Federal UFO archive renews interest in Serpent Mound mysteries

A new federal release of UAP records has pushed Serpent Mound back into the center of Adams County conversation, not as proof of extraterrestrial life, but as a reminder of how much public attention still trails the landmark near Peebles. The National Archives said the collection is being assembled under the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and will continue growing on a rolling basis, with records drawn from federal agencies and pulled into the new archive for public disclosure.

The archive includes a broad mix of material, including pilot reports, military documents, photographs, radar information and witness accounts stretching back to the mid-20th century. That paperwork does not settle the mystery many people attach to southern Ohio, but it does give the discussion an official frame: transparency, documentation and access, rather than speculation.

In Adams County, that renewed interest inevitably circles back to Serpent Mound, the prehistoric earthwork that has drawn tourists, historians and researchers to the Adams-Highland-Pike tri-county area for generations. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the mound sits within the Serpent Mound impact structure, an eroded meteorite impact feature about 8 miles in diameter and one of only 28 confirmed impact craters in the United States. ODNR says the impact event occurred between 252 million and 330 million years ago.

Ohio History Connection describes Serpent Mound as the most widely recognized effigy mound in the world and says American Indian ancestors built it, not extraterrestrials. Earlier radiocarbon work dated charcoal from the site to about A.D. 1070, pointing to a Fort Ancient construction date, although other scholarship has continued to debate possible Adena connections. The site’s alignments with the summer solstice sunrise, equinox sunrise, winter solstice sunrise and major lunar standstills have also fueled decades of curiosity.

That scale is part of the attraction and part of the confusion. Ohio History Connection says visitors cannot see the entire mound from ground level, which is why the tower remains an essential overlook. The same setting that invites folklore also grounds the site in archaeology, engineering and Indigenous history.

Ohio History Connection is offering guided archaeology tours led by Bill Kennedy on the second and fourth Fridays of the month during the 2026 season. Tours begin at 1:30 p.m. at the visitor center, and parking is listed at $8 per vehicle. As federal UFO files continue to grow online, Serpent Mound remains Adams County’s clearest example of how official records, local history and enduring mystery can meet in one place.