The National Archives’ UAP collection has become easier to examine at the record level. Its Record Group 615 index, marked as reviewed on September 21, 2026, now links agency-supplied metadata alongside the catalog entries. These spreadsheets provide a way to follow individual documents and videos through the archive, rather than relying on a headline count of UFO files.
The September change was highlighted by researcher HM05UAP, who published a final FOIA response on September 24. In the response reproduced there, NARA says the requested metadata was already publicly available and closes the request as moot. That resolves the particular request for spreadsheets. It does not, by itself, establish that every federal agency has completed its search or transferred every relevant record.
What the spreadsheets add
NARA’s transfer guidance calls for identifiers, titles, creation dates, originating offices, file types, classification information, release status and other applicable details. Agencies are supposed to supply machine-readable CSV files and use record identifiers that allow the metadata to be matched to the digital items. The practical benefit is traceability: a reader can connect an entry to its source agency and compare its description with the actual file.
The Customs and Border Protection spreadsheet illustrates that value. It contains 12 video entries, with identifiers running from 568UAP00001_released through 568UAP00012_released. Locations include Arizona, Aguadilla in Puerto Rico and Topowa Bruja. Several rows state that a location was unavailable in the original title. Durations and media formats are also recorded, helping distinguish similarly named clips.
All 12 rows carry a January 31, 2023 review date, label their current and previous classification as unclassified, and note that the files are on CBP.gov. Their presence in this archive should therefore not automatically be presented as 12 newly declassified videos. The spreadsheet’s date field is explicitly a record-creation field; it should not be silently substituted for a verified encounter date.
A finding aid, not a verdict
There are details worth reading carefully. The CBP entries all use the release label “Released in Full,” while several titles retain the word “redacted.” The spreadsheet alone does not explain that combination. It is a reason to inspect the underlying files and their release history before making claims about completeness.
The current index lists nine contributing agencies or departments, including the FAA, the intelligence director’s office, the Air Force and CBP. NARA explicitly describes transfers as an ongoing, rolling process. Its collection FAQ also distinguishes this statutory collection from UFO-related holdings that already existed elsewhere in the archive.
For researchers, the September development is useful precisely because it is administrative. Identifiers and release fields make comparisons possible and can help turn a vague concern about missing information into a specific question about a particular record. They improve the evidence trail without deciding what any filmed object was, or certifying that the government’s entire UAP record is now online.
Leave a Reply