The White House released the first batch of anticipated UFO files on Friday that have long been hidden from public view.
“The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said. “These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.”
Over 160 files can be viewed at a new webpage from the Department of War. The files include photos, FBI investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning UFOs. One image was captured during the Apollo 17 moon landing and shows three shining dots in space.
More records are expected to be released on a rolling basis.
“For the first time in history, the American people have unfettered access to declassified government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon — a level of transparency that no prior administration has delivered,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “The FBI remains committed to supporting this rolling declassification effort with the same rigor and integrity we bring to every national security matter.”
The release comes after President Donald Trump in February directed the release of government records related to “alien and extraterrestrial life.”
Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett said last month in an interview with NewsNation that he had seen UFO-related videos that he didn’t believe could be explained by man-made technology.
“I’ve seen pictures and video of things that defy any reason that we have, and everybody says, ‘Well, it’s our stuff, it’s the Russians, it’s the Chinese,’” he said. “If it’s the Chinese, ma’am, they would own us. If it was the Russians, they wouldn’t be bogged down in Ukraine.”
“If it was ours, we would never risk our military fighting men and women in half-a-billion-dollar aircraft out with these things that they’re spotting. These things can hover for hours on end, then they can just shoot straight up, they can do angles.”
Last week, Trump teased the release of the files during an event at the White House with the Artemis II astronauts.
“We’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven’t,” Trump said. “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”
In February, Trump directed federal government agencies to start the process for identifying and releasing files related to “to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
