PURSUE Record — PURSUE R02 — U.S. Coast Guard UAP Encounter (2024): U.S. Coast Guard · U.S. coastal waters · 2024

"PURSUE R02 — U.S. Coast Guard UAP Encounter (2024)" is a single-part military sensor video released by the U.S. Coast Guard on May 22, 2026, as part of the PURSUE Release 02 declassified package. The footage documents an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed over U.S. coastal waters at some point during 2024. It is one of several video records in the Release 02 batch, which arrived two weeks after the inaugural PURSUE Release 01 and drew immediate attention from researchers alongside clips from Iran and the Persian Gulf region.

What this record contains

The record is classified under type VID — a military sensor video — and was submitted for public release by the U.S. Coast Guard, making it one of the relatively rare contributions to the PURSUE archive from a maritime law enforcement and search-and-rescue agency rather than a purely military branch. The incident is dated to 2024, placing it among the most recent cases in the release, and occurred in U.S. coastal waters; no further geographic specificity has been published. The file consists of a single part.

According to the official description, the footage "was released as part of PURSUE Release 02 on May 22, 2026," and is "referenced in news coverage of the Release 02 batch alongside Iran 2022 and Persian Gulf 2018–2023 video clips." The public release does not include detailed metadata for this record beyond the agency, year, and broad geographic designation — specific sensor type, sensor altitude, object description, or encounter duration have not been broadly disclosed.

Sensor & operational context

U.S. Coast Guard vessels and aircraft routinely operate electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) camera systems for maritime surveillance, search-and-rescue operations, and counter-narcotics patrols. These sensors — typically mounted on MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, HC-130 Hercules patrol aircraft, or maritime patrol cutters — are designed to detect and track objects against open-water backgrounds, where thermal contrast and horizon geometry differ meaningfully from the overland environments more commonly associated with DoD UAP footage. Coastal platforms often operate at low altitude and moderate airspeed, giving crews extended dwell time over a contact — a different operational geometry than fast-jet intercepts.

Coastal surveillance environments introduce their own interpretive challenges. Wave-surface glint, atmospheric ducting over warm ocean currents, and the density of low-level maritime traffic — recreational drones, weather balloons, debris lofted by weather — can all produce anomalous sensor signatures that require careful frame-by-frame review. Without knowing whether this footage was captured from an airborne or surface-mounted platform, or which sensor modality was active, independent analysis of what is depicted remains constrained to what the official description provides.

What this does and does not prove

What the record establishes is factual and narrow: a U.S. Coast Guard sensor system recorded an object or phenomenon in U.S. coastal waters in 2024 that was subsequently flagged, preserved, and included in a formal government declassification process. That designation carries institutional weight — it means the footage cleared internal review and was deemed appropriate for public release alongside the broader PURSUE material. What it does not establish is the nature, origin, or significance of what is depicted. The public release does not characterize the object as anomalous, extraterrestrial, or explained. Within the PURSUE framework, "unresolved" means the case has not been definitively accounted for — not that anything extraordinary has been confirmed. Absence of an explanation is not itself an explanation.

How it fits PURSUE Release 02

This record belongs to PURSUE Release 02, which dropped on May 22, 2026 — fourteen days after the inaugural Release 01. Where Release 01 was a sweeping cross-agency anthology spanning FBI files from 1947, NASA archive imagery, and contemporary Department of War mission reports across 162 documents, Release 02 appears to concentrate more tightly on recent military sensor video: this U.S. coastal waters clip sits alongside footage from Iran (2022) and the Persian Gulf (2018–2023) in news coverage of the batch. The Coast Guard's inclusion signals a deliberate broadening of the releasing-agency footprint beyond the Air Force and Navy cases that have historically dominated public UAP discussion. For the full catalogued set — including every Release 01 record with its associated metadata — visit the SkyLens UAP files page, or browse our broader PURSUE coverage for context on how both releases fit the larger declassification initiative.

Editorial note: This analysis is independent commentary on a publicly released document. The original record, source links, and full release metadata are catalogued on the SkyLens UAP files page alongside every other case in the PURSUE Release 01 set.