Pentagon releases 162 declassified UFO files, spanning decades of sightings

The Pentagon released 162 declassified files on unidentified aerial phenomena, pulling material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, NASA and the State Department into a public archive meant to show more than rumor. The documents include eyewitness accounts, photographs and reports of sightings stretching back decades and covering cases from the United States to locations around the globe.

The release was presented through the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the unit that leads the U.S. government’s effort on unidentified anomalous phenomena with a scientific, data-driven framework. That framing matters because the files do not settle the biggest question surrounding UFO claims. They add records, not conclusions, and the evidence inside them will be read very differently by people looking for proof of extraterrestrial life and by analysts looking for incomplete, unexplained incidents.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, has been among the experts weighing in on the new material. His reaction reflects the central tension in the debate: government files can document that something was seen, reported or photographed, but that is not the same as proving a craft came from beyond Earth. The release gives investigators more data points, yet the leap from anomaly to alien technology remains unsupported by the records themselves.

The latest disclosure also fits into a broader transparency effort that has been building for years. AARO has said it publishes declassified UAP information when possible, and the National Archives and Records Administration has also released UAP-related records transferred from multiple agencies, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Together, those streams have made the government’s paper trail on unexplained sightings more visible, even as the substantive mystery remains.

The push has taken on fresh political weight after President Donald Trump on February 20, 2026 directed the administration to begin identifying and releasing files related to UFOs and any alien and extraterrestrial life. At the same time, AARO’s public guidance continues to stress reporting discipline: military and Department of Defense civilian personnel must report UAP through their command or service, while civilian pilots are encouraged to report sightings to air traffic control.

AARO’s Fiscal Year 2024 consolidated annual report underscores how much data is still flowing in. The office said it received 757 UAP reports between May 1, 2023 and June 1, 2024, including 485 incidents that occurred during that reporting period. The new files expand the archive, but they also reinforce the same conclusion the Pentagon has been trying to manage from the start: disclosure can widen the record without resolving what, exactly, is flying.