Trump Administration Releases Government Files Related to Alien and UAP Investigations
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The release comes after President Donald Trump has previously signaled that he had tasked Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and other government officials to make public "government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."
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Washington ExaminerThe documents will be available on https://www.war.gov/UFO/. “The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement. “These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.” This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
BBC NewsThe files that came out Friday include decades of declassified military memos, reports from the Apollo Moon missions, and reports from individuals who claim to have witnessed a UFO - or an unidentified flying object - that they suspect has extraterrestrial origins.
Washington TimesSeveral agencies were involved in the process, including the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA and the FBI. The collection will be available for public examination at War.GOV/UFO. Additional files will be released by the Defense Department on a rolling basis, officials said.
New York PostThe Pentagon’s release of UFO files showed for the first time unexplained visual phenomena from the Apollo missions to the moon and in footage above the Middle East, but an administration official told The Post that “even cooler information” is coming in future tranches.
The HillPentagon releases new batch of UFO files The Pentagon on Friday released a new tranche of files focused on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), or UFOs, as part of the Trump administration’s vow to be transparent on the issue. President Trump ordered the Defense Department to identify and release documents given the public’s interest in UFOs and on extraterrestrial life. “The American people…
Associated PressThe Pentagon has begun releasing new files on UFOs, saying members of the public can draw their own conclusions on “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
The Daily WireOver 160 files can be viewed at a new webpage from the Department of War. The files include photos, FBI investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning UFOs. One image was captured during the Apollo 17 moon landing and shows three shining dots in space.
HuffPostWASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has begun releasing new files on UFOs, saying members of the public can draw their own conclusions on “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
Breitbart“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote.
Fox NewsThe Trump administration's file dump, available on the newly created website war.gov/UFO, contains records related to UAP, including inexplicable lights and phenomena captured during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 and Apollo 17 in 1972.
The Guardian USThe release follows a directive from Donald Trump in February for federal agencies to begin identifying, declassifying and releasing government files related to unidentified flying objects, now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), and the possibility of alien life beyond Earth.
NBC NewsThe Pentagon on Friday began releasing “never-before-seen” files relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena — previously and more infamously known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs — that the government has been holding onto for decades –
New York TimesU.F.O. Files Released by U.S. Shed Light on What the Government Knows The Pentagon on Friday released online what it called “new, never-before-seen” files, dating back decades, related to unidentified flying objects.
PBS NewsHourPentagon begins releasing new files on UFOs and says people can 'make up their own minds' A 2024 congressional report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology.
NPR NewsCold War reports of mysterious rotating saucers; recent sightings of metallic elliptical objects floating in mid-air. Those and other reports of unidentifiable anomalous phenomena or UAPs — the military's term for UFOs — are described in a trove of documents released by the Department of Defense on Friday.
ReutersTrump releases previously classified UFO files - Reuters Trump releases previously classified UFO files Reuters
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But not everyone is convinced by the government’s promise of “maximum transparency,” including long-time UFO expert Dennis Anderson, who has been investigating mysterious flying objects for over six decades.
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Fox News"For decades, UFO disclosure has been a distant object — unidentified and unexplained," he said. "That’s starting to change. I’ll keep pushing until we land on the truth."
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Republican Anna Paulina Luna, a Congresswoman from Florida, also advocates for transparency on this issue. In a statement, she called the disclosure "a massive first step in the right direction."
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Fox News"This is a massive first step in the right direction," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has long pushed for the file release, said Friday.
New York PostThanks for signing up! Fellow disclosure Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) also ripped Kirkpatrick following Friday’s release.
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Former Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of Trump’s staunchest defenders before the administration’s handling of inflation and the Epstein files earned her the president’s ire last year and an early retirement.
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BBC NewsHowever, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who has fallen out with the president and left Congress, said the release was a distraction from more pressing issues facing Americans, such as price affordability and the war in Iran.
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“He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump said of Obama. “I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that — he made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.”
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Fox News"He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that," Trump said of Obama. "I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that – he made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information."
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“No other president or administration in history has followed through on this level of UAP transparency,” Pentagon officials said.
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A small group of Republicans in Congress has pressed for further transparency, accusing the Pentagon of holding documents back. A March letter from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna demanded 46 UAP videos identified by whistleblowers. On social media on Friday, Luna said those videos are expected to be released in a later Pentagon release.
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HuffPostA small group of Republicans in Congress has pressed for further transparency, accusing the Pentagon of holding documents back. A March letter from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna demanded 46 UAP videos identified by whistleblowers. On social media on Friday, Luna said those videos are expected to be released in a later Pentagon release.
Associated PressA small group of Republicans in Congress has pressed for further transparency, accusing the Pentagon of holding documents back. A March letter from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna demanded 46 UAP videos identified by whistleblowers. On social media on Friday, Luna said those videos are expected to be released in a later Pentagon release.
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Rep. Tim Burchett thanked Trump for “keeping his word” on transparency and disclosure.”
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HuffPostRep. Tim Burchett thanked Trump for “keeping his word” on transparency and disclosure.”
Associated PressRep. Tim Burchett thanked Trump for “keeping his word” on transparency and disclosure.”
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“I would like to remind people that transparency won’t all happen at once, it will take some time,” Burchett said in a statement.
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HuffPost“I would like to remind people that transparency won’t all happen at once, it will take some time,” Burchett said in a statement.
Associated Press“I would like to remind people that transparency won’t all happen at once, it will take some time,” Burchett said in a statement.
13 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 New York Post “The government will never disclose that we are dealing with an unknown phenomenon that we can not control or defend ourselves against,” Anderson exclusively told The Post.
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02 Washington Examiner One former senior Trump White House official, who generally backs Trump but disapproves of the war in Iran, told the Washington Examiner that Friday’s timing is just “smoke and mirrors.”
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03 PBS NewsHour News Wrap: Pentagon releases 'never-before-seen' UFO files on its website In our news wrap Friday, the Pentagon began releasing new files on UFOs, health authorities in the Canary Islands are preparing for the arrival of the cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak, a jury convicted four men of conspiracy in the assassination of Haiti's president in 2021, ABC accused the FCC of violating its First Amendment rights, and Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday.
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04 BBC News Obama has since clarified his comments, saying that statistically the chances are that life is out there but he saw "no evidence" while president.
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05 NPR News The report goes on to say that U.S. officers consulted their peers in Sweden's intelligence service about the objects, and they were told, "these phenomena are obviously the result of a high technical skill which cannot be credited to any presently known culture on earth."
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06 Breitbart Various news outlets, social media, and podcasters like Benny Johnson have spent Friday perusing and reporting on the most perplexing files of the released material.
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07 Fox News Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the leader of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, cheered the release of dozens of never-before-seen images and videos, stating, "Transparency is the only path to truth."
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08 Associated Press More than 60 people have been killed since September when the U.S. military began attacking boats that the Trump administration alleges were smuggling drugs. The Associated Press interviewed dozens of residents in the Paria Peninsula, in Venezuela’s breathtaking northeastern coast from which some of the targeted boats departed. (AP Video: Juan Arraez; Illustration by Peter Hamlin)
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09 USA Today Witnesses often had military training and FBI agents described them as responsible members of their communities from Hackensack, New Jersey, to Myrtle Creek, Oregon.
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10 The Guardian US The object was visible for only seconds, then disappeared quickly behind a cloud and was not seen again, the crew members said.
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11 NBC News But there’s a caveat. “While all of the files have been reviewed for security purposes, many of the materials have not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies,” the press release said.
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12 HuffPost President Donald Trump’s description of retaliatory U.S. strikes on Iran drew fierce reactions on social media Thursday.
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13 The Daily Wire “I’ve seen pictures and video of things that defy any reason that we have, and everybody says, ‘Well, it’s our stuff, it’s the Russians, it’s the Chinese,’” he said. “If it’s the Chinese, ma’am, they would own us. If it was the Russians, they wouldn’t be bogged down in Ukraine.”
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