The US Department of Defense has published 161 declassified files, with more expected.
US President Donald Trump said his administration has released government files on UFOs and extraterrestrial life, calling it a step towards transparency.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the documents were being made public for review.
“In an effort for complete and maximum transparency… the people can decide for themselves, ‘what the hell is going on?’” he wrote.
He said previous administrations had not been open on the issue and described the release as part of his promise to share information on unidentified aerial phenomena.
PENTAGON RELEASES DECADES OF RECORDS
The US Department of Defense has published 161 declassified files, with more expected.
The documents include military reports, astronaut accounts and civilian sightings collected over several decades.
The files are available on the Pentagon’s website for public access.
ASTRONAUTS REPORTED LIGHTS IN SPACE
The BBC reported that transcripts from Apollo missions describe astronauts seeing unusual lights.
Buzz Aldrin said during the 1969 mission he observed “a fairly bright light source”.
Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean reported seeing particles and flashes of light moving in space.
During Apollo 17, astronaut Jack Schmitt said, “It’s like the Fourth of July out there,” as flashing lights were seen. Reports suggested these could have been reflections.
CIVILIAN AND MILITARY SIGHTINGS INCLUDED
The files also contain reports from civilians describing unidentified objects.
One account from 1957 cited a large circular object rising from the ground. More recent reports from 2023 mention metal objects appearing from bright light.
The BBC said videos from US military operations in places including Iraq, Syria and the United Arab Emirates show objects described as “unresolved unidentified anomalous phenomenon”.
Some US lawmakers welcomed the release. Republican Congressman Tim Burchett called it a “great start”, while Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna described it as “a massive first step”, according to the BBC.
Others were critical. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said the release distracted from other issues.
The US government has faced growing pressure in recent years to share more information on UFO sightings, with Congress holding hearings on the subject.
