Pentagon releases 161 declassified UFO files, including Apollo mission transcripts

The United States Department of Defense has published 161 previously classified files relating to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), following a directive issued by President Donald Trump in February this year.

The files, covering incidents from the 1940s through to 2024, are accessible through a dedicated government website at war.gov/UFO, with additional materials to be released on a rolling basis. The Department of Defense stated that no security clearance is required to access the documents.

The release does not officially confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life. Pentagon officials described the materials as "unresolved cases," meaning the government has been unable to reach a final determination on the nature of the observed phenomena.

Apollo astronauts report unexplained light and particles

Among the most notable materials are previously classified transcripts and debriefing records from the Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 Moon landing missions, conducted between 1969 and 1972.

In a 1969 post-mission debriefing, astronaut Buzz Aldrin described seeing "little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart" while attempting to sleep. He also reported observing "what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser."

During the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969, astronaut Alan Bean reported witnessing "flashes of light" that he described as "sailing off into space." He added that the particles appeared to be "escaping the Moon."

Apollo 12 documentation also includes a photograph of the lunar landing site in which an unidentified object is visible slightly above the horizon. A separate photograph from the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972 shows three luminous dots arranged in a triangular formation in the lower right quadrant of the lunar sky, visible upon magnification.

During the Apollo 17 mission, astronaut Harrison Schmitt described seeing "very bright particles" that were "tumbling and rotating way out in the distance," likening the spectacle to "the Fourth of July."

An audio transcript from the 1965 Gemini 7 space flight also features astronaut Frank Borman reporting a "bogey at 10 o'clock high" to NASA mission control approximately four and a half hours into the flight. He subsequently described the object as resembling "hundreds of little particles going by to the left, out about three or four miles."

Civilian and FBI witness accounts

The released files include civilian testimonies submitted to the government since the 1940s. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documented a 1957 interview in which a witness claimed to have seen a large, circular vehicle rising above ground level.

Separate FBI records from September and October 2023 include accounts from United States citizens who reported witnessing hovering metallic objects materialising out of bright light. Multiple witnesses described an oval-shaped, bronze-coloured metallic object estimated to be between 40 and 60 metres in length that appeared in the sky before vanishing instantaneously.

A redacted September 2023 report describes a FaceTime interview with a drone operator and colleagues who observed a wingless, metallic object at approximately 5,000 feet above a government test site. The witnesses said it moved from east to west before disappearing within five to ten seconds.

Military sightings in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific

The files include video footage submitted by the United States military from the Middle East, dated to 2022. Clips from Iraq, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates show what the Department of Defense has classified as "unresolved unidentified anomalous phenomenon."

One 2022 recording captures an oval-shaped object moving rapidly from left to right, which an accompanying report flagged as a "possible missile."

The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted two separate reports to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2024. One consisted of one minute and 39 seconds of infrared sensor footage from a military platform; another comprised nine seconds of similar footage. A third 2024 submission from the United States Northern Command recorded 21 seconds of infrared footage of an unidentified object.

A 2024 report cited in the files describes a diamond-shaped aircraft detected travelling at approximately 434 knots, or 803 kilometres per hour, observed for approximately two minutes through an onboard shortwave infrared sensor.

Not all incidents remain unexplained. A September 1948 report from military crew flying over the Netherlands at 30,000 feet described sudden acceleration and climbing by an unidentified aircraft. Within months, intelligence officials determined the object was a single-propelled jet employing rocket assists.

Trump cites transparency; lawmakers divided

Speaking on his Truth Social platform following the release, President Trump stated that "previous administrations were not transparent on this issue" and described the disclosure as part of broader efforts toward government transparency.

The interagency release effort operates under the acronym PURSUE, standing for the Presidential Unsealings and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. The Department of Defense noted that tens of millions of records were reviewed in cooperation with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) before declassification.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised the initiative, writing on X that NASA's role was to "bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn."

Congressional reaction was mixed. Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee welcomed the release as "a great start." Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida called it "a massive first step in the right direction."

However, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said the release served as a distraction from domestic concerns, including price affordability and the ongoing conflict in Iran.

Context and background

Public interest in UAP has grown considerably in recent years. In May 2022, the United States Congress held its first hearings on UFOs in 50 years, during which the Office of Naval Intelligence disclosed photographs of an unidentified object captured through the cockpit of an FA-18 fighter jet in 2021. The military reported up to 400 UAP sightings by Navy fighter pilots around that time.

The current release follows a directive Trump issued in February, shortly after former President Barack Obama said during a podcast interview that aliens were "real." Obama subsequently clarified that he was referring to the statistical likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the universe, and that he had seen "no evidence" of alien life during his presidency.

The Department of Defense noted that while all files have been reviewed for security purposes, many materials have not yet been formally analysed for resolution of the anomalies they describe.

Officials stated that they "welcome analysis by the private sector" and the application of independent expertise to the released materials.