Following a declassification directive from President Donald Trump, the Department of War released numerous reports and videos related to unidentified flying objects on Friday.

Referred to by the government as “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,” UFOs have been a growing subject of public interest in recent years. Predictably, Friday’s file release didn’t significantly move the ball in terms of judging whether or not we are alone in the Universe (though the Washington Examiner understands that far more compelling videos and military witness reports will be released in the coming months). Instead, this first release reinforces the point that a small subset of UFOs remains truly strange and unexplained. Friday’s release also underlines the unnecessary secrecy that has characterized the U.S. government’s handling of this issue since the 1940s.