The Trump administration on Friday released more than 160 files, photographs and videos related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), commonly referred to as UFOs, as part of what the White House described as an effort to increase transparency around government knowledge of extraterrestrial phenomena.The disclosure by the Pentagon followed a presidential order issued in February directing agencies to begin identifying and releasing records related to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)”. Trump had earlier teased the release, saying: “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”According to Fox News, the release forms part of Trump’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program. The White House described the documents as “never-before-seen” files and videos, adding that “the latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place – no clearance required.”Trump had repeatedly teased the disclosures over the past few months, saying his administration would release “very interesting” files related to UFOs and extraterrestrial phenomena.Among the newly released material were photographs from the Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 missions. One image taken from the lunar surface during Apollo 17 appeared to show a cluster of three tiny dots in the sky. Another transcript released with the files detailed an exchange between Apollo 17 operators and mission control regarding unidentified objects seen during maneuvers.“Now we’ve got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver,” one operator said. “There’s a whole bunch of big ones on my window down there – just bright. It looks like the Fourth of July out of Ron’s window,” another added.The files also included FBI photographs from New Year’s Eve 1999 showing two black dots in the sky in the same frame as US aircraft. Infrared footage tracking unidentified aerial objects through military targeting systems was also released.US secretary of war Pete Hegseth said the release demonstrated the administration’s “earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency”. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called it “the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort”. FBI director Kash Patel described the disclosure as a “landmark release of UAP records”.Despite the disclosures, experts urged caution about interpreting the material. Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, said there were no hidden revelations involving alien contact. “Readers should not get their hopes up that there’s going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,” he told AP. “Because that just doesn’t exist.“The Pentagon’s 2024 report had also concluded that there was no evidence the US government had recovered alien technology or confirmed extraterrestrial life. The files have been made publicly available on The files have been made publicly available by the US department of war on WAR.GOV/UFO.
