The Pentagon just started releasing UFO files, but skeptics say they’re not impressed

May 8, 2026

2 min read

Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm

The Pentagon just started releasing UFO files, but skeptics say they’re not impressed

The Pentagon’s first UFO file release includes photographs, videos and documents gathered as part of an effort that spans several governmental offices and agencies, including the FBI, the White House and NASA

By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron

Public Domain

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

Sign Up for Our Free Daily NewsletterEnter your email

I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Scientific American and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy. We leverage third party services to both verify and deliver email. By providing your email address, you also consent to having the email address shared with third parties for those purposes.

Sign Up

The Pentagon is starting to release files related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), or unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The government said the effort is aimed at increasing transparency, but experts tell Scientific American that the files are “nothing unexpected.”

The collection is being created as part of an interagency effort that includes the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, NASA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the White House, as well as the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies. It includes photographs, videos and documents gathered from across federal agencies. Some of the photographs are similar to previously released images that show blurry dots seen from U.S. military aircraft, while others, taken by Apollo astronauts, show unidentified spots above the moon’s surface.

The release comes after President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon and other federal agencies to identify and publish governmental files related to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects” via a social media post in February. Previously, in 2021, the Pentagon published a report investigating UAP that found no evidence linking such phenomena to aliens or extraterrestrial activity.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation—and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a statement posted to social media on Friday. “This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.”

Physicist and former director of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office Sean Kirkpatrick says the files are likely to fuel speculation rather than quell it.

“There’s nothing unexpected in their release. And without any analysis or context, [it] will only serve to fuel more speculation, conspiracy and armchair pseudoscience, particularly from the playhouse politics theater company,” he says.

Independent researcher and UAP skeptic Mick West says that while the release includes new videos and pilot reports, there is “nothing really interesting” to be found so far. “More dots, more parallax,” he says.

Others were more heartened by the documents, as the Disclosure Foundation, which is dedicated to pushing government for more transparency on UAP's, called the release a "meaningful step towards transparency."

Some of the files include debriefs with Apollo-era astronauts. In one of these documents, Buzz Aldrin recounts seeing what might have been a piece of a Saturn V launch vehicle, the NASA rocket that helped loft the Apollo missions into space.

NASA’s current administrator Jared Isaacman praised the release. “At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn,” he said in the same social media statement. “We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered.”

NASA has conducted its own research into UAP for decades. And in 2023 the agency released an independent scientific report that found no evidence that any UAP sightings or other reports were in any way connected to extraterrestrial activity.

Editor’s Note (5/8/26): This is a developing story and may be updated.

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 1