Pentagon Releases Files on U.F.O.s

The initial files are murky images that show what could be anything. The government said more would be released on a rolling basis.

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The Pentagon released this image of unidentified objects that were reportedly seen in December 2025 over the western United States.Credit...The Pentagon

Helene Cooper

By Helene Cooper

Reporting from Washington

May 8, 2026, 9:55 a.m. ET

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The Pentagon released what it called “new, never-before-seen” files on U.F.O.s on Friday, hailing the step as an example of the commitment of the department, which kicked out reporters earlier this year, to transparency.

“No other president or administration in history has followed through on this level of U.A.P. transparency,” the Pentagon said in a news release, referring to what the Defense Department now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena but what most people call U.F.O.s, or unidentified flying objects.

The collection is being “housed,” the release said, at war.gov/ufo. Files will be released on a rolling basis.

The initial files are murky still images that show what could be anything. In one, a cluster of dots appear on the screen. In another, there are some strangely shaped objects.

In 2017 The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had a secret and classified program, which began in 2007, that investigated episodes brought to it by service members who had reported encounters with what appeared to be space objects. Since then, there has been a push from lawmakers for the government to declassify its work on U.F.O.s.

Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent for The Times. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent.

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