Pentagon begins release of declassified Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena videos, photographs
Washington: The Pentagon began releasing what it described as “never-before-seen files” regarding reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs); These include videos and photographs of the phenomena taken from US military posts around the world.
Most of the images released on Friday (US time) consist of dark black-and-white photos or video clips in which the flying object is indistinct and resembles only a dot or black circle.
But others show a more defined object. In a short clip taken from a US military infrared sensor in the East China Sea in 2024, a “football-shaped object” is claimed to be in motion.
Another photograph, obtained from a censor in the Middle East in 2013, allegedly depicted “an area of contrast resembling an eight-pointed star with arms of varying length.”
A note accompanying each clip declares that the description provided is “for informational purposes only” and that readers should not interpret it as an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination.
Several images turned out to be related to the same alleged landscape. The trove also includes declassified witness reports of object sightings dating back to the 1940s.
A recent report detailed an incident in which three separate teams of federal special agents allegedly witnessed Orange “spheres” emitting or shooting smaller red “spheres” across the sky in groups of two to four, then disappearing.
These events were allegedly witnessed by multiple teams at various vantage points in the western United States over two days in 2023.
Another showed a field photo with a rendered graphic overlay that the Pentagon said depicted “corroborating eyewitness reports in September 2023 of an ellipsoid bronze metallic object emerging from a bright light in the sky” that disappeared “instantly.”
The Pentagon, which imposed terms on journalists last year that the court deemed unconstitutional, said the release of the files was part of the Trump administration’s commitment to “unprecedented transparency” regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, the modern term for UFOs.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth said keeping the records secret had long fueled “justified speculation” in the public and that it was now time for the American people to see the material with their own eyes.
Additional files will be released on an ongoing basis “as they are discovered and declassified,” with new tranches expected every few weeks, the Pentagon said.
US President Donald Trump urged people to draw their own conclusions about what they might see in the files.
“In an effort for Complete and Maximum Transparency, it was my honor to direct my Administration to identify and provide Government files on Aliens and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“While previous Administrations failed to be transparent on this issue, with these new Documents and Videos the public is wondering ‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’ He can make his own decision. Have Fun and Enjoy!”
Some of the files contained military videos from the last few years showing small indistinct dots moving across the landscapes of Iraq, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. White objects sometimes streaked across the screen in less than a second, while others slowly floated or were followed by the camera.
Other documents included written reports from U.S. military members monitoring sites in the Middle East. A “bouncing ball-shaped” object traveled continuously at 777 kilometers per hour for at least seven minutes over Syria in 2023, a report said. The object was later determined to be benign.
The Trump administration had previously released classified documents related to the assassinations of former president John F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, but they revealed little information that was not yet known.
with AP
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
