By Andrew Hay, Reuters
(File photo)
Photo: 123RF
Files include Apollo mission photos and transcripts of unidentified phenomena
Move praised by UFO disclosure advocates, more releases expected in 30 days
Critics, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, call the release a distraction from Trump’s woes
At the order of US President Donald Trump, the Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified files on alleged UFO sightings to provide what it called “unprecedented transparency” to the American people, although analysts said many of the documents had already been made public.
The disclosure of documents, photos and videos of “unidentified anomalous phenomena” will be followed by future releases, as more materials are declassified, the Defense Department said.
Trump was the latest president to release US government reports on UFOs, a disclosure process that began in the late 1970s.
Experts said the batch of about 160 files released on Friday contained new videos of known sightings, but gave no conclusive evidence of alien technology or extraterrestrial life.
The files include a 1947 report of “flying discs”, as well as grainy photos of “unidentified phenomena” taken from the moon’s surface by the 1969 Apollo 12 lunar mission and a transcript of the Apollo 17 crew describing unidentified objects seen from the moon in 1972.
‘Bright particles’ during Apollo 17
Apollo 17 mission pilot Ronald Evans reported “a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver”, based on the transcript.
“Roger, understand,” mission control replied.
“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fuelled justified speculation – and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Hegseth said.
The records release is likely to fuel fresh debate over government secrecy and the possible existence of life in the cosmos.
“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Trump said. “Have fun and enjoy!”
The move was welcomed by US Representatives Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, both proponents of declassifying UFO files. Luna said an additional tranche of material was expected in about 30 days.
“The files show that UAP are not simply a matter of speculation or public curiosity,” Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb said to Reuters. “The government has collected records.”
The images from Apollo 12 and 17 were fascinating, but could be the result of asteroid impacts on the lunar surface, Loeb said.
Distraction from political problems?
Some critics cast the UFO disclosures as a distraction from Trump’s political woes, including the unpopular US military campaign against Iran and public pressure to release further files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I really don’t care about the UFO files,” former Republican US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X. “I just don’t.
“I’m so sick of the ‘look at the shiny object’ propaganda,”
UAP investigator Mick West said the administration of former President Joe Biden disclosed much of the same information as Friday’s release.
“They’re evidence of us not being able to identify a small white dot that’s a long distance away,” the Sacramento, California-based analyst said of the new UAP videos and images.
Independent journalist Leslie Kean said the release showed there was still a lot of government information on UAP that should be disclosed.
Kean co-authored a 2017 New York Times story on a secret Pentagon UAP program, which prompted Congress to push for the declassification of UFO documents.
“I think we’ve already proven the existence of UAP, but that doesn’t mean we’ve proven they’re alien or extraterrestrial, or that we know what they are,” said Kean.
– Reuters