Pentagon Releases Declassified Documents on UFO Sightings, Mostly Showing No Extraterrestrial Evidence

U.S. Department of Defense released a trove of files on UFOs including images, government documents and correspondence, some of which were classified until now. The Pentagon also released a batch of previously classified imagery categorized as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, including some material dating back to the 1940s.

The files include hundreds of pages relating to UFOs, also called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), from the FBI, Air Force and various other government departments. The released images are mostly photographs taken by members of the US military showing small dots or indistinct shapes in the sky. An infrared still image captured an unidentified object over the western US in December 2025.

Many of the released pages are correspondence between the government and concerned members of the public. Letters from UFO enthusiasts from the 1940s to the present were released. Some released documents are pamphlets from special-interest groups such as the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America or the Fraternity of Cosmic Sons and Daughters.

Some released documents are requests from children to the head of the FBI for help with school projects, many addressed to J. Edgar Hoover. J. Edgar Hoover served as head of the FBI from 1935 to 1972.

The released internal government communications show that many thousands of reports of UFO sightings have been taken seriously and investigated. The released documents show there has been no indication that any UFO sightings have been extraterrestrial. This mirrors findings from NASA’s task force on UAPs released in 2023.

The 2023 NASA UAP task force found that normal aircraft and weather phenomena account for most reports, with only a few cases remaining unexplained due to blurry images and low-quality data. The released documents include images and transcripts from NASA’s Gemini 7, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 missions referencing bright lights seen in space.

Archival imagery from the Apollo 17 mission to the moon showed three lights visible above the lunar terrain.

Most NASA mission sightings in the released documents have been explained as micrometeoroid impacts, floating debris, or camera/film defects. The DoD has opened a new investigation into the NASA mission images that remain unexplained. The administration of President Donald Trump directed the DoD to conduct separate reporting on any unresolved UAP cases.

The released files are the first of many rolling document drops expected every few weeks. According to the government website where the files are displayed, more will be released on a rolling basis as additional files are found and declassified. The initial files are murky images that show what could be anything, the government said.

The responses to public letters and the internal communications that have been released demonstrate that reports were taken seriously even as no extraterrestrial conclusions were reached.