Pentagon releases initial batch of declassified files detailing UFOs

 

This image, identified as "FBI photo B2" on the Department of Defense website, shows an “infrared still image (black hot) captured of unidentified object over western United States in December of 2025,” per the Defense Department. 

Department of Defense

The Pentagon on Friday released what it says are “never-before-seen files” on UFOs after President Donald Trump directed the agency to do so earlier this year.

The batch of files outlines various investigations of reported sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena that span decades.

“The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly,” the department wrote on X, referring to unidentified anomalous phenomena, the modern term for UFOs. “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 Defense Department said it will be “releasing new materials on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks.”

The Pentagon said some of the materials were previously released by the FBI, but the versions made public Friday had fewer redactions. This was the case with a large FBI file containing hundreds of pages describing “eyewitness testimonies and public reports” about UFOs between 1947 and 1968.

Other files made public Friday contained much more recent observances.

This image, identified as "DOW-UAP-PR43, Unresolved UAP Report, Africa, 2025" shows "a US military operator reported UAP while operating within African airspace," per the Defense Department. 

Department of Defense

The files include internal military memos describing “one possible small UAP” in Iraq in 2022, as well as “multiple glares or light from an unknown origin” observed in Syria in 2024. US troops were stationed in Iraq and Syria during that time as part of ongoing operations against ISIS.

There are also recent reports from US troops in the United Arab Emirates and Greece.
The Pentagon website where the new documents were posted contains a disclaimer saying that the “descriptive and estimative language” in these military memos reflect the “subjective interpretation” of the person who wrote the report — and therefore “should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication” of what actually happened.

The files also include reports from astronauts aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 to more recent reports from various law enforcement or government officials.

During the Apollo 12 mission, the second crewed moon landing, one of the astronauts, Alan L. Bean, reported to mission control seeing “flashes of light” that are just “sailing off in space.”