Pentagon releases ‘never-before-seen’ files detailing UFOs

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — The Pentagon on Friday released what it says are “never-before-seen files” on UFOs after President Donald Trump directed the agency to do so earlier this year.

“The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly,” the department wrote on X, referring to unidentified anomalous phenomena, the modern term for UFOs. “The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place – no clearance required.”

The Defense Department said it will be “releasing new materials on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified, with tranches posted every few weeks.”

Interest and speculation about extraterrestrials reignited in February after former President Barack Obama said in a podcast that aliens are “real but I haven’t seen them.” He later clarified his comments, saying, “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”

Trump, shortly after, in a Truth Social post, directed the Pentagon and other relevant 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).”

On Friday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman applauded Trump for the “effort to bring greater transparency to the American people on unidentified anomalous phenomena.”

“We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered,” Isaacman said in a post on X. “Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge are core to NASA’s mission as we endeavor to unlock the secrets of the universe.”

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CNN’s Danya Gainor and Lianne Kolirin contributed to this report.