USA08 May, 20263 min read
US Government Declassifies 162 UFO And UAP Documents, Including Apollo Astronaut Sightings
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162 declassified Pentagon documents, photos, and videos spanning 1942–2025. Astronaut and civilian sightings documented, including reports from NASA astronauts and Moon observations.
Pentagon unseals UAP files
The US government released more than 150 previously classified documents about UFOs and UAP, with 162 newly declassified documents, photos, and videos posted on the Department of Defense website and covering reports dating back as far as 1947. The Pentagon said the materials are “unresolved cases,” writing that “the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena,” and that this can occur due to “a lack of sufficient data.” The tranche includes reports from agencies across the government, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the FBI and NASA, and NASA offerings include images, audio files and transcripts of Apollo-era astronauts reporting anomalous sightings in space.
In the 1965 Gemini VII mission, astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell reported seeing a “bogey” and “hundreds of little particles going by,” while Borman said the object was not the recently detached rocket booster. The Pentagon also said it will release additional declassified UAP documents “on a rolling basis,” and the US Department of War described the effort as “unprecedented, historic undertaking” involving “dozens of agencies” and “tens of millions of records.”
Apollo transcripts and lawmakers
The released documents include Apollo-era transcripts and interviews, with Buzz Aldrin telling a 1969 interview published on Friday that he saw “what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.” Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean described particles and flashes of lights “sailing off in space” during the mission, and Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt said, “It's like the Fourth of July out there!” The BBC said the tranche was declassified and posted online on Friday at the direction of President Donald Trump, who had said earlier this year he would release them “based on the tremendous interest shown.”
ABC News reported that many alleged encounters were clustered near active military operations, and it said the Pentagon’s files describe most encounters as posing “no apparent threat,” with many ending after the craft “abruptly flew away.” Lawmakers framed the release as transparency, with Congressman Tim Burchett calling it a “great start” and Republican Anna Paulina Luna calling it “a massive first step in the right direction,” while former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “I'm so sick of the 'look at the shiny object' propaganda.”
Claims, cautions, and next tranches
Beyond Apollo transcripts, the files include witness accounts and older FBI summaries, including a 1966 memo that described “three and a half to four feet tall, wearing what appear to be space suits and helmets.” The Times of India said the memo described polished metal objects capable of hovering in total silence before accelerating at “fantastic speeds,” and it also referenced force fields that interfered with power sources and electromagnetic equipment. ABC News quoted Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of AARO, warning that “without any analysis or context, will only serve to fuel more speculation, conspiracy and arm-chair pseudoscience.”
The US Department of War said the archived materials are “unresolved cases” because the government is “unable to make a definitive determination,” and it said it “welcomes the application of private-sector analysis, information and expertise.” The Pentagon’s release plan and the Department of War’s “rolling basis” approach mean more tranches are expected “every few weeks,” while the Department of War said it will continue “separate reporting on resolved UAP cases, as mandated by statute.”