The Pentagon has released a collection of previously unseen documents related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), which include accounts of sightings reported by civilians on Earth and astronauts on the Moon.
These documents, covering several decades, were declassified and made publicly available online on Friday following an order from President Donald Trump, who earlier in the year expressed his intention to release them "based on the tremendous interest shown."
Interest in extraterrestrial life has surged in the United States in recent years. In 2022, Congress conducted its first hearings on UFOs in half a century, and the military has committed to greater transparency on the topic.
The 161 files are accessible via the Department of Defense's website, with additional documents expected to be released in the future.
This release follows comments by former President Barack Obama, who in a February interview stated that aliens are "real, but I haven't seen them." Obama later clarified that while statistically life likely exists elsewhere, he personally saw "no evidence" during his presidency.
In response, President Trump directed the Pentagon to disclose files "related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."
The files released include decades of declassified military memos, reports from Apollo Moon missions, and eyewitness accounts from individuals claiming to have observed UFOs suspected to be of extraterrestrial origin.
Apollo astronauts describe flashes of light
The documents contain previously classified transcripts from astronauts involved in the Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 17 Moon landing missions during the 1960s and 1970s.
Buzz Aldrin, the renowned Apollo 11 astronaut, stated in a 1969 interview published on Friday that he observed several unexplained phenomena during his lunar mission.
"I observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser,"he said.
Transcripts reveal that Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, who walked on the Moon in 1969, reported seeing particles and flashes of light "sailing off in space" during the mission. He described the particles as appearing to be "escaping the Moon."
Two astronauts aboard Apollo 17 in 1972 also reported witnessing flashing lights while in space.
"It's like the Fourth of July out there!"astronaut Jack Schmitt remarked. They suggested the lights could have been reflections off ice fragments.
Another file includes an audio recording from the 1965 Gemini 7 spaceflight, featuring communication between astronaut Frank Borman and ground control. Borman reported sighting an unidentified object to NASA mission control, describing a "bogey" and "trillions of little particles" observed to the left of the spacecraft.
Hovering objects emerging from light
Among the decades of reports are numerous individual claims of sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
One file details a 1957 FBI interview in which a man described witnessing a large, circular vehicle rising from the ground. Additionally, interviews conducted in September and October 2023 include accounts from US citizens reporting hovering metal objects materializing from bright light.
Military sightings in Iraq, Syria, and the UAE
The files also contain video footage captured by the US military in the Middle East during 2022.
Videos from Iraq, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates show what the Pentagon's website refers to as "unresolved unidentified anomalous phenomenon."
One 2022 clip, recorded at an undisclosed Middle Eastern location, depicts an oval-shaped object moving from left to right. An accompanying report noted the object as a "possible missile."
Good first step, but we need more, lawmakers say
Congressman Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee who has advocated for increased government transparency on UFO sightings, welcomed the Pentagon's release of the files, describing it as a "great start" in a post on X.
Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, also a proponent of transparency on this issue, called the disclosure "a massive first step in the right direction" in a statement.
Conversely, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once an ally of President Trump but now estranged and no longer in Congress, criticized the release as a distraction from more urgent issues facing Americans, such as affordability and the conflict in Iran.
"I'm so sick of the 'look at the shiny object' propaganda,"Greene stated in a post on X.
