Pentagon begins releasing UFO files

Washington — The Pentagon on Friday began releasing more files related to UFOs and UAPs, following through on an order from President Trump to make public government documents about unexplained phenomena.

The release, posted on a new Pentagon “UFO” website, includes 162 files from the FBI, Department of Defense, NASA and State Department. The documents contain eyewitness testimony, reports of identified sightings of unexplained objects and photos, detailing incidents dating back decades from around the globe. 

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement upon the release of the first files. The files include videos of unresolved cases as well as archival files from different government agencies. 

The documents include 120 PDFs, 28 videos and 14 images. The photos are a mix of images of suspicious objects in the sky, filmed by military aircraft, but also include photos from the Moon by NASA astronauts. 

One image is an FBI photo overlaid by a graphic of an object described by an eyewitness. The composite sketch shows an “apparent ellipsoid bronze metallic object materializing out of a bright light in the sky, 130-195 feet in length, and disappearing instantaneously.” 

The Pentagon’s UFO site says new documents will be released on a rolling basis “as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks.”

The archived materials that are being released are “unresolved cases, meaning the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena.” The Pentagon says that this may be for reasons including lack of sufficient data, and the department welcomed analysis from the private sector. 

Out of the 162 files released Friday, 108 contain redactions. The Pentagon said information was withheld to “protect the identity of eyewitnesses, the location of government facilities, or potentially sensitive information about military sites not related to UAP.”

“No redactions have been made to any files released under President Trump’s directive concerning information about the nature or existence of any encounter reported as a UAP or related phenomena,” the statement said.

In February, Mr. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, directed the Pentagon and other agency heads to release files on UFOs and any “alien and extraterrestrial life.” 

He asked them “to begin the process of identifying and releasing” any relevant files and called for the release of “any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.” 

The Pentagon has tracked reports of what it calls unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, for decades. But the military said in a 2024 report there’s no evidence that any government investigation into UAPs has confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Mr. Trump has said he’s not sure whether or not aliens exist.

The Pentagon started releasing images several years ago after it established a website for its All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which was tasked with analyzing reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena. The AARO website was established in 2023.