The Trump administration announced on Friday the release of declassified government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, hailing it as an effort to bring “unprecedented transparency” to the matter.
The Department of War said the government is releasing “new, never-before-seen” UAP files, in conjunction with the White House, FBI, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA, and other agencies. The release relates to President Donald Trump’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters program.
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The documents will be available on https://www.war.gov/UFO/. The announcement said the site will be updated with more documents on a rolling basis.
The first tranche of files includes unresolved footage of objects captured on film, including during the Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 space missions, an inverted teardrop object captured flying over the United Arab Emirates in 2024, an object soaring over Iraq in 2022, and a small, circular UAP flying near the ocean in Greece’s airspace.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
UAPs are often used interchangeably as a reference to Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs.
DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard called Friday’s release “the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the declassification marked the “first time in history” that people will have “unfettered access to declassified government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon.”
In a comment on the development, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the Trump administration would “remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered.”
Trump pledged earlier this week to release UFO and UAP files.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related 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,” the president wrote in a post to Truth Social.
His release of the files on Friday provoked praise from lawmakers who have long pushed for more transparency from the government pertaining to matters of reported UFOs and UAPs, including Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Eric Burlison (R-MO).
“This is a historic first step in what I trust will be just one of many,” Burlison said in a post to X. “Thank you for taking on the swamp to make this release happen. You are the president of the people!”
