Richard Dolan’s Release 02 shortlist: Syria, Kabul, Sandia, and the stronger clips

Richard Dolan’s latest Release 02 video works best as a triage list for the second PURSUE batch: which clips look stronger, which files deserve a second pass, and where the public record is still thin.

Dolan says the second release struck him differently from the first. His reason is not one single clip. It is the repetition: military infrared videos, small spherical or elongated objects, objects over water, apparent formations, longer tracking sequences, and a few older documents that put UAP reporting near nuclear or military sites.

That is where the video has value. It sorts the pile.

What Dolan highlighted

Dolan starts with DOW-UAP-PR051, the Syria clip labelled “instant acceleration.” He shows the moment where the object exits the frame and says it looks anomalous to him. He also notes the same public problem that has followed the file since release: the metadata is missing or blocked, so range, platform motion, and speed cannot be locked down from the public video alone.

He then points to a 2017 Kabul file, DOW-UAP-PR064, describing it as a cigar-shaped object. That case has not yet had the same public argument around it as PR051 or Lake Huron, but it is now in the shortlist of clips commentators are treating as more interesting than the obvious filler.

The water cases also get attention. Dolan refers to spherical objects pulsing over water and odd formations over water. In Release 02, that points toward files such as PR052, PR056, PR067, and PR098, where the public titles carry strong language but the official descriptions remain thinner than the online discussion around them.

He also spends time on the Sandia material. The Sandia file is not a modern video. It is an older document bundle connected to late-1940s green fireball reporting and scientific collection attempts around New Mexico. Dolan’s point is that the historical files show a serious technical response around a subject often treated publicly as folklore.

What the official files say

The public files are still careful.

PR051 is titled “Syrian UAP instant acceleration,” but AARO’s public language says the video was digitally altered before upload and shown as received. The dramatic moment is tied to the sensor track leaving or losing the target, not to a published speed calculation.

PR064 carries the Kabul label and a 2017 date, but the public file does not settle what the object is. It gives a clip, not a completed case file.

PR067 has one of the strongest public titles in the batch: “Multiple Spherical UAP USO near Sub.” The public description is less dramatic. It talks about areas of contrast entering and exiting the sensor field of view. The word “USO” lives in the title, not in a public technical conclusion.

PR098 is a long Persian Gulf formation file. The public description says the object appears as multiple distinct areas at higher magnification, then becomes hard to distinguish from video grain. That is a case worth watching because the label and the image-processing problem are both part of the story.

The Sandia file is different. It is not a short video with a dramatic label. It is a paper trail. The collection attempts, copper-particle discussion, and green-fireball context show that official attention existed long before the modern UAP vocabulary.

Why the video matters

Dolan’s video shows where the Release 02 attention is moving.

The first wave was obvious: Lake Huron, Syria, Pantex, the submarine title, and the large release count. The second wave is more selective. It asks which clips keep looking interesting after the first headline fades.

That does not make Dolan’s shortlist a verdict. Some of the files may still land in ordinary categories. Some may stay unresolved because the public version is too thin. But the list is a good snapshot of the current public triage: Syria for motion, Kabul for shape, water cases for grouping and sensor ambiguity, Sandia for history.

For now, the next thing to watch is whether the public discussion around PR064, PR067, and PR098 produces file-level analysis, not just frame grabs and bigger adjectives.

Sources

• Richard Dolan Intelligent Disclosure: Latest UAP Release Genuinely Surprised Me, published May 24, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1--4KBGKlo
• DVIDS: DOW-UAP-PR051, Syrian UAP instant acceleration. https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007707
• DVIDS: DOW-UAP-PR064, AFSOC Kabul UAP Jul 2017. https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007741
• DVIDS: DOW-UAP-PR067, Multiple Spherical UAP USO near Sub. https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007779
• DVIDS: DOW-UAP-PR098, UFOs in formation over Persian Gulf? https://www.dvidshub.net/video/1007737
• Department of War UAP files, PURSUE Release 02. https://www.war.gov/ufo/