In a long-awaited move that has reignited global public curiosity about potential extraterrestrial life, the U.S. Pentagon released its first collection of once-classified documents detailing hundreds of reported unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings on Friday. The batch of files, which draws records from multiple U.S. agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, NASA and the Defense Department itself, includes decades-old reports of flying saucers, mysterious airborne discs, and even a recent glowing orb encounter compared to the iconic ‘Eye of Sauron’ from *The Lord of the Rings*.
Public and official attention toward Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP, the Pentagon’s official term for UFOs) has surged in recent years. Beyond public fascination, U.S. defense officials have raised serious national security concerns, noting that many unexplained aerial sightings could stem from advanced secret military technologies being tested by U.S. geopolitical adversaries.
In an official statement announcing the release, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized the urgency of transparency, noting that decades of classification had fueled widespread public speculation that the public deserved to evaluate firsthand. ‘These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,’ Hegseth said.
In total, more than 160 declassified files were made accessible to the public via the Defense Department’s official website. The records stretch back nearly 80 years: one of the oldest entries, dated December 1947, compiles multiple independent reports of ‘flying discs’ documented by U.S. military officials. A 1948 top-secret U.S. Air Force intelligence report echoed persistent official concern over the recurring sightings, noting that the consistent reports from credible observers kept the issue a top priority for Air Material Command headquarters.
Alongside the mid-20th century documents, the release also includes recently compiled reports from 2023. One file summarizes seven separate accounts from federal government employees of unexplained anomalous phenomena across U.S. airspace. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the body tasked with investigating UAP encounters, labeled this collection of accounts ‘among the most compelling’ in its entire active database, citing the professional credibility of the witnesses and the unusual nature of the events they described.
One of the most striking 2023 accounts comes from three independent teams of federal law enforcement special agents, all of whom separately reported seeing large orange orbs in the sky that launched or emitted smaller, red glowing orbs. In a separate incident, two federal special agents encountered a glowing orange object perched on the edge of a rock pinnacle. The witnesses drew a sketch of the object, and described it as nearly identical to the Eye of Sauron from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy franchise, minus the iconic central pupil.
The release of the files follows an executive order from President Donald Trump issued in February 2025, which directed all U.S. federal agencies to begin the process of identifying and declassifying all government-held records related to UFOs and potential extraterrestrial activity. Trump justified the order by pointing to overwhelming public interest in the topic.
When announcing the order, Trump drew controversy by accusing his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, of improperly disclosing classified information during a viral podcast appearance. In that podcast, Obama had addressed widespread rumors surrounding Area 51, the highly secretive Nevada military facility at the center of decades of UFO conspiracy theories. Obama stated: ‘They’re real, but I haven’t seen them and they’re not being kept in… Area 51.’
Trump responded to the remarks at the time by claiming Obama had leaked information he was not authorized to share, while adding that he remained uncertain about the existence of extraterrestrial life: ‘I don’t know if they are real or not.’
To date, no conclusive empirical evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life visiting Earth has been presented by the U.S. government. In a March 2024 report, the Pentagon confirmed that it has found no conclusive evidence linking reported UAP sightings to alien technology. The report noted that the vast majority of unexplained encounters ultimately are identified as ordinary objects and activity, including weather balloons, reconnaissance aircraft, orbiting satellites, and natural atmospheric phenomena.