions” suggests that investigators may have collected visual evidence, but no photographs are included in the released excerpt.
Readers should watch for future PURSUE archive releases, which may contain additional boxes of incident summaries or more complete versions of this document. The Department of War has not indicated a schedule for further releases, but the existence of this file—and its placement within a series of summaries numbered 101 through 172—implies that other records may shed light on the events described. Until then, the document stands as a fragmentary piece of a larger puzzle, leaving questions about what Norman Garrett Larkham witnessed and what became of the “Bluish-white” discs that appeared in the sky.
