Pentagon releases never-before-seen UFO files, hundreds of cases unresolved

The Pentagon has started posting a trove of declassified UFO, now UAP, files that stretches from the late 1940s to eyewitness accounts from 2025, but the documents stop short of proving anything extraordinary. The first release includes more than 160 files and more than 400 incidents, with videos, photos and government source material now being added on a rolling basis.

The new archive is meant to separate confirmed evidence from unresolved sightings and public speculation. Pentagon officials say the materials are unresolved cases, meaning investigators could not make a definitive determination about what was seen. The government also says the files do not show evidence that humans have encountered beings from other planets or that such beings have visited Earth. The records are being posted on a dedicated site as part of President Donald Trump’s February 2026 directive to identify, review, declassify and release records tied to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena and unidentified flying objects.

The material includes incidents drawn from across the U.S. government, including Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17. One 2023 case from the western United States includes federal law enforcement reports of strange orbs, with one officer describing “orbs launching other orbs.” The Pentagon’s release also reflects the kinds of locations and witnesses that have long driven UAP reporting: ABC News reported that many sightings were clustered near active military operations, especially in Cold War-era hotspots such as Germany and the Soviet Union, and that recent reports have focused on the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq and Syria. Military pilots made up the largest share of reports.

The release lands after years of formal Pentagon attention to the topic. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, created in 2022, serves as the Defense Department’s focal point for UAP cases. Its historical record traces earlier federal efforts back to Project SAUCER, Project SIGN, Project GRUDGE, Project TWINKLE and Project BLUE BOOK, showing that Friday’s archive is the latest chapter in a long-running government effort to sort the unexplained from the ordinary. In its Fiscal Year 2024 consolidated report, AARO said it received 757 UAP reports and resolved 49 cases to prosaic objects such as balloons, birds and drones. It also said it had no data indicating capture or exploitation of UAP.

For now, the files offer transparency more than answers. The archive gives the public a look at decades of unresolved sightings, while the Pentagon continues to treat many cases as open questions rather than evidence of visitors from another world.