UFO files released, with no green men but lots of new hints
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The Department of Defense began the initial release of government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), colloquially known as UFOs, Friday.
The big picture: While there are no clear photos of little green men or flying saucers, the release fulfills an order from President Trump to release government documents related to aliens and UFOs, feeding Americans' fascination with conspiracies.
Driving the news: The initial collection is housed on a government site that looked more Men-in-Black than Pentagon, topped with scrolling photographs of black-and-white anomalies.
- Below, a tranche of documents from the DoD, State Department, NASA and FBI are available for download. One such file includes accounts from federal employees who observed orbs in the dusk sky on two separate days in the Western U.S.
- The release also features images capturing anomalies from the Apollo 17 and Apollo 12 moon missions.
What they're saying: "These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.
Flashback: Demands for UFO transparency have grown, recently fueled by stunning 2023 congressional testimony from a lineup of military witnesses.
- Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reacted to the impending release in a Wednesday New York Times essay, saying it's "a good thing," though he added in a pointed aside that "it feels like a distraction from other important files we've all been waiting to be disclosed."
- But he said he expected the files to "be anticlimactic."
Reality check: All of the files have been reviewed for security purposes, the DoD said, but added that "many of the materials have not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies."
Go deeper: What the U.S. government has already revealed about UFOs
