The Pentagon has begun releasing declassified documents regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena through a dedicated portal, marking a push for unprecedented transparency by the Trump administration.
Transparency and Initial Release
Defense Secretary Hegseth stated that the declassification demonstrates the Trump administration’s commitment to unprecedented transparency. The documents are being released in tranches on the war.gov/UFO portal, with the first installment containing 162 files from various agencies.
While many materials, such as FBI files from the 1940s-1960s and Apollo 12 and 17 astronaut observations, were previously known, the files include reports from Iraq, the UAE, the Strait of Hormuz, Greece, Japan, and the USA.
Visual Descriptions and Recorded Incidents
The released videos and photos are blurry, depicting objects in shapes like diamonds, spheres, or octopuses recorded by infrared cameras and sensors on drones and aircraft. In one January 2024 incident, a diamond-shaped object with a “dropped probe” over Greece was estimated to travel at over 800 km/h.
Other documents include a 1994 report of a high-intensity, missile-like light seen from a Boeing 747 by a Tajik pilot and three U.S. citizens, and a 2001 incident where Russia attributed airspace violations in Georgia to UFOs, which the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi dismissed as ridiculous.
A September 2023 report detailed FBI witnesses seeing a metallic, elliptical object the size of two Black Hawk helicopters near a U.S. military range, while a 2025 intelligence official’s testimony described “super hot” orange spheres and a “swarm” of lights.
Administrative Objectives and AARO Findings
Donald Trump commented on the release, stating he instructed his administration to make government records regarding extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena available. He suggested that people could now see “what the hell is going on” for themselves.
Previous reports from the Pentagon’s AARO office indicate most incidents have prosaic explanations. In 2024, the team received 1,652 reports; most were identified as balloons or aircraft, leaving only 21 cases requiring further analysis due to anomalous behavior.
