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Release 04 · 2026-07-10 · 40 records

The smallest tranche so far. Broadest agency mix. Signals that the pace is slowing.

Release 04 shipped on 2026-07-10 with 40 records, the smallest tranche to date. The agency mix is the most diverse: DoW (9), NASA (3), CIA (2), DoE (2), FBI (1), and a large share (23) without an agency prefix on the file. Video is 23 of 40. There is no single flagship item comparable to Nimitz or Gimbal. R04 reads as a tail-end tranche of assorted items rather than a coordinated declassification event.

Agency mix
  • Unspecified23
  • DoW9
  • NASA3
  • CIA2
  • DoE2
  • FBI1
Media mix
  • video23
  • pdf14
  • image3

What mattered

  1. New CIA and DoE material

    First time CIA and DoE each add multiple files in one release. Small volume, but a signal that the IC-side and nuclear-facility-adjacent agencies are being drawn into the process. Content is administrative-heavy, not evidentiary-heavy.

  2. Extended-duration Department of the Army IR video

    Included among the DoW videos. Notable primarily for recording length (over 100 seconds), giving analysts more frames for motion analysis than most PURSUE videos. Location undisclosed.

What was overhyped or already public

  1. Framing R04 as "the big one"

    Several outlets pre-hyped R04 as the tranche that would settle the question. It did not. The tranche is small and administrative in character.

What is still missing

  • Any material identifying a genuinely new named case not previously in circulation.
  • The 23 no-prefix files leave a large share of R04 with undisclosed originating command.
  • Follow-through on the interagency signal from R03. R04 has broader agency footprint but shallower per-agency depth.

Verdict

Release 04 is the release most likely to disappoint on first read. It is small, administrative, and does not deliver a new marquee case. Its value is in the agency-mix signal (CIA and DoE showing up in numbers for the first time) and in a small number of longer-duration video files worth analyst attention. If PURSUE ends at four tranches, R04 is a soft close. If R05 is coming, R04 reads as a bridge.