Pentagon Releases Declassified UFO Documents Detailing Hovering Objects and Light Phenomena

May 12, 2026

The Pentagon released 161 declassified UFO files on May 9, 2026, following a directive from President Donald Trump to disclose documents related to unidentified aerial phenomena and extraterrestrial life. The files, accessible on the Department of Defense website, span decades and include Apollo mission reports from astronauts like Buzz Aldrin and Alan Bean who observed unexplained lights and particles, a 1957 FBI interview about a circular hovering vehicle, and 2022 military video from the Middle East showing oval-shaped objects. Congressional reactions split between lawmakers like Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna praising the disclosure as progress, and Marjorie Taylor Greene dismissing it as distraction from pressing issues like affordability and the Iran war. The release follows Congress holding its first UFO hearings in 50 years in 2022.

Pentagon UFO document release

▪The 161 Pentagon UFO files are accessible on the Department of Defense's website, with more set to be released.
▪U.S. President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to release files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects.
▪The Pentagon released 161 declassified files on UFOs on May 9, 2026.
▪The Pentagon UFO files released on May 9, 2026 include decades of declassified military memos, reports from the Apollo Moon missions, and reports from individuals who claim to have witnessed UFOs.

Apollo mission light phenomena

▪Two astronauts aboard the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 reported seeing flashing light while on board.
▪Astronaut Frank Borman reported a sighting of an unidentified object and trillions of little particles to the left of the spaceship during the 1965 Gemini 7 space flight.
▪Apollo 17 astronauts said the flashing light they observed could have been reflections off pieces of ice.
▪Buzz Aldrin observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which Aldrin tentatively ascribed to a possible laser.
▪Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean saw particles and flashes of lights sailing off in space during the 1969 Moon mission that looked like they were escaping the Moon.

Civilian UAP sighting reports

▪A man told the FBI in a 1957 interview that he had witnessed a large, circular vehicle rising over the ground.
▪U.S. citizens reported hovering metal objects materializing out of bright light in interviews from September and October 2023.

Middle East military footage

▪The Pentagon UFO files include video clips taken by the U.S. military from Iraq, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates dating from 2022.
▪A 2022 video clip taken in an undisclosed location in the Middle East captures an oval-shaped object streaking left to right, which an accompanying report flagged as a possible missile.

Congressional transparency response

▪Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna called the Pentagon UFO disclosure a massive first step in the right direction.
▪Former President Barack Obama said in a February 2026 interview that aliens were real, but he had not seen them.
▪Congress held the first hearings on UFOs in 50 years in 2022.
▪Congressman Tim Burchett called the Pentagon's release of UFO files a great start.
▪Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said the Pentagon UFO release was a distraction from more pressing issues facing Americans, such as price affordability and the war in Iran.
▪Barack Obama clarified his February 2026 comments by saying that statistically the chances are that life is out there but that he saw no evidence while president.

Perspective of Congressional UFO disclosure supporters (Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna)

▪Congressman Tim Burchett and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna characterized the Pentagon's May 2026 UFO file release as meaningful progress toward government transparency on aerial phenomena.