Pentagon publishes first batch of previously secret UFO files

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Friday made public an initial set of previously classified files detailing reported sightings of unidentified flying objects, including records dating back to the 1940s.

According to the War Department, which officially uses the term Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, more than 160 files were uploaded to its website. The release follows a long-running push by some Americans seeking access to government material on the subject.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement:

These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves

Among the documents is a file from December 1947 containing a series of reports on flying discs. Another document, an Air Force intelligence report from November 1948 marked top secret, includes information on reported sightings of unidentified aircraft and flying saucers.

One of the released files also describes a 2023 incident in which three teams of federal law enforcement special agents separately reported

seeing orange ‘orbs’ in the sky emit/launch smaller red ‘orbs’

Trump order and renewed public interest

The disclosure comes after President Donald Trump directed US federal agencies in February to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs and aliens. At the time, he said the move was

based on the tremendous interest shown

Trump also said the same day that former president Barack Obama had disclosed classified information in podcast comments about extraterrestrial life. Referring to Obama’s remarks, Trump told reporters:

gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that

. Speaking about his own view, Trump said:

I don’t know if they are real or not.

In the podcast remarks cited in the report, Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen:

They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in … Area 51

, referring to the secretive US military facility in Nevada that has long featured in UFO conspiracy theories.

Pentagon’s earlier findings

The issue has drawn renewed attention in recent years as the US government examined numerous reports involving aircraft that appeared difficult to explain, amid concerns that rival states might be testing highly advanced technologies.

In March 2024, the Pentagon issued a report saying it had found no evidence that UAP were alien technology. It said many suspicious sightings were later identified as weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other ordinary activity.

The report also noted that no evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth.