Pentagon releases 160 secret UFO files spanning nearly 8 decades

The Pentagon on Friday released more than 160 classified files documenting reported UFO sightings spanning from 1947 to 2023, fulfilling a directive from President Donald Trump that ordered federal agencies to disclose government records on unidentified aerial phenomena.

The release, reported by The Korea Times, is the first batch of a broader declassification effort and comes as U.S. officials express concern that some sightings may involve advanced technologies tested by adversary nations — a question the government says it still cannot answer.

The files — drawn from FBI archives, State Department records, NASA documents and Pentagon holdings — were posted to the Defense Department's official website and include firsthand accounts from federal employees, law enforcement agents and other qualified observers describing flying discs, flying saucers and glowing orange orbs, The Korea Times reported.

Among the more striking disclosures was a 2023 summary covering incidents reported by seven federal government employees. Three separate teams of federal law enforcement independently reported witnessing orange orbs that appeared to release smaller red orbs. Two special agents described a glowing orange orb they likened to the Eye of Sauron from the "Lord of the Rings" franchise. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, said in the file: "The reporters' credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves — combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings."

Trump directed federal agencies in February 2026 to surface and release all government UFO and alien-related documents, citing what he called "tremendous interest shown." He accompanied the release with a social media post: "Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?'"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a statement declaring that "these files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it's time the American people see it for themselves."

The U.S. government officially designates reported UFO sightings as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs. A Pentagon review completed in March 2024 found no evidence that any UAPs represented alien technology, with many incidents attributed to weather balloons, reconnaissance aircraft and satellites. Former President Barack Obama acknowledged the files' existence in podcast remarks to host Brian Tyler Cohen, saying: "They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in... Area 51," according to The Korea Times.

The Pentagon has not announced a timeline for further releases, but the initial disclosure has reignited a decades-old debate over what, if anything, the U.S. government knows about phenomena it has yet to explain.