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 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.
President Trump on social media framed the release as fulfilling a promise to the public: “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?””
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.
