The Pentagon on Friday began releasing government files related to UFOs and “extraterrestrial life” after Donald Trump vowed to make the files on aliens public.
The first batch released online includes dozens of files, including FBI case files and photos, Defense Department reports on unidentified anomalous phenomena around the globe, and State Department cables. It also includes transcripts and images dating back to the Apollo 12 and 17 missions.
The Pentagon noted that while the “never-before-seen” files had been reviewed for security purposes, the material was not analyzed to resolve any anomalies. It said more files would be released on a rolling basis.
The document drop comes after the Trump administration moved to declassify and release files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. but has yet to produce all the files on pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as required by law.
Meanwhile, the president is facing mounting pressure as he struggles to reach a deal to end the war in Iran after blowing past multiple self-imposed timelines.
Trump announced that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and all other relevant agencies to begin identifying and releasing files based on the “tremendous interest shown” in a Truth Social post on February 19.
He touted the release in a post on Truth Social early Friday, writing about the files, “the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”
Besides the Defense Department, the administration’s effort included the White House, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Energy Department, NASA, the FBI and other agencies that deal with intelligence.
“This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency,” boasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a statement.
While the administration attempts to paint itself as the most transparent ever, the president and his top allies have been repeatedly accused of distraction efforts and cover-ups, namely when it comes to Epstein and his health, by critics.
Among the files released was a photograph from the Apollo 17 mission to the moon in 1972. The image shows three “dots” in a triangular formation in the sky. The files note that the images had previously been released, but there was no consensus on whether there was an anomaly.
According to the Defense Department’s website, the government has obtained the original film from the mission as part of the investigation, and the results of NASA and Defense Department analyses will be released when complete.
Another image included was a photograph of Apollo 12’s 1969 moon landing. The image was enhanced to show the “area of interest” where a light dot can be seen. The files do not provide any conclusion on what the light dot is.
There is also a series of FBI case files that include hundreds of pages of documents regarding investigations, eyewitness testimonies and public reports like newspaper clippings on UFOs between 1947 and 1968.
Last month, Trump bragged about directing Hegseth to begin releasing files related to UFOs at a Turning Points USA event in Phoenix.
“We found many very interesting documents, I must say, and the first releases will begin very, very soon,” the president said.
MAGA allies were quick to hail the release of files as a positive first step and quickly scrambled to dig into the documents, but Trump critics decried the file dump as a distraction.
“I’m so sick of the ‘look at the shiny object’ propaganda while they wage foreign wars, let rapist and pedophiles run free, and ruin the value of our dollar,’ posted former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on X. ”Unless they roll out live aliens and test demo UFOs or actually admit what we know this really is then I have way better things to do on this Friday."
