Key Facts

What Do We Know About The Ufo File Release?

The files, released on the Department of Defense’s website, contain images and documents it says were previously classified about “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” some of which are decades old. The Department of Defense announced the UFO files release in a statement on X Friday morning, saying the documents were released in the “interest of total transparency” while criticizing previous presidential administrations for allegedly seeking to “discredit or dissuade the American people” about UFOs. The agency said all the documents have been “reviewed for security purposes,” but “many of the materials have not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies,” saying it welcomes private-sector analysis and expertise. The Defense Department said there are “tens of millions of records” spanning “many decades” it must sift through, saying additional documents will be released in the coming weeks on a rolling basis.

What Is Included In The Ufo Files?

Some of the images included in the files release are unclear, with some just depicting blurry dots on a screen. One image was taken on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission to the moon, with a zoomed-in section depicting a cluster of three visible lights. Another document, dated November 1948, is described by the Pentagon as an Air Force intelligence report that details concerns over “recurring reports on flying saucers.” Some documents appear to be eyewitness accounts of apparent “unidentified anomalous phenomena” sightings, including one observed in Syria in 2023, in which the eyewitness described an object “shaped as a bouncy ball” traveling nearly 500 miles per hour “consistently for at least 7mins.” The Pentagon, though, warned in a caption the account should not be interpreted as the “conclusive indication” of any such object. Some of the files contain video footage, including one 25-second clip captured in Greece in 2023 appearing to depict a “small and circular” object “flying near the surface of the ocean toward land.” Many of the files are accompanied with a warning from the Pentagon that readers should "not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.”

Astronauts Describe ‘unusual’ Sightings In Ufo Files

A technical crew debriefing document from the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 that put the first humans on the moon depicts astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins discussing what they describe as “unusual” sightings on their space flight. Aldrin describes seeing an object of a “sizeable dimension” near the moon, which he described as having an L-shape. “Like an open suitcase,” Armstrong said, adding it was “difficult to tell what shape it was.” Collins said the object appeared to be a cylinder at first glance, but said the crew members “don’t have a conclusion” about what the object was, or how far away or how big it was. Aldrin, later in the debriefing, discusses seeing “little flashes inside the cabin,” which he could not identify. In another document, astronauts on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission to the moon described seeing “very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by us as we maneuver,” which made it look “like the Fourth of July” outside the spacecraft window. One of the pilots said the fragments looked like "pieces of something,” but they could not identify what they were. Another document depicts pilots on the 1965 Gemini VII mission discussing an “unidentified object,” with pilot Frank Borman saying, “We have debris up here. This is an actual sighting.” Borman described “hundreds of little particles going by,” adding, “It looks like a path of the vehicle at 90 degrees.”

Chief Critics

Some Trump critics have accused him of using the UFO file release as a distraction from the Epstein files or the Iran war, including popular podcast host Joe Rogan. “What doesn’t make sense is why now, disclosure,” Rogan said on his podcast Thursday, referring to the release of files related to UFOs, adding, “This is being cynical, but the Iran war isn’t going very well, the American public is very upset,” suggesting people “need something to distract us.” Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the president, said in a post on X Friday, “I really don’t care about the UFO files. I just don’t,” calling it “propaganda while they wage foreign wars, let rapist and pedophiles run free, and ruin the value of our dollar.” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., previously criticized Trump’s February promise to release UFO documents, saying in a post on X, “They’ve deployed the ultimate weapon of mass distraction, but the Epstein files aren’t going away… even for aliens.”

Key Background

Trump has in recent months attacked former President Barack Obama over his comments about the government’s handling of classified UFO documents. In a February interview, Obama said aliens are “real, but I haven’t seen them,” sparking renewed public interest over whether the government has evidence of alien life. He later clarified in an Instagram post that his comments were speculation, saying the “universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” but he did not personally see evidence of extraterrestrial life during his presidency. Trump, after Obama’s interview, said he “gave classified information” and made a “big mistake.” Trump’s February vow to release UFO documents came days after Obama’s comments on aliens. Obama addressed aliens again earlier this week—three days before the Pentagon’s document release—in an interview with Stephen Colbert, saying the “government is terrible at keeping secrets” and that if it had evidence of alien existence, “some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend.”

Further Reading

Trump Wants Files On UFOs And Aliens Public—But ‘Epstein Files Aren’t Going Away,’ Massie Says (Forbes)