The Pentagon on Friday released more than 160 government files tied to UFO sightings and unexplained aerial incidents spanning nearly eight decades, following a February order from President Trump directing federal agencies to increase transparency surrounding what officials now call “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP.
The release included 162 documents, videos, photographs, intelligence reports, FBI files, and eyewitness accounts involving sightings reported across the United States and overseas. The Department of War announced the disclosure on X, calling it the most accessible centralized archive of declassified UAP material ever made available to the public.
“The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly,” the Pentagon wrote. “The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place — no clearance required.”
The department also contrasted the move with prior administrations, accusing previous officials of discouraging public interest in the topic.
“While past administrations sought to discredit or dissuade the American people, President Trump is focused on providing maximum transparency to the public,” the statement added.
The disclosure came just two days after Trump teased the release during remarks to reporters, saying, “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”
Among the newly published material were infrared military videos and photographs showing unexplained objects over locations including Greece, Iraq, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Africa, and the continental United States. Several of the clips featured fast-moving or oddly shaped objects tracked by military targeting systems.
One report from 2024 described a football-shaped object observed near Japan by US Indo-Pacific Command. Another included thermal imagery from military operators over Greece and the Middle East. Additional files documented sightings reported by Air Force personnel operating within US airspace.
The archive also included decades-old FBI and intelligence files detailing civilian and military eyewitness testimony dating back to the 1950s. Some of the material consisted of newspaper clippings documenting historical UFO sightings that had already circulated publicly for years.
One of the more unusual releases involved a transcript from the Apollo 17 moon mission in 1972. In the transcript, astronauts described seeing “very bright particles or fragments” drifting outside the spacecraft window.
Fox News: “The Trump Administration releasing the first batch of files related to UFOs and alien life.”
“All of these videos have gone live at https://t.co/ONMpvlrq7b.” pic.twitter.com/WQqZ4aKm1w
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 8, 2026
“It looks like the 4th of July,” one astronaut remarked, according to the file.
An accompanying lunar photograph showed three unexplained lights above the moon’s surface. Government analysts noted there was “no consensus” about the anomaly’s origin, though a preliminary assessment suggested it “could be a physical object.”
Despite renewed public fascination surrounding the release, former government officials involved in UAP investigations cautioned against expectations of dramatic revelations.
Sean Kirkpatrick, the former director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, told the Associated Press this week that he had reviewed the government’s classified records and found no evidence of extraterrestrial visitors.
“Readers should not get their hopes up that there’s going to be some document with photos interviewing the aliens when they came down,” Kirkpatrick said. “Because that just doesn’t exist.”
Kirkpatrick argued that many viral UFO videos can be explained by limitations in infrared camera systems, which can distort heat signatures from aircraft engines or other objects and create misleading visual effects.
Still, interest in the topic remains high among several Republican lawmakers and members of the Trump administration.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida claimed last year that she had seen evidence involving what she described as “interdimensional beings” and accused the Pentagon of withholding information from the public.
Vice President JD Vance has also publicly discussed the issue, saying earlier this year that he was “obsessed” with reviewing UFO records and investigating the history of Area 51. Vance suggested many reported sightings may involve supernatural or demonic phenomena rather than extraterrestrial life.
The Pentagon’s 2024 UAP report documented hundreds of unexplained incidents but stated investigators had found no evidence confirming alien technology or extraterrestrial contact. A second report reviewing more recent cases is expected later this year.
Trump’s order to release the UFO files followed similar directives requiring the disclosure of records tied to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Those releases generated significant public attention but ultimately revealed little beyond what historians and investigators already knew.
