WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Friday released a first batch of secret files documenting reported sightings of unidentified flying objects – some dating back to the 1940s – fanning speculation over whether extraterrestrial life exists.

Reports of flying saucers and discs, and a sighting of an orb that resembled the "Eye of Sauron" are among the incidents in the files, which are from the FBI, State Department and NASA in addition to the Pentagon.

Interest in UFOs has been renewed in recent years as the US government investigated numerous reports of seemingly supernatural aircraft, amid worries that adversaries could be testing highly advanced technologies.

"These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation – and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

More than 160 files were released Friday on the website of the Defense Department, which officially refers to UFOs as "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," or UAPs.

One file – from December 1947 – contains a series of reports on "flying discs."

"Continued and recent reports from qualified observers concerning this phenomenon still makes this matter one of concern to Headquarters, Air Material Command," a document in the file said.

An Air Force intelligence report – marked "top secret" – from November of the following year features information on reported sightings of "unidentified aircraft" and "flying saucers."

"For some time, we have been concerned by the recurring reports on flying saucers," a document in that file said.

Another file summarizes statements from seven federal government employees who separately reported "several unidentified anomalous phenomena" in the United States in 2023.

'Most compelling'
"The reporters' credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves – combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings," a description of the file said, referring to the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

In one of the incidents, three teams of federal law enforcement special agents independently described "seeing orange 'orbs' in the sky emit/launch smaller red 'orbs.'"

In another, two federal special agents witnessed "a glowing orange orb... perched close to a rock pinnacle." That account included an artist rendering of a red-orange circle with a streak of yellow in its lower third.

The object was described as looking "similar to the Eye (of) Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without the pupil."

President Donald Trump directed US federal agencies in February to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs and aliens, saying the move was "based on the tremendous interest shown."

The Republican president also claimed the same day he issued the release order that one of his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama, had revealed "classified" information in viral podcast remarks about the existence of extraterrestrial life.

"They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in... Area 51," Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the top-secret US military facility in Nevada at the heart of many UFO conspiracy theories.

Trump told reporters at the time that Obama "gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that," while saying of his own beliefs: "I don't know if they are real or not."
No evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth.

In March 2024, the Pentagon released a report saying it had no proof that UAP were alien technology, with many suspicious sightings turning out to be merely weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.

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Pentagon releases long-sealed UFO files, renewing public speculation