An image recorded on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 shows the shadows of astronauts, along with a highlighted area above the horizon showing “unidentified phenomena,” according to the Defense Department.
NASA/via Defense Department
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NASA/via Defense Department
Reports of mysterious rotating saucers from the Cold War era and recent sightings of metallic elliptical objects have been documented in a collection of records released by the Department of Defense on Friday. These documents, which describe unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs — the military’s term for UFOs — are now available to the public.
The Pentagon has made over 160 records public, following President Trump’s directive for greater transparency concerning federal and military records related to unexplained phenomena. In a statement on Truth Social, President Trump expressed that with these records accessible, “the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”
The documents are hosted on a specialized web portal, war.gov/info, where additional files will be continuously added. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized in a Facebook post that these files have long fueled speculation and that it is time for the American public to see them.
The release is part of an ongoing joint effort to declassify and share these materials, as stated by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Among the documents is a record of the Apollo 11 crew’s debriefing in July 1969, where astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported three unusual observations: an object en route to the Moon, flashes of light inside the cabin, and a bright light on the return trip thought to be a laser.
One of the oldest documents, dating back to November 1948, is a Top Secret report from the U.S. Air Force Directorate of Intelligence. It details repeated sightings of unidentified objects over Europe. The report notes that these sightings were reported by numerous sources and from various locations, suggesting they cannot be ignored and require explanation beyond current intelligence capabilities.
The report also mentions discussions with Sweden’s intelligence service, which suggested the phenomena are the result of advanced technical skill not attributed to any known culture on Earth. This document is reportedly unredacted, unlike a more recent record that is heavily obscured. This entry details a woman’s account of an unexplained sighting in September 2023, involving a metallic object in an area restricted for airspace testing.
Related materials include a composite sketch of an oval metallic object with a bright light at one end. Multiple witnesses corroborated the sighting, and the woman involved stated she would not have reported it if she had been alone. The report also highlights the stigma attached to such reports, noting that her co-workers mocked her.
Historic records feature credible witnesses, such as a 1955 case involving then-Sen. Richard Russell and a group who reported seeing “flying disc aircraft” from a train in the Soviet Union. U.S. Army Lt. Col. E. U. Hathaway was among those present, and the U.S. Air Attache described the witnesses as “excellent sources.”
This 1955 sighting was previously documented in records released by the CIA, although the report was partly redacted. Besides the unidentified object, the files also include descriptions of a jet bomber and a railway system designed to accommodate different track widths between Russia and Czechia.
