The Pentagon on May 8 released what it says are “never-before-seen files” on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) after U.S. President Donald Trump directed the agency to do so earlier this year.

The batch of files outlines various investigations of reported sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena that span decades.

The U.S. 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.”

The Pentagon said some of the materials were previously released by the FBI, but the versions made public May 8 had fewer redactions. This was the case with a large FBI file containing hundreds of pages describing “eyewitness testimonies and public reports” about UFOs between 1947 and 1968.

Other files made public contained much more recent observances.

The files include internal military memos describing “one possible small unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)” in Iraq in 2022, as well as “multiple glares or light from an unknown origin” observed in Syria in 2024. U.S. troops were stationed in Iraq and Syria during that time as part of ongoing operations against ISIS.

There are also recent reports from U.S. troops in the United Arab Emirates and Greece.

The files also include reports from astronauts aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 to more recent reports from various law enforcement or government officials.

During the Apollo 12 mission, the second crewed moon landing, one of the astronauts, Alan L. Bean, reported to mission control seeing “flashes of light” that are just “sailing off in space.”

“It looks like some of those things are escaping the moon,” the astronaut says. “They really haul out of here and just press off at the stars.”

Three years later, during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, two astronauts reported seeing “very bright” particles of light.

“It’s like the Fourth of July out there!” one of them, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, said.

The astronauts theorized the lights might have come from chunks of ice.

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, UAP, and UFOs.”

五角大楼于5月8日公布了一批其称为“从未公开”的不明飞行物（UFO）文件。这批文件是应美国总统特朗普今年早些时候的指示而发布的。

这批文件概述了数十年来针对“不明空中现象”（UAP）目击报告的多项调查。美国国防部表示，将“随着更多材料被发现和解密，以滚动方式发布新资料，每几周公布一批”。

五角大楼称，部分材料此前已由联邦调查局（FBI）公开，但5月8日公布的版本删减内容更少。例如，一份FBI的大型文件包含数百页内容，详细描述了1947年至1968年间关于UFO的“目击证词和公众报告”。

其他公布的文件则包含了更为近期的观测记录。其中包括2022年在伊拉克境内发现的“一个可能的小型UAP”的内部军事备忘录，以及2024年在叙利亚观测到的“多处来源不明的亮光或光线”。当时美军正驻守在伊拉克和叙利亚，参与打击“伊斯兰国”的持续行动。此外，还有来自美军在阿联酋和希腊的最新报告。

这些文件还涵盖了从1969年阿波罗12号任务的宇航员，到近期各类执法或政府官员提交的报告。在阿波罗12号任务 —— 第二次载人登月任务期间，宇航员艾伦·宾向任务控制中心报告称，他看到“闪光”正“飘向太空”。

“那些东西看起来像是在逃离月球，”这名宇航员说道，“它们真的冲出这里，直奔星辰而去。”

三年后的1972年，在阿波罗17号任务中，两名宇航员报告看到了“非常明亮的”光粒子。“外面简直就像独立日的烟花！”其中一位宇航员 哈里森·施密特这样说道。宇航员们推测，这些光可能来自冰屑。

今年2月，前总统奥巴马在一档播客中称外星人“真实存在，但我没见过”，这再次引发了公众对外星生命的兴趣与猜测。他后来澄清了自己的言论，表示：“我在总统任期内没有发现任何外星人与我们接触的证据。”

随后不久，特朗普在Truth Social上发文，指示五角大楼及相关机构“启动识别并公开有关外星生命、不明空中现象和不明飞行物的政府文件”。

(Translated by DeepSeek)